I recently came across this table. It is a table generated by a secondary school that the school sends to all colleges and universities to which the school's students apply. These are the cumulative GPAs for the Class of 2012 at this school. This is an actual thing, that is, I did not make this up.Why would a secondary school do this? Does this advantage students? What might a college admissions officer make of this?
What about the students? This is accessible on the school's web site (that's where I got it). If I'm a 12th grader at this school, then I'm in that list somewhere. What does that make me think? Is school a competition? Is this the scoreboard? Am I a winner? A loser?
I have no idea if other schools do this, but my guess would be that they do.
What do you think?
students are nothing but a score to be counted is what I think....
ReplyDeleteI can see it from two different views, though I am completely opposed to the information being posted. Life is a competition, and high schools reflect that in almost every aspect: students compete for positions on teams and performance groups, for leadership positions, for awards, and for social status. To ignore it in the academic realm, I think, denies a reality.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much more to an individual than a score. There is more to academic growth and success than a grade. But until we create a Star Trekian society in which everyone is free to pursue his/her interests and talents without economic pressure, there is a need for some measure of comparison. Until colleges can meet the needs of everyone who wants to attend, there has to be some system of "judging" applicants. The current system is limited and flawed, but what is a realistic alternative?
I wonder what the proliferation of online learning opportunities will mean in terms of traditional "college." Will we move to a system in which higher ed is available (and affordable) to everyone? This would certainly remove a lot of the competitive element of secondary school education.