I lived in Albuquerque during my senior year in HS. In SoCal, I didn't try at all in classes and was a solid C student (with an occasional D and B if I particularly disliked or liked a class/teacher). In Albuquerque, I actually studied way less and didn't take any classes seriously and got all As and a few Bs. Maybe it has changed in the last 20 years (I hope so), but their school system out there was complete crap. You practically got a C on a test for spelling your name right.