If not for regents, I would have actually had to do some work in high school. For example, I had failing grades in chemistry throughout the year (I’m talking 30s), then I learned the material in about 3 weeks of bathroom and spare time reading and got 95 on regents and passed the course. (anti-semite still gave me only a 65 on report card). Similar story with math 3.
Really, it makes me wonder whether with the right teachers I could have come out of high school with a college graduate’s knowledge of all the major maths and sciences.