Admission is harder than graduation for sure. I only had an 80th percentile SAT but 99th percentile GPA

So getting in to Stanford is harder than graduating with a STEM degree? Doens't say much about the vaunted reputation of that school. I went to a midwest state university. Getting in was easy. Completing my CS degree took a lot of work. I cannot imagine any way I could have bullshitted my way through that.

Google the concept of the gentleman's B. if you show up, most teachers will take pity and not fail you even if you are subpar on your tests.

i dont know what trauma you went through at iowa state university's calc 3 hazing but I personally pulled the patrician move and graduated with a degree in history, only to get a job programming straight away anyway.

leetcode, system design, and book knowledge questions about java will forever be more manageable than a compilers class or multivariable calculus, for purposes of making enough money to live a middle class life without burning out

Yes, this is the case for most of the top universities (and likely med school, law school, you name it).

Universities like to keep their graduation rates high to ensure competition at the front of the pipeline. Also, by keeping admission so competitive you basically ensure that whoever does end up getting in has the capacity to do well at any program (though statistics are still gamed - for example it is almost impossible to "drop out" of MIT - you are just placed on indefinite leave if you express that desire. That way their graduation rate very high since the people on indefinite leave don't factor into it).

Yes. You think Harvard is going to fail the son of a senator or legacy donor?

A lot of folks I went to college with did nothing but party, drink, hang out. Education didn't matter to them at all. They were going to get a job at their family's firm, company, etc anyway. Didn't matter what their grades were.

Professors know who they can't fail.

When I was at university, there was a "blind examination policy" in place.

The people marking the exams did not know whose exams they were marking.

It's possible that corrupt professors worked around this, but there was never any scandals related to this policy.

"Policies." I remember lots of policies. If you're rich enough, the policies don't apply to you. That's not a scandal, it's just how the world works.

It’s much easier to complete school than it is to get in.