Grade obsession

Grades and assessment have such far-reaching consequences that it underscores the importance of making sure that they are fair and that they assess the correct things. Many undergraduates get very anxious, and understandably so, about grading because so much depends on it for them. If they are planning on applying to any sort of graduate or professional school, grades are critical, as well as their scores on whatever entrance examination they need to take, which is a whole other story. Grade obsession begins early in schooling for the student intending to go to college and beyond, and many times students become so focused on grades that there is no emphasis on learning, only on producing a GPA. Then, when they make it to whatever graduate or professional school they wanted to go to, they forget that they are there to learn the material and obsess over grades. This is not surprising. The students that are grade-obsessed are the ones who are selected to go to medical school, for example. So are these students with over 20 years of experience in worrying predominantly about grades supposed to just forget this and suddenly change their goals from performance to mastery? True mastery of material is something that needs to be emphasized all through school, from kindergarten to PhD.