To second a lot of what has already been posted, GRADES ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
My daughter works very hard at her grades but needs help. So, we send her to a "learning center" to get her assistance for her homework etc. She is also enrolled in an ACT Prep course. She is taking 3 honors courses (Calculus, Science, Spanish) but at our school, our grading scale is incrediably hard. 94% is an A 86% is a B, 78% is a C and 70% is a bottom D. So, you see, she knows that if she gets a 93%, she will have a B where all of her other friends on her summer softball team will have an A and many of them are battling for the same scholarship opportunities. Oh, our Honor's Courses are not weighted and so, you get the same result as if you took normal classes. That has always angered me.
So, GPA is important. Class Rank is also important for many scholarships out there. At one institution that is interested in my dd, if you have a 26 ACT you can qualify for about $7,000 extra. However, if you have a 26 and are top 10% of your class then you can qualify for $10,000.
Finally, ACT Prep or SAT Prep is becoming essential for monies. My dd has been preparing for the ACT for 3 months now. She will take the Feb. 6th test. Then, she will take the April test and then the June test. This is a strategy we've worked out with our counselors. She pre tested for a 22-24. Research shows that if they can take the test 3 times in a relatively close time span then they can increase their scores as much as 6 points. Should my child do that, then she would be in the $10,000 range. Well, I got a little carried away. I hope I haven't hijacked the thread.