Plus, back then it wasn't as bimodal as today. A students tended to move on to good universities and then great jobs. B students would go to an OK state school and get a decent office job. C students could maybe go to community college or learn a trade and have a decent go at the middle class. D students could at least shape themselves up and learn a trade or join the military and have a remote shot at earning a living.

Now, there are pretty much two groups: 1. the top-top-top of both your class and your entire region, with above a 4.0GPA, with all the expected community service and extracurriculars, and so on, who end up in elite schools and prestigious careers, and 2. everyone else, who end up scrapping with each other over the lower-and-lower paying jobs and more tenuous future. There's no middle anymore.