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If that's how you feel then why didn't you prioritize clear and cogent communication of your own thoughts when engaging with the course? It sounds like you pri

If that's how you feel then why didn't you prioritize clear and cogent communication of your own thoughts when engaging with the course? It sounds like you prioritized maxing your GPA per unit of effort instead of engaging with the material in the way that's most beneficial to you. Why on earth would you ever write an essay that's just meaningless jargon to you? What on earth were you expecting to learn? The same thing happens in STEM courses. Three examples: 1. Projects. If your project incorporates the professor's research priorities/interests you can get away with way less work, but will also get less out of the course. 2. Programming assignments in CS. Professors rarely assign open problems; they're almost always assigning variants of important solved problems. Students will often look up the paper or wiki article where the original solution was described and then copy the algorithm and/or proof. This often results in high marks for low levels of effort. 3. There's an even better analogy in Mathematics, where students sometimes learn how to parrot the structure/rhetoric in proofs instead of actually learning the mathematics. Professors often don't do a careful enough job grading and give these proofs high marks because they sound correct and are mostly correct. However, it's clear from a second glance that the student has no idea wtf they're saying. Students prioritizing low-effort parroting instead of seriously engaging with the material is pervasive in CS and Mathematics. Some of that blame lies with the professor, and when students never learn that parroting/memorization is bad, I guess that's a huge failure of the entire education system (K-12 through higher ed). But IMO students who know that's the game they are playing (e.g., writing jargon-laden essays instead of writing in a way that is true to their own voice) don't have a lot of room to then complain that all they learned was how to play the "max GPA for min effort" game...

joefourier 8y ago
Clear and cogent communication of my own thoughts lead to me having lower grades. Lower grades lead to fewer opportunities - less chances of getting a scholarship, recommendation, access to certain programs, etc. It depends on what you seek from university. Unfortunately at the undergraduate level, its role has largely shifted from a place of learning into a provider of credentials that act as a signal to employers. With the high cost of tuition (especially in the USA), you want a good return on your investment, not waste your time engaging with the material at the detriment of your chances of success. It seems a far better strategy to maximize your GPA while spending the least possible amount of time on the assigned material, in order to have time to pursue your own interests and be able to more effectively learn the things you want to learn.
- throwawayjava 8y ago
  This post only reinforces my point: GPA hacking is an intentional choice on the part of students, and GPA hacking is not specific to the humanities. You got nothing out of your humanities courses. The fault was not in your courses but in yourself. You certainly could have chosen to improve your prose, refine your theses, and strengthen the presentation of your arguments. Instead, you chose to GPA hack. One of the great things about university is that you get what you put into it. Students who choose to invest in credentialism get credentials. Students who choose to invest in an education get an education. You got what you very explicitly chose to get! The sad irony, by the way, is that your perceived downsides are rare and GPA hacking backfires. I have never heard of a faculty member refusing to write a letter for an engaged student just because they received a B or even a C; however, I've heard plenty of stories about faculty writing lackluster letters or even refusing to write letters for students who were very clearly GPA hacking. Perhaps most importantly, your original post was written as an indict of humanities courses. In my post, I pointed out that GPA hacking is also possible in STEM fields. Your latest post justifies GPA hacking by appealing to the credential-granting role of higher education. Your argument justifies GPA hacking not only in the humanities but also in STEM fields. A common saying in education is that cheaters mostly rob from themselves. IMO the same is true for GPA hackers. One final tangential note about this excerpt from your post: > With the high cost of tuition (especially in the USA), you want a good return on your investment, not waste your time engaging with the material at the detriment of your chances of success... It seems a far better strategy to maximize your GPA while spending the least possible amount of time on the assigned material, in order to have time to pursue your own interests and be able to more effectively learn the things you want to learn. Doesn't this place you in a bit of a double bind? If you know better than the faculty, then GPA hacking isn't required because you already know the material. If you don't know better than the faculty, then it's very likely that you are frittering away your time on fads instead of focusing on fundamentals.
  - joefourier 8y ago
    It all depends on your goals, I agree. You can certainly use university as a means to come out a better educated, well-rounded citizen, or simply a method of acquiring the credentials necessary to get hired. If you can afford the former, great, but for many, it may be come across as a luxury.

joefourier 8y ago

Clear and cogent communication of my own thoughts lead to me having lower grades. Lower grades lead to fewer opportunities - less chances of getting a scholarship, recommendation, access to certain programs, etc. It depends on what you seek from university. Unfortