Exactly, it's unfortunate, but how else would they efficiently sort through thousands of applications? It's frustrating because I've taken my chem classes (taught by PhDs) at a well-funded community college that have been rigorous. Other "non-traditional student" friends took the same classes (taught by basically student teachers/MS folks) at the top state school here and it was NOWHERE near as challenging. In fact, one of my profs taught at both and told me straight up that a B performance at the community college would be an A at the four year. A'well.
I have some experience with an Ivy league school too and there was total, 100% grade inflation going on. They worked very hard to avoid giving lower than Bs in any class, grades basically went A to B to F. If you were coming in lower than a B, there were several ways to retake the class or work out an Incomplete and not have it appear on your transcript.
Bottom line is, it's frustrating, but it's also just part of the process. Gotta find another way to differentiate yourself if you don't have a great GPA from a decent program (however the powers that be define it), that's all.
