GPA Should Not Be the Only Basis for College Admission

One of the primary causes of stress during a potential college student's senior year in high school is admission. Not all of us know the admissions process and how it varies between colleges and their competitiveness levels. But what we do know is how high the significance of the grade point average (GPA) is. What most universities do not ask is how these GPAs came to be. Many students miss out on the opportunity to attend colleges based on this cumulative number. So while we come to the conclusion that a greater GPA correlates to a greater chance of admission, we ought to ask ourselves, "Is this fair?" No, GPAs should not be the main factor determining college admission because. They do not take in account how the economic status of a person impacted their high school performance.

It is generally understood that students encounter academic obstacles no matter. What high school they attend. As economic status is defined as a specific measure of an individual. And his or her family]'s social position in society. As a result of their income (compared to others). We must make the assumption that everybody approaches these obstacles in different ways. A lot of the time, colleges will support their own decision to stick with averages because they state that everyone incurs problems and the toughest ones can push through the hardships if school is truly deemed important to them. Despite the fact that students should challenge themselves, we have to recognize that there are some who were never taught to do so. Let's say we have two students, high economic status student, student A, who attends a prestigious private school and is taught to work through difficult schoolwork and classes, and low economic status student, student B, who attends a regular public high school and quits when schoolwork becomes too challenging.

Before all else, it costs a tremendous amount of money to attend a private school because of its ability to higher a student's chances of college admission. Students who attend these schools are much more likely to persevere for reasons such as having highly qualified teachers, smaller classes, and their focus on personal development. Even then, if these students still do not understand, they can hire a private tutor. The resources that a student has become limited the lower the economic status. Since private schools and tutors come at a price that not everybody can afford, universities should not favor student A, whose family has the funds to take advantage of this opportunity, over student B, whose family does not. This would occur when colleges decide that student A has more academic capability to learn in a competitive environment than student B based on the GPA they accrued. Because of some family's monetary advantages, others are prejudiced against as shown by their GPAs. Not all students have equal opportunity as a consequence of their economic backgrounds, so as universities rely heavily on GPA, they misinterpret the intelligence or potential a student has to be successful.

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In Hrabowski's writing, "Colleges Prepare People for Life," one of his main ideas is that college is essential in the progression of an individual (259-262). He might agree to the notion that GPAs should not be the main factor determining college admission because college itself is extremely important. If GPAs determine college admission, students with lower economic statuses already begin at a disadvantage. Those whose parents graduated from a university not only have more money, but also have a greater expectation to do the same compared to others whose parents did not graduate from a university. Assuming that going to college is not financially risky for higher economic families, it can now be thought of as tradition. Oppositely, lower economic status families who are not familiar with competitive academic environments might present college as out of reach for their student since it was for them, their parents, and so on. Without growing up with such pressure and influence associated with college, a student may not realize that they want to go to a university until it is too late. "Too late" in this context means that, if in high school, their GPA will not fit college requirements and they will not be described as college-material. When colleges use GPA in college admissions, they can destroy a student's potential substantially because of their economic status.

Charles Murray, who sides with the use of GPA in college admission, suggests that percentiles display a true measure of academic capability (239-240). While most students shine on the assessments (that contribute to their GPA) due to their expensive resources, universities become filled to the brim with privileged, high economic status high school graduates who only have decent work ethics, when really, they could be filled with more kids who are working just as hard or harder for the opportunity to simply be admitted. This idea would take work ethic and motivation into account of admission. Colleges assume that they are only admitting students with these traits because of their GPAs, but considering how economic status can affect academic performance, some admitted students are not utilizing their opportunity whereas some rejected students could have.

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