There is such increasing pressure on students to have the best GPAs, the highest test scores, and the greatest competitive advantage over their peers, that ultimately many college students find the quality of their education greatly altered or even diminished.
Ultimately, universities, graduate and professional schools, employers, and society in general place entirely too much weight on college students’ letter grades, test scores, and GPAs. Professors, though technically constrained by certain university policies, possess the power to essentially alter the likelihood of a student being accepted into graduate, medical, or law school, or being hired by the company he applies to.
Some may argue this claim is too extreme or dramatic, and to those people I say “no.” When professors give poor letter grades based on subjective criteria such as “originality,” “creativity,” or “thoughtfulness,” they directly affect student’s GPAs. For college students, one skewed grade carries potentially negative ramifications for future education and employment opportunities. Furthermore, testing relies on the assumption that testing accurately measures intelligence. Wrong, false, incorrect. There are entire populations of brilliant students who struggle in a controlled testing environment; “test anxiety” is a real thing. You may be able to tutor and teach the material to your entire study group but if get a D on a test, you are seen as “struggling” and perceived as not understanding the curriculum. In turn, that D will negatively affect your GPA. See the pattern?
All in all the competitive nature of society and higher education place an immense amount of pressure on undergraduate students and it is taking away from the opportunity to genuinely learn, for students are more focused on grades and test scores than the actual quality of their education. While it is certainly possible that the desire to learn exists within undergraduate students today, it is entirely tarnished by the power of letter grades, test scores, and GPAs.
