There really is a huge difference between school districts, because I took a total of 10 AP classes, got a solid ACT score, and got a total of 3 B+ classes throughout high school, two of which were in freshman year, and finished junior year with a 4.7 weighted gpa on a 5.0 scale… and Cornell was a high reach because of the competition. I literally had a great gpa and was towards the bottom of the top 10% of my class. Each school district is truly different regarding competition.
I took easy classes and was bored out of my mind but I wasn’t considered smart enough for AP. I blame the teachers for not doing a good job educating me