There's a cynical part of me that wonders why the bother here.

Society rewards good connections, as well as good social skills, and intellectual stuff is generally left to the campuses.

And reading lately the various NYT items and such, and Ross Douthat's book on Harvard, makes me think that the Big Push of the 1980s toward a meritocratic society has simply failed.

Perhaps better networking, rather than better grades, is the way to go.