Unhelpful assistance

By:

Posted: 9/18/08

We support the University's proposal to consider discontinuing first semester covered grades for freshmen. The first semester pass/fail grading currently in place at Hopkins was intended as a means to aid students in adjusting to the competitive academic environment of college. However, rather than allowing students to develop new study habits, covered grades largely encourage students to put in only the minimal effort necessary to pass. In some ways, covered grades extend high school by one more semester.

As it is designed, the system creates a misleading impression of the time commitment and study ethic required to do well in courses at Hopkins, particularly in classes that have curved grades. While one may argue that the first semester at Hopkins allows freshmen to explore activities outside of academics, discover the surrounding community and meet new friends, it seems unlikely that grades would significantly impede these pursuits over the course of the entire year. On the contrary, normal grading in the first semester would push students to balance campus and community involvement and interpersonal relationships with academics. Covered grades in the first semester only serve to postpone the inevitable wake-up call of college in the spring.

Most of Hopkins's peer institutions, such as Duke, University of Chicago, Penn and Cornell, are comparable in competitiveness and academic demands but do not cover grades in the first semester. Clearly students at these universities must also adjust to college life but learn to plan around their academics. The pass/fail option, however, is widely used and an important opportunity that permits students to elect courses from unfamiliar and challenging disciplines. Rather than having covered grades for the first semester, the University should continue advising students to register for manageable courseloads when they arrive at Hopkins.

In this way, students can still utilize the pass/fail option for certain courses but adjust early to the demands of being a college student. Discouraging students from overloading on their coursework and encouraging them to explore introductory courses in a variety of subjects should be sufficient to prevent freshmen from becoming overwhelmed in their first semester.