Photo By Anna Ngo

Unnecessary obsession over GPA

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As college admissions grow more competitive throughout the nation, many students are looking after their GPA. However, some students are obsessed with it, closely watching percentages on PowerSchool and stressing about the mere possibility of a grade drop. While grades are undeniably important, students need to stop being frantic over their GPA.

Some students feel inadequate when they receive a lower grade than expected, but grades are not reliable indicators of intelligence or potential. Some factors unrelated to intelligence can contribute to lower grades, such as test anxiety, mental illnesses, or learning disabilities. To assume a student is unintelligent solely because of their grades is ignorant and sometimes even ableist. Grades also do not always take into account skills that predict career success outside of the classroom, such as communication and perseverance. Grades are not indicative of one’s self-worth and are nothing to feel inferior about.

Additionally, obsession and stressing over one’s grades leads to poor mental health. This distress can become so overwhelming that the student might find it difficult to perform well moving forward, causing their grade to drop. Fixating on grades can also cause students to neglect extracurriculars and miss the opportunity to develop useful skills that would be beneficial to their future. Beyond admission to colleges, GPA does not truly matter in the real world and will not guarantee a job. By obsessing over their grades, students only increase the possibility of long-term failure.

Although academics are the first metric colleges look at when deciding whether to admit a student, colleges typically seek well-rounded, talented students who stand out and are likely to contribute to their community. Colleges only look at grades to evaluate a student’s work ethic. Not having a 4.0 or higher is common and will not decimate a student’s chances of getting into a good college.

Constantly stressing over one’s GPA is detrimental and unnecessary. If a student truly wishes to succeed, it would be better for them to try their best and aim to improve. Stressing over a poor grade does nothing to solve the problem and will only decrease the likelihood of improvement.

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