9th-grade algebra teacher Dean Sherman takes a different approach when his students ask, "When are we ever going to use this?" He just says…
'Never. You will never use this.' Then he points out that people don’t lift weights so they’ll be prepared should, one day, somebody knock them over on the street and trap them under a barbell. 'You lift weights so that you can knock over a defensive lineman, or carry your groceries or lift your grandchildren without being sore the next day. You do math exercises so that you can improve your ability to think logically, so that you can be a better lawyer, doctor, architect, prison warden or parent. MATH IS MENTAL WEIGHT TRAINING. It is a means to an end, (for most people), not an end in itself.'”
Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die
That's a lot like how truly intellectual students approach school.
A truly intellectual kid doesn't take AP English because "That's what Princeton wants." He takes it because he wants to learn it.
He doesn't obsessively calculate and re-calculate his GPA. He does his best and accepts whatever the outcome is.
He doesn't arrange his schedule to get the easiest teacers. He arranges it to get the best teachers.
Your GPA and an admission to college should be a by-product of a larger goal–to become better educated, a better thinker, and someone who's more aware of your intellectual interests.
If students (and parents) can somehow find a way to embrace that idea, it will be easier to accept the B in trigonometry that just refuses to raise higher, or the SAT score that won't crack 1900, or the dream school that says "No."
As long as you're focused on the larger goal of becoming a better thinker, colleges are going to appreciate you. And you'll accomplish your goal no matter what college you attend.