I beg to differ. It's probably just my school, and I know America's education, while not terrible, is uncomfortably crappy compared to many other countries with similair economic and political conditions, yet the amount of people with straight A's at my grade (sophmore) is less than 30, and that's out of almost 1000 kids. And my school is one of the Top 100 in the nation.
Granted, I'm younger than just about everyone here and less learned about such topics, but I am a high school student in the United States, so I supposed I could possibly be the best source of information. Who knows?
I'm not sure about the actual numbers, but my state, Tennessee, has an organization called the Hope Foundation(?) through the Tennessee Lottery that builds college scholarships for students with a B average.
So I got the ACT coming up next year and if I make less than a 32, I plan to retake it. I'm predicted to make it in the 30-34 range, (out of 36) so I want to perform as capitally on it as possible because I really, really, really want a scholarship to Berkley.