ipl-logo

How Not To Get Into College By Alfie Kohn Summary

1210 Words5 Pages

The Pursuit of Grades Over Happiness There are many accomplishments that we have achieved, yet many to achieve, and the race towards them never seems to stop. Well, this is the case for many students because the race towards achieving high grades never comes to an end. Grades are meaningless in the grand scheme of things, as they do not control the rest of your life, but yet are still overly looked upon and can affect a student’s life drastically. However, a poet once said, “Life is not a race, but a journey, to be savored each step of the way” (Nancye Sims). This point is further justified in an essay by the American author, named Alfie Kohn, “How Not to Get into College: The Preoccupation and Preparation”. Alfie Kohn’s essay is concerned with the fact that grades are nothing more than a number and they do not make up your life; stressing out about your grades will lead you to missing the important aspects of life that you are blinded to. I personally feel that Kohn has started a great discussion about grades; how high school students are highly influenced and affected by grades. I believe that grades have a significant impact on students because they are getting in the way of important events and moments in their lives, and also students tend to overly stress themselves due to several reasons such as over-valuing grades. As a student myself, I believe that grades have an impact on our lives because time management becomes a major …show more content…

So all in all, in the process of trying to achieve high grades, student neglect relationships, moralities, and happiness. In essence, the notion that high grades lead to a successful life compels students to primarily focus on grades and sacrifice sleep, family, religious beliefs, and other necessities to

Show More
Related
462 Words | 2 Pages

How to Escape the Community College Trap In the article “How to Escape the Community College Trap” written by Ann Hulbert. She explains her thoughts and opinions on community college. Her primary topic of discussion is about a program through a community college in New York called asap. Asap is a program that gives opportunities to lower income students. She explores how it compares to regular community colleges and ivy schools such as Harvard.

Read More
511 Words | 3 Pages

Sherry goes on and explains why we think it is right to sometimes excuse students who cheat the system because they come from terrible environments, but then goes on to conclude that “most kids don’t put school first on their list unless they perceive something else is at stake.” I think this is why there is a UIL rule at a lot of schools with a “no pass no play” policy. Students who are involved in extracurricular activities then have a reason to strive to pass. Sherry believes that “people of all ages can rise above their problems, but they need a reason to do so.”

Read More
347 Words | 2 Pages

I feel that one’s grades show a lot about their character, dedication and determination along with several other

Read More
556 Words | 3 Pages

Many students work hard to obtain the best test scores and achieve “Straight A’s” in order to have a better chance of attending their dream college. Schools and parents often encourage children from a young age to perform their best and challenge themselves. Often the students who strive for excellence live their dream of

Read More
1105 Words | 5 Pages

Synthesis Essay: Grade Inflation Grade inflation is a problem because it gives students a false sense of their ability to perform. For a student 's future, grade inflation means not having to put in the same amount of effort to achieve the grade they would want from high school and college. Grade inflation can be seen as a negative thing; it increased during the Vietnam War, when students became consumers in colleges, creates an easy path for advanced students, and can negatively affect the younger generation. A possible solution would be to slowly decrease the grade inflation, maybe so minimalist that it isn 't clearly noticed.

Read More
985 Words | 4 Pages

First high achieving students grades are what keep them focused and motivated in school. On the other end of the spectrum are students who simply do not have the willpower or drive to earn high marks in school. There are students who focus who too much on grades, and by doing this end up memorizing the material being taught and not absorbing. They are like little robots spouting facts and information, but not being able to truly comprehend its meaning.

Read More
762 Words | 4 Pages

The Grading System: Completely Necessary Grades are an important part of the school system. Grades set the extraordinary students apart from the ordinary ones. In Jerry Farber’s essay, “A Young Person’s Guide to the Grading System,” he argues that grades are the only motivation students have in school. Farber even calls it “phony motivation.” He argues that students do not actually learn anything.

