<p>"They just didn't have the analytical, creative and critical thinking skills that are needed for success at schools like H and Y. I could have predicted that. It had nothing to do with the fact that they were compliant little darlings, because they weren't. They just didn't have the analytical, creative and critical thinking skills that are needed for success at schools like H and Y. "</p>
<p>? Being "successful" at schools like H and Y means getting in and attending those schools. One is even more successful if one graduates from such a school, which the overwhelming majority of students at such schools do: more than 90% graduate within 6 years of entrance. Many of those who don't graduate from another similar school or return to their original school and eventually graduate years later after the entered.</p>
<p>At any college -- H, P, Y included -- some students will graduate in the middle of the class and some in the bottom. Not everyone is going to be summa.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the students who are in the middle and bottom at a place like HPY may also be doing such extraordinary work in their ECs that they are top picks for jobs in their fields or even for graduate school programs depending on the programs.</p>
<p>As far as I have seen, anyone who graduates from a place like HPY can manage to go to graduate school some place -- typically a tier 2 for those who can't get into a tier one program or don't choose to go to a tier one school (which often happens when students want to return to their home states for grad/professional schools because that's where they plan to make their permanent homes).</p>
<p>When I was at Harvard, I had some friends who were originally premed, but due to the competition there decided not to become doctors. One got her masters in hospital administration from Harvard, and became the administrator at a major hospital in a large city. Another got a MSW. I don't think that anyone would consider such students to be failures.</p>
<p>I would be surprised if Bill Gates had excellent grades at Harvard since he was spending so much time with his computer hobby. And, of course, he dropped out before graduating. Still, I doubt that anyone would consider him a failure at Harvard or elsewhere. He's probably also doing a lot better in many ways than are many people in his class who graduated Phi Beta Kappa. Just one example of how really little importance grades has at a place like Harvard.</p>
<p>One of the people whom I know who probably had mediocre grades when he attended Harvard is a well known sportscaster on a major TV channel. Another became a TV producer and married a well known TV star. </p>
<p>Another wasn't among the masses who graduated with honors from Harvard, but went to med school, graduated near the top of her class in a major medical school, and now is a top administrator at a well respected medical school.</p>
<p>Harvard admissions officers aren't trying to create classes of students that are filled with people who'll end up being Phi Beta Kappa or dying if they don't make that. Harvard wants students who'll create a vibrant, active campus, and after graduation will be leaders in their communities and fields. Certainly there are places at Harvard for the purely intellectual geniuses who'll devote themselves to study, graduate Phi Beta Kappa and become world renowned researches, but there also is even more room for people who'll dive into extracurriculars, pass their classes, and then graduate and eventually make a difference in their communities and fields, most of which will not be research-based fields.</p>