I was rejected today. Or rather, my internship application was politely declined using the most cordial of blandly complimentary fluff. Neurological studies say that the brain processes rejection with the same regions it uses to handle physical pain. Which I guess means I feel a little like the letter punched me in the face.
I look at the email with chagrin and think I should have gone somewhere else, maybe Harvard.
I won’t claim that I could have been accepted at Harvard. What I do know is that, by choosing to come to Hillsdale rather than the University of Minnesota, my education benefited and my grades suffered. I doubt there are many students here who could speak differently.
Hillsdale provides a good education, not a good GPA. By the time we graduate, we can joke about Aristotle and roll our eyes at nerdy Latin humor. Our professors have demanded much from us, and we strive and struggle to provide it. Virtue rejoices in the challenge.
Every major has its horror stories. My friends in Classics speak of fervid exam review, knowing that if they did not do well enough, they would get their tests back with completed drop cards stapled to the front. I have my own share of stories of the “Jackson C” and the “Somerville C,” both of which merely demonstrate that you produced good college-level work.
Taken in isolation, this is a valid standard. But if Hillsdale wishes to prepare students for graduate education, its grading policies can never be taken in isolation.
Several years ago, the Collegian published an article on Hillsdale’s grading policy. Campus administration defended the policy by comparing Hillsdale’s average GPA to those at other Michigan colleges, including Grand Valley State University and Hope College. The comparison was intended to show that Hillsdale’s grades were not a statistical anomaly.
At the same time, Hillsdale does not aim to compete with regional schools, but rather seeks to meet the standards of top tier universities. Ironically, their average GPAs are much higher. Last December, the Harvard Crimson, its student newspaper, reported that, “the median grade at Harvard College is an A-, and the most frequently awarded mark is an A.” The same article also noted that 62 percent of grades at Yale fell into the A- range. The university set a goal of limiting the number of students graduating with honors to 60 percent.
What this means is that Hillsdale grades more strictly than top-tier Ivy League schools. Unfortunately, we don’t have the name recognition to go with it. Somewhere around 260 students have submitted applications to graduate in May. Even if each and every one of them intended to go to graduate school, medical school or law school, they are too few to allow the college to become known for its academic rigor.
Ironically this problem is only exacerbated by the sort of grading which drives intelligent students away from applying to top programs due to their GPAs. Hillsdale students are forced to aim lower because they were held to a higher standard.
Many professors try to help students by explaining the college’s grading policy through letters of recommendation. Yet even with stellar test scores, many applications are rejected before such letters are even opened, automatically discarded because they did not meet the GPA threshold. As I speak to other seniors, I catch a refrain: “I know I can impress in an interview, but I don’t know if my grades are good enough to get one.”
This is the trouble with the college’s current approach to grades. We can pretend that the scale can be shifted and that institutions and employers will recognize the value of a Hillsdale education, but many will only look at the numbers.
In short, the trouble with the “Jackson C” is that once it goes onto my transcript, the only name on it is mine.
I can’t claim to know the answer to this problem. If I were to discover that all of my professors this term gave me A’s solely because I wrote this column, I would be disappointed, because I would know that I hadn’t earned them.
Still, the college should consider what its goals are. If it intends to help foster a renaissance of conservative thinking in higher education, it should not hamstring its students with an archaic grading policy that prevents them from exploring certain careers.
The decision is not mine to make though. I’ll stick to sending out applications, while questing after unicorns and the elusive Jackson A. I’ll tell you which one I find first.
