Credential-obsessed overachievers should focus on learning rather than beating out their classmates for a finite number of As.
By Conor Friedersdorf
The Atlantic - Dec 6, 2013
Elsewhere on this site, Roberto A. Ferdman notes
that the most frequently awarded grade at Harvard College is an A,
while the median grade there is an A minus. "That ought to dispel any
notion that Harvard is tough on its students," he wrote. "Grade
inflation may be a victimless crime, but what is the point of having a
range of grades if half of them are A- or higher?" I think I have an
answer.
Ivy League educational institutions attract a disproportionate share
of grade-obsessed overachievers. These young people are extremely
driven, aren't in need of external motivators to learn, but often react
to the grading system by gaming it: that is to say, they engage in
cut-throat competition with classmates rather than helping one another
learn; they manipulate teachers; and they choose earning a higher grade
rather than learning more when there is a tension between the two. Their
compulsion to succeed as others define it and their sheepish failure to
prioritize higher-order benefits with their time at college perhaps
makes a grading system based on obvious inflation the best option
available.
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