Read More
804 Words | 4 Pages

Grades are one of the biggest stresses in middle school. With all of the big tests and the fear that if you fail then your whole future is ruined. Also most kids feel that they are always doing something for school, whether it is studying or homework they often feel the urge to cheat on them. Most schools are based on standardized tests and how well you do on them, middle schoolers are very stressed on a regular bases. Grades can cause many different things to happen to students like loads of stress.

Read More
763 Words | 4 Pages

Angel B. Perez in the article “Want to Get Into College? Learn to fail” argues that colleges aren’t always looking for perfect student, or students that scores good. Perez supports his argument by explaining to his readers that perfection does not exist. He also tells the reader that just because we make errors in high school doesn't really mean that it’s going to define us in the future. The author’s purpose is to point out the benefits of going into college, in order to show the reader that perfection isn’t what colleges look for.

Read More
1099 Words | 5 Pages

Way back when: parents knew when to be responsible for their children’s academic accomplishments – and students themselves – this seems to have diminished completely. the times have completely changed, nowadays, many people AKA ignorant parents, believe that it is the high school itself, teachers, and the government that are responsible for students getting good grade because the arrogance and sense of pride levels have risen so much, they are too prideful to believe their child could possibly fail and it be their fault. Before, when you got an F, your parents would blame you, ground you, and make you write “ill do my homework” 100 times on a piece of paper; today, they would rather take the time out of their day, go to your school and demand

Read More
1019 Words | 5 Pages

In Ann Hulbert’s article “ How to escape the community college trap” the author uses Daquan McGee as a representation as to why going to a community college may not be as beneficial as many people facing hardships may think. Daquan McGee was a community college student attending the Borough of Manhattan Community College due to financial and personal hardships. Many students who enroll into a community college often share this similarity in being a person of either lower social standing or a person of hardship. These hardships may include having a child at an early age, being imprisoned, death of a family member, financial hardship, weak support system or poor prior schooling. My mother being a person of hardship who had to quit attending community college faced having a child, financial hardship due to medical expenses as well as poor grades while attending high school.

Read More
249 Words | 1 Pages

In Kurt Wiesenfeld’s article “Making the Grade”, he address the issue that students want a higher grade than they deserve. He goes on to prove this be by giving examples of previous students that he has had and what can happen when students get the grades that they want and not what they deserve. In Wiesenfeld’s article he states that about ten percent of students that take his class do not care about their grades until final grades are over. “You might groan and moan, but you accepted it as the outcome of your efforts or lack thereof,” Wiesenfeld stated.

Read More
1083 Words | 5 Pages

Students become “obsessed with their studies” and nothing else becomes important (Zinsser). This produces an accumulation of students who don’t spend time to do extracurricular activities. The mixture of pressure from peers and from one’s self allows a chain of events that lead to undesirable

Read More
1025 Words | 5 Pages

Have you ever wondered how grades actually do help students throughout their career in school? Yes, many do believe grades do not help, can cause stress to students overall making them perform at a lesser level and sometimes some believe that school isn’t even needed at all in a child’s life. Grades can affect a student’s learning and constant low grades can bring them down and their mindset of just being a below average student. However, grades do help students by showing the student’s progress in school whether they are doing good or bad and grades give a goal to get a better grade by trying harder to get that grade a student wants. First, grades show progress to everyone besides just the student.

Read More
1204 Words | 5 Pages

Grades are said to drive students to push themselves even more, yet it is not entirely true. Some students cheat, causing their grades to fly high, and that doesn’t reflect wit at all. In a survey of 24,000 students at 70 high schools, Donald McCabe (Rutgers University) found that 64 percent of students admitted to cheating on a test, 58 percent for plagiarism, and 95 percent for some other form of cheating. (Facts) This proves that grades are more likely to cause students to cheat than to motivate

Read More

More about How Not To Get Into College By Alfie Kohn Summary

Related Topics

Open Document