What else do you have when you are going to a campus to recruit?

On top of that, even if the company didn't consider them, their classmates probably knew where everyone fell in relation to each other. They would know if they got passed over for someone who had better grades than themselves.

If person A came from a privileged background, and got straight As, and person B came from a much less privileged background, and had to overcome many hurdles just to get into school, and continued to fight to stay in school, and got Bs, which person would you want on your team?

I'm not saying that's definitely the case here, just that grades alone don't tell the whole story.

The one that will produce more value for my company. In many cases, that person is person A.

I don't care if you were pampered and that's why you got A's. If you have the necessary knowledge and are a hard worker, you have my vote.

Your comment is so thick in assumptions (students objectively know who is better at whatever metric you have in mind?) that you are proving the case that traditional metrics are untrustworthy for selecting meritorious candidates.

You're making assumptions. I am not saying anything about the objectivity of the grades given to anyone. I am simply saying that you know someone with a 'B' average was picked over you, when you know you have a 'A' average, you are probably going to be irritated over them picking someone who appears in your point of view to be inferior.

What I said was nothing but perception.

I am really good at math problems and I can't explain my ideas (or comprehend yours) to save my life. You got Bus in school but are able to effect a result as part of a group effort. I will resent you for getting a job that I don't. There is no problem here, my resentment doesn't matter.

This was an Indian university. Different companies had different strategies - some would "filter" the students based on grades alone, and then pick the best from interviews. Some had their own tests, and ignored the grades totally (even in this, some had programming problems only, while others had some weird puzzles etc). It was a while ago, I am not sure what the situation is these days. I do remember that it was a good mix of all kinds of strategies.

>>By the way, are "grades" still considered as a worthy predictor of one's performance in the workplace?

If you work hard to get good grades, you are likely to work hard at your work place too.

Though its true not every hard working student gets good grades.