Emory student: Get rid of class ranks and grade frenzy
In an AJC essay today, an Emory student describes her reaction to receiving her first B-plus. “That’s it,” she thought. “It’s over. I can’t get into medical school.”
A rising junior double majoring in neuroscience and sociology, Sunidhi Ramesh says there is now an arms race for top grades.
“There once was a time when a C was considered average and satisfactory. A B represented students who worked hard but could reach a little higher. The A’s were reserved for the brightest and the boldest, the students who had mastered the material beyond what was required of them,” she says. “Today, the A is not the goal but the standard. After hundreds of years of standing strong, an education system that places emphasis on rising expectations and values scores over learning has finally managed to corrupt its own grading structure.”
To read more about what Ramesh considers a counterproductive focus on grades, go to the AJC Get Schooled blog.
About the Author
Maureen Downey has written editorials and opinion pieces about local, state and federal education policy since the 1990s.
