Harvard has long been characterized and
visualized as a superior ‘dream college’ for every high school student across
the globe. Their reputable education is outstanding and the merit qualities of
their graduates are acknowledged by employers worldwide. Furthermore, their
students are eminently labeled as the ‘best of the best’ to an extent that they
automatically receive immense praise and extensive credit for their hard work
and effort. And this solely distinct admiration of their status is never questioned
by anyone, why is it that only Harvard students are viewed as exceptionally deserving
of praise? Well it is certainly due to the tough and challenging experiences
that they have overcome easily. Easily in the sense of the right mindset, in
which they view laborious tasks and struggles that accompany any worthy
achievement as an experience to adjust to, rather than a battle to survive.
Therefore with this approach, no one can disagree with the fact that the
restrictions they set to themselves to strive for nothing less than success is
not a meritorious triumph. Merely earning an acceptance to this prestigious
university is viewed widely as a tremendous achievement, because we all know
that the applicants that advance through the rigorous obstacles Harvard set as
a criteria for their admissions are definitely possessors of remarkably valued
qualities. Therefore, I am surprised that someone as highly educated as
Mr.Trachtenberg would consider arguing about the distribution of A grades to
all the deserving intelligent students in a top university like Harvard. After
reading through his article I am still not convinced by his argument, which in
summary, is that only a handful of students deserve A grades. Nevertheless,
this doesn’t make sense, as an A reflects the extreme effort and preparation a
student has put in to achieve a quality grade. It represents the level of the
understanding the student has attained during the period of acquiring knowledge
and studying, and it certainly reinforces the idea I proposed earlier, that all
of Harvard students are bright students that never settle for anything less
than success. I would also like to point out another fallacy in his argument,
that if all these prestigious universities across the country only filter out
the most capable applicants that they are certain will succeed highly, then it
is highly unlikely that any one of these students would aim for anything less
than the best during his or her years of studies. And they will make it certain
that they achieve an A, because apart from their awareness of the future
benefits they will receive for their efforts, paying 55,000 dollars a year in
tuition is extremely costly considering plenty of other universities which
offer education for half that price a year. Furthermore, Mr.Trachtenberg also
points out that these students are paying for grades, which again doesn’t sound
reasonable that a university like Harvard, ranking second on the list of the
top dream university by Princeton review if cost and acceptance wasn’t considered
(College Hopes & Worries Press Release), and with a very low acceptance
rate of 6% (Top 100-Lowest Acceptance Rates), would be rewarding high grades in
return for money. As a very low acceptance rate means that there are plenty of
other applicants that are just as willing to pay to enjoy high quality
education, which in return means that Harvard isn’t pressured into the
situation where they are forced to award A grades in return to persuade
students to study at their university, because these students chose to battle
through the requirements to earn a spot at a quality institution and chose to
abide with the further costs and challenges to earn a top quality degree. Nevertheless,
being recognized as reputable university by Princeton review further enhances
my point, that Harvard doesn’t need to advertise itself to attract students,
which in conclusion means there is absolutely no reason to return the favor for
the money they receive in providing education. Finally, Mr.Tranchtenberg mentions
in his article that in 2004 Princeton readjusted their grade system so that the
faculty does not award more than 35% of undergraduates students A or A- grades.
In mentioning this he proposes that Harvard should emulate Princeton’s solution
for what he considers a problem, however I do have a strong belief that this
isn’t an appropriate solution. Awarding grades should be based on a certain
criteria to fulfill, and if every intelligent student at Harvard happens to
satisfy the university’s criteria in awarding A grades, then it might as well
award everyone A grades because they all deserve to possess this top grade for
their work and effort, as he mentions that these students ‘’have perfect grades and
SAT scores, and that there is no doubt the admissions office are bringing
capable students to the campus’’.
On
the other hand, I am capable of viewing the situation through his perspective,
as he analogizes the grading system nowadays to the days when he was being
educated. Back in his days, A grades where only awarded by the sympathy of
their professors towards the students and were attributed by their strictness. And
through the social perspective I can collate the progress and achievements of
today to the hard work and struggle of our parent’s generation. Where maybe Mr.Trachtenberg
is implicitly proposing to further propel today’s students towards greater
accomplishments, by contrasting the stark weighting of resources and opportunities
provided for today’s generation that were scarcely available at his time.
Furthermore, he proposes another idea, that stricter filtering of the students’
grades means that it is easier to assess the student’s excellence and hence the
measures of awarding financial aid and scholarships to students are equitable.
Nevertheless, Mr.Trachtenberg also mentions that professors want to be popular,
and this hypothesis sounds reasonable since awarding A grades for students
satisfies their desire, and an anticipated outcome would be for the students to
rate their professors highly in return for his favor. Which from a logical
perspective, we can apply inductive reasoning to this scenario, in which the
awarding of high grades to all students by many professors in the university
justifies the case of grade inflation. In addition to the analysis I suggested
earlier, which is that Mr.Trachtenberg is wishing for students to further
thrust themselves with greater effort, he mentions in the final paragraph of
the text that “Perhaps they are all A students. But now we know many Harvard
students receive As”. By stating this, and specifically the word ‘perhaps’,
Mr.Trachtenberg is implying his uncertainty in the misconception that all of
Harvard’s students are exceptionally bright, as he does not wish to be too
definite or assertive in the expression of his opinion. Identically, he then
proceeds to conclude the message he wishes to deliver, by stating with
confidence that many Harvard students receive As, as he has been building on
this hypothesis from when he shares with us what he witnessed as a ‘ failure in
academic responsibility’. And at this point I can sympathize with what is
proposed, and I display absolute agreement that providing high academic
achievement to undeserving students is shameful. Finally, from an ethical
perspective when Mr.Trachtenberg has his say through the text of what is
morally right and wrong, one can rationally agree with the reasoning he has
deployed, since he has utterly exploited the valuable witnessing of the
careless distribution of A grades to all students by a Professor. And this is
how we can be bound to believe the rest of his reasoning via his presenting of a
powerful account by which he related the rest of the text to.
Work Cited
“College Hopes & Worries Press
Release”. The Princeton Review. March
18, 2015. Web. October 21, 2015
“Top 100 –
Lowest Acceptance Rates”. U.S.News &
WORLD REPORT. n.d. Web. October 21, 2015
moodle
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