Dear _______:
Congratulations on your excellent academic performance last semester. We both know how challenging your academic work is, and are proud and delighted that you are doing so well…You’re one of Penn’s finest–keep up the good work!
Needless to say, this letter not addressed to me (the only letters I get from Penn are those demanding large sums of money). No, this student, is, in the eyes of Penn, is far more deserving of institutional praise than I am.
You see, this person, has a 4.0 GPA.
Of course, pats on the back written on Penn stationery aren’t the only benefit accrued from a high GPA. Those much sought-after companies that send OCR users’ hearts aflutter also make a beeline for the kids with great GPAs, regardless of how undistinguished, or even boring the rest of their college experience is.
For you see, my friend with the 4.0 GPA has 3 classes, 0 extracurriculars, and no job.
Do I have a 4.00? Not even close. I do however, have the experience of living on my own in foreign countries every summer since I was a freshman, leading a human rights group on campus, joining a student group for an ethnicity that isn’t even my own (and rising to become vice president in it), participating in not one but two Penn singing groups, holding a part-time job, and of course, writing these lovely and lawsuit-prone biweekly rants for the DP.
Oh, and I’m enrolled in 6 classes, but hey, who’s counting?
Unfortunately, for the University of Pennsylvania (and really for the higher education-OCR-industrial complex as a whole) these endeavors that have been of immeasurable importance in my collegiate career and life thus far do not even register as a blip on the achievement radar.
Now, all of this may sound like a bit like an angry “me too” rant, but my point is larger than my own case. The fact is that students who choose to go out there and make a difference in the community or enrich student life at Penn are effectively penalized for it. At Penn, the complete student is a second-class citizen with fewer job opportunities and less institutional recognition. Does the University want us all to be soulless academic automatons that live and die by our GPAs? It sure seems like it.
Perhaps Penn should start doing something about this by including extracurricular activities and summer activities on our transcripts. Then I too can see my tuition dollars going to good use– mailing me congratulatory letters.
An RSS feed of The Spin is available
March 13th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
Nice job tooting your own horn.
March 13th, 2007 at 9:39 pm
Damn right. I hate the 4.0 kids who spend their lives with their heads in books, never taking a moment to see the opporunities around them. They waste not only their lives but their ability to make a difference.
March 13th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
“Does the University want us all to be soulless academic automatons that live and die by our GPAs?”
Perhaps there are, gasp, students at Penn who are able to keep a high average and participate in extracurriculars. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it can, and is, done.
March 13th, 2007 at 9:59 pm
You’re right that more than GPA are important, but putting extracurriculars and summer activities on a transcript is pointless. IT’S A TRANSCRIPT! If a business or other hirer looks for those students with high GPA’s and ignores all other variables, then that business is just stupid and its their fault. The university isn’t faulting you personally for anything. And those kids who don’t do lots of extra things aren’t necessarily empty and soulless automatons. It may be that they just aren’t joiners, are shy/taciturn/solitary/anti-social in some way or other, and the compulsive joiners who want to do everything in the world (and none of it neccesarily well or perhaps only to pad a resume) are the automatons.
March 13th, 2007 at 10:03 pm
Who cares?
March 13th, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Seconding “not university’s job”s comments, have you ever considered that people who run about joining everything and demand attention for their own resume padding are the boring machines?
March 13th, 2007 at 11:23 pm
But how often do you actually sing, HMMMMM?
March 14th, 2007 at 12:52 am
Actually, you’re absolutely right. The university does want us to be “soulless academic automatons” if you haven’t noticed. Well, they want the Wharton kids to, and the rest of the kids want to be Wharton kids, so it basically amounts to that. See, higher GPAs mean better jobs, which means more money (which eventually means more donations for the school, of course).
Then again, it could just be that the companies doing the recruiting have done their homework. If they want to hire kids who will be the best at doing a boring, task (rather than thought) oriented job, they probably optimize their operations by hiring a student with a high GPA rather than one with, well, a life.
Interesting, though, that this distinctly east coast attitude is bothering you despite your parading the “northeastern” lifestyle as superior to that of the west. Following a rigid path and punishing those who stray from it seem extremely “eastern” (and ivy) while taking chances and, well, living are definitely emphasized more back west. Could it be that we agree on more than you think?
PS - I can’t believe you’re blogging on this POS platform that doesn’t even allow me to link my blog to my name…
March 14th, 2007 at 1:43 am
Who says this has anything to do with east-west coast demographic groups? There are people from all over the country who aren’t all “northeastern” (and I’ll bet the NE doesn’t all share the lifestyle you attribute them)
Some people just don’t want to run for a bunch of groups when they can have friends outside arbitrary acapella groups and ethnic pride and “I’m a rich white guy who travels a lot” stamps in my passport.
Transcripts record grades! If these people are good at jobs or not, don’t presume they’re all soulless losers.
March 14th, 2007 at 2:05 pm
I think what this whole discussion shows is that unfortunately US schools in general put far too much emphasis on GPAs. The British system classifies you by a general grade - 1, 2:1, 2:2, 3 - grouping together whole intellectual demographics. This means that, while making grading less transparent, more value is placed on endeavours outside of the classroom. Which is as it should be.
February 28th, 2008 at 4:27 am
Having colleges appreciate you might first begin with learning to spell “grievous.”