You are absolutely correct. One of the biggest issues people face today when seeking work is the "paper trail" and a lot of businesses are not seeking imaginative minds, they are seeking drones. That is why they want the "Academic Excellent" students, because they know that these people are unimaginative and incapable of independent thought. Here is a list of some people that were not the best in the academic world and some that even dropped out: Michael Dell, Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Alexander Fleming, Thomas Edison, Benjamin Franklin, Richard Branson...and oh so many more.