It's a weird system, in Australia we all get a standard score on leaving high school and if your score is higher than the next person choosing your degree preference you win the spot. Different for medicine only AFAIK.

I'm fond of the system in Texas. If you graduate in the top 10% of your class, you get automatically accepted to any public university in the state (well, any one you apply to).

I had zero interest in extracurriculars or anything of the like, so I was never going to get into a competitive university. But I'm smart, and I have a near-photographic memory, so I aced most of my classes without having to study too much, so I was able to graduate in the top 10% and then went to UT Dallas, which is possibly the best tech school in the southwest. I'm really, really glad I went to UTD; I made lifelong friends there, the people I hung out with really helped shape my interests, I'm still running into UTD alumni everywhere I go, etc.