> What's the point of going to school then if not to expose you to things and make you a better, more knowledgeable, well rounded person?

To get the really expensive piece of paper that lets you through the HR gatekeeping.

Unfortunately, there truly isn't a point to many of the things we do in education, especially at the college level.

I went to college because I wanted to get a job as a high paid software engineer.

And although many of the class that I took, did indeed help me with this goal, many of them that I had to take did not.

It would have been awesome if I could have replaced some of my required classes that weren't particularly useful, with more focused ones on web development, and industry related.

If grades don't matter, why did you show up for the exam?

They quite clearly said that it's not just grades that matter. Also, you'd show up to the exam so you don't suffer the university's consequences like academic probation and scholarship forfeiture, even if you were somehow "anti grade," whatever specious mindset you are envisioning.

Besides, I don't think anyone making their point would suggest that you shouldn't try to make good grades, which involves learning a subject well enough, including doing the boring work, to get a good mark.

I agree with them. If grades are the only thing you care about such that you'd be fine with paying an insider for a diploma without doing the work, then I'd say you wasted the entirely opportunity and only exercised your ability to cheat and be dishonest.

I've seen a lot of jobs where the basic role was to circumvent laws/regulations and otherwise get past obstacles. Using zoning regulations and court maneouvers to block competitors from developing businesses, lobbying for certain laws and exemptions, etc.