Colleges are aware of that, public school (not all but most) GPAs are taken with a grain of salt. It’s kind of interesting, on the other side, I hear parents complaining that they are paying for tuition so they are pissed when the school just doesn’t hand out good grades and maintains a rigorous academic expectation for the students. I believe that it should be extra difficult, and I am willing to pay extra for that, that is what we are here to do, guide the next generation into adulthood and prepare them as much as possible to thrive. But going through the beginning of the whole college searches and all that goes with it I have been given a ton of good info about what the top schools are really looking for from applicants (other than money).