Grades used to be inflated. Back in the 1960s, when a kid was faced with either a college acceptance letter or a draft card, any teacher with a modicum of empathy would keep his grades high enough to avoid a potential death sentence in Vietnam. But now, grades are compressed into two, maybe three, of the usual five letters.

Here’s how we know this is true: Google the average GPA of the Ivy League, then move to high-end liberal arts schools, then the top party schools, and finally, your child’s (if you have one) safety school. I’d bet my salary that the average won’t dip below a 3.0 before you reach it. The point is this: most colleges are accepting high-schoolers who received As, Bs, and the rare C. The elite ones only take the As.