only) comon measuring stick? Grades are imperfect because some schools have the nonsense of being able to achieve a GPA over 4.0 and then there's varying degrees of grade inflation among the thousands of high schools. I have heard the colleges know which high schools are tougher graders and what a high class rank means at the difficult schools versus the easier ones. True?

Still sounds like a less merit-based selection process than what existed prior to requiring ACT/SAT, even though college board scores can be prepped for with lots of course work. (Back in the day, SAT/ACT lied to us saying it ws impossible to raise your score through study or any other method, so just show up on-time and get a good night's sleep.)