In college, it feels like everyone is chasing the same number, their GPA. It’s on transcripts, in scholarship emails or criteria and also in conversation with peers. I have also heard that it matters, determines opportunities and a high GPA proves we are capable. But somewhere along the way, the want and desire of a perfect score can start to feel overwhelming and like a trap.

I have spent sleepless nights over a single assignment, skipped social time and even self care just to protect and maintain that GPA. I feel a strange scariness when a grade is about to be released. Sometimes, I also go into a deep feeling of guilt if a grade comes lower than expected, wondering what I am really worth. I fall into a mental war, blaming myself that I could have done it better if I studied for one more hour instead of going to bed.

Now if I think about it, I realize the problem is not grades themselves, it’s what they have come to present. GPA has started to present individual evaluation.

When GPA becomes the measure of self-worth, stress and anxiety come lurking with it. Students start comparing themselves constantly, measuring their grades as success and failure against others. Learning stops being about curiosity or growth, it becomes about moves to keep the GPA higher.

During exam week, the ambition for getting that answer correct and scoring that one point even by blindly memorizing it is more important than actually understanding the concept. In this process, the joy of learning and excitement of discovery that make college meaningful and a true place of education can fall sideways.

I believe this obsession is harmful not just because it adds stress, but because it teaches us the wrong lesson. Life is not a transcript. Creativity, collaboration, empathy and all other soft skills rarely appear on a GPA, but these really define the quality of a person and the impact you have on society. When we are too attentive on grade, we risk the quality of actual learning, understanding and being a better educated person. 

Universities and students individually need to rethink what success means. We should celebrate efforts and learning just as much as achievement in numbers. Students should not feel as if their value is tied to grade point. College students should understand it’s okay to stumble and focus on personal wellbeing as part of their education.

GPA is a part of education not the whole education. While grades measure academic performance, they do not capture other life skills people learn outside of the classroom or even inside the classroom which was just not asked in the exam paper.

In this competitive world, GPA does matter but it should not consume our lives. If we can shift our mindset from grades to growth, college can become a place students thrive, not just survive.

Edited by Bidhya Sapkota and Arohi Rai