Here at Cornell, the general consensus among students is that it's really hard to get good grades, especially among some majors. Cornell started a few years ago releasing "Median Grade Reports" so that students would see what classes were easy and hard in terms of grading. The idea was that students would enroll in classes with low median grades so that they could challenge themselves. Instead, people took the reports and took as many classes as they could with high median grades, so they would have an easier time and a higher GPA.

Sure, people come here because it's known to be hard. But once they're here that goes out the window. You're trying for grades, not challenges.

Try most state schools. For example someone with an A+ at University of Illinois is going to be 1 in a few hundred. They were the very top in that class, and most of the classes are large. Even people with A's are likely to be top 10-15%. And there may be no one with A's. Heck, it's likely some people completely failed even when they were trying. Why? Every professor grades how they see fit. Yes, this is department and degree specific. If a department wants to make their degree tough then they do. If too many people are applying - raise the bar until you end up with only the best.

It's the difference between an elite education and the rest of us educated people^. Now, this doesn't apply to all the big name schools. I think there is a market for schools that make it tough. Look at which schools hackers think are the best in science/math/enginnering schools CalTech, MIT, Stanford, CMU, etc. They are still tough with less grade inflation. (I apologize if I left your favorite top school out of the list, assume I included it)

^I may not agree entirely but it's an interesting read: http://www.theamericanscholar.org/the-disadvantages-of-an-el...