I'm in the same boat to a certain degree. I have one friend, who although is a bit of a slacker, deserved to get the grades to get into in first choice uni place. He's one of the smartest people i know but he doesn't put enough effort into performing well at college. He's going to do an alternative course now through clearing at a very good university, and he doesn't seem too fussed, so that's fine.
I also have another friend, who was one of the top performers at GCSE level at my old school. He clearly had high ambitions and he was holding an offer for a competitive subject at a great uni but he didn't meet the offer. Now I know this person tried very hard to do well, yet now he's stuck in the position of either doing a lesser subject at university, essenetially nullifying all the extra work he'd done, or resitting.