College students screw up. It’s in our nature and generally just part of being young. Blame it on immaturity, a lack of foresight, or simply laziness. We’re bound to make bad decisions, and then live with the consequences. Poor decisions can be especially taxing when they affect our grades, and subsequently, our ability to transfer.
The college’s new policy on dropping bad grades provides a welcome relief, especially in a climate where it’s getting increasingly difficult to transfer.
The community college system hasn’t done students too many favors in recent years. Tuition has increased, tutors and counselors have been cut, and required classes are harder to get into.
But City College administration deserves major kudos this time around. The new policy will truly help students reach the promised land of a four-year school.
The new system eases requirements on the policy that allows students to drop Ds and Fs from their transcripts, just so long as the class isn’t required for their transfer.
We all know that getting into a good college has never been harder. Tuition is up, and acceptance rates are down. UCSB, where thousands of City College students hope to transfer, has raised their required GPA to 3.2.
The margin for error among transfer students is razor thin. Cs are no longer an option, let alone Ds and Fs.
The difficult transition into higher education can catch students by surprise.
Many students at City College come here straight out of high school, and adjusting to college life can be hard to say the least. Between living away from home, managing school, work, and a social life, some bad grades are almost inevitable.
Mistakes made as a wide-eyed college student shouldn’t weigh you down for the rest of your academic career.
Critics of the policy worry students will party away a semester and then simply wipe out their awful grades once the hangover subsides.
While this may be the case for some students who choose to abuse the system, the positives far outweigh the negatives.
Well-meaning students who hit a bump in the road at some point will be able to polish up their otherwise solid transcripts.
Think of how much better your GPA would look without that D you got during your first-year art class. Or the F from when you decided it’d be fun to learn Arabic, but then overslept on the day of your final.
Things happen, we’ve all been there.
This policy will be beneficial to the college as well. Transfer rates should rise, which eases the burden of overcrowded classrooms.
Responsibility and accountability are still obviously important to anyone who wishes to succeed in their personal endeavors. But, to quote Alexander Pope, “To err is human, to forgive divine.”
With the sorry state of higher education in California, it’s about time we get a little divine intervention.
