<p>Around here it is done by weighted GPA at the end of senior year. Seniors do not have to take finals in a subject if they have an A average in that subject for the rest of the year. Val and Sal candidates almost always meet this requirement for all of their classes, so the results are known at least a week ahead of graduation. That gives them plenty of time to work on speeches. </p>
<p>There has been some gamesmanship involving medical excuses to get out of gym. Since gym does not carry honors or AP weighting, the student can then take an extra honors class in freshman year and extra AP classes in sophomore through senior years to maximize their overall GPA. This provided the difference between Val and Sal a few years back when both had scored straight A’s in everything and Sal had taken the hardest possible course load without the gym exclusion. Sal’s parents were more than a bit annoyed.</p>