<p>I think what they're getting it as that it is easier, in general, to get higher grades at a private school because private schools tend to be grade inflated relative to public schools. And the sad fact is, med-schools don't care that much about how hard it is for you to get those high grades, as long as you somehow get them. They may SAY they care, but when push comes to shove, their actions speak for themselves. The truth is, med-schools don't carefully read everybody's application and instead use a bunch of mechanical screens and filters to classify their candidates on the first pass, and so if your grades are just too low, then you are going to be screened out, possibly to the point where you won't even be invited to submit a round2 app (apps are done in 2 rounds, round 1 is numerical, round 2 is comprehensive, but if your numbers are bad, you won't even make it past round 1). It doesn't matter why your grades were too low, it just matters that they were too low. Put another way, it's better to get an easy, do-nothing 'A' than a hard-fought 'B'. </p>
<p>The truth is, it's easier to get higher grades at a private school than at a public school. Now obviously there are exceptions, like certain private schools whose names end in the words "Institute of Technology", but by and large, you want to go to the school that gives out lots of high grades, and those tend to be the private schools. Many public schools have no problem in punishing their students with boatloads of poor grades. </p>
<p>This topic has been discussed before in great detail by myself and others. You can search around to find other posts. That's all part of the 'game' of med-school admissions.</p>