<p>A lot of the people near the bottom of a college class are there because they don’t put in the work to do better. They may drink and party a lot, they may be heavily involved in a sport or extracurricular activity, they may not have the self-discipline to work harder, or they simply may not care about their grades – which may be reasonable if their after-college plans do not require a high GPA.</p>
<p>But there are also some people near the bottom of the class who are trying their hardest and can’t do better because their ability or high school preparation is not really adequate for that college. These are the people I worry about. Struggling academically for four years is not a pleasant experience, and being on academic probation or flunking out is even worse. </p>
<p>A student who is admitted to college with statistics in the bottom 25% may not turn out to be in the bottom 25% of the college class because many students with better qualifications won’t do their best, for one reason or another, and therefore won’t have grades as high as one might expect on the basis of their statistics.</p>
<p>Still, I think there is reason for concern about some students who are accepted to colleges for which they seem underqualified, especially if they aspire to medical school, law school, or some other form of post-college education for which high grades are needed.</p>