[sinkwool]

> I always find out both fascinating and alien how much focus the US system puts on extracurriculars

One factor could be that, AFAIU, schools in US have many more electives than in Europe. As a student you have the choice to take more advanced classes for one subject, and only basic in other subjects, whereas in Europe, the curriculum is standard for all. So Universities in US need to compare performance on different axes.

> Of course, that also has its downsides. People end up re-taking HS exams year after year, because someone beat their GPA with a decimal point.

Another downside to the one-size-fits-all standard curriculum, is that it forces you to care about classes that you don't really care about, while not being able to focus on the subjects that you're really interested in. I think in US, if you're really good at something, universities may ignore average-to-poor performance in other areas.