One irony: it seems grade inflation is much higher at highly selective schools.
The students already receiving the advantage of an “elite” name on their diploma also receive the benefit of appearing to be top scholars.
Reported average GPA at Harvard is 3.8. At my child’s public institution that admits 80%, the average GPA of students who actually graduate is 3.43. It could be argued that it means more to be a student with a tippy top GPA at my child’s school than at Harvard.
People like to claim that the rigor at the Harvards of the world is much greater, but if nearly everyone earns an A regardless of their relative performance in a course, what have they learned and did they really benefit from supposed rigor? When an Honors College student at a state school earns a top grade that is genuinely handed out to no more than 10% of the class, isn’t that perhaps a more meaningful distinction than is generally appreciated?