So why am I angry? Well what drives anyone to be angry? For some it might be failing to capture Pidgey, or having erectile dysfunction. For me, it's failing to achieve desired grades, but moreover, failing to see how stupid I am for caring too much. Now I won't say what university I attend, but I will hint that it is indeed famous for its abundance of homeless people, squirrels, noble laureates, flier givers, hippies, pride for giant brown killing machines, professors who champion the ethics of Sesame Street, and GRADE DEFLATION.
What is grade deflation? Simply put, it describes a system in which grades are 'deflated' or set forth in a way that makes getting "high" grades (As!) extremely difficult. Under this system, it is thus challenging for one to obtain a 'competitive GPA' - relative to schools that have a system of grade inflation. Why do grades and GPA matter though? Why do many (me included) care oh so much about these numbers? The broad answer to this question: because we're capitalists, and we care about measurements that put us ahead of others. Having high GPA is necessary for admission to graduate school, and employment in certain careers.
Okay, GPA isn't everything. But it is something, and there is often a threshold for that something. An example of that something not meeting a threshold would be a person whose application to a graduate school immediately gets screened out because he doesn't have X.YZ GPA. Grade deflation makes it difficult to achieve X.YZ GPA, especially when graduates schools and employers don't consider the rigor of Grade Deflation University A! They treat Grade Deflation University A and Grade Inflation University B as equal; GPA's from both institutions are thus evaluated with the same lens. Is this a fair system of evaluation? Yeah sure! Why the fuck not?
Now it is time for me to
Love,
A happy student
