<p>The confusion is the kid at school A where the average GPA is 2.9 and the kid at school B with an average GPA of 3.34. The kid at B says I should be admitted/hired because my 3.1 is better than my competition…a kid at A with a GPA of 3.0. However, the kid at A is in the top half of his/her class where the kid at B is in the bottom half of the class. As the averages move around due to grade inflation or a subsequent grade deflation policy (i.e., Pton), people may or may not change their idea of a good, mediocre or bad GPA. In sum, comparing GPAs across schools is stupid but it is done every day. The good news is colleges generally disclose class rank even though many (most?) high schools don’t release such data.</p>