<p>jpro:</p>
<p>Pressure does not need to come from competition with schoolmates. It can come from concern over getting admitted into one’s choice (s) of colleges. This is true of schools that do not rank, such as your own HS. Many such schools are in fact high-performing schools whose top students expect to apply to highly selective colleges.</p>
<p>It seems, however, that in states where admission into state universities is tied to ranking and high GPA, there is pressure of another kind, and that is gaming the system by piling on APs and Honors, or, alternatively, taking easy classes in order to get easy As, or even taking study hall in order to maintain a high GPA. </p>
<p>In other words, it is not just the most selective schools that are responsible for the pressure high school juniors and seniors feel.</p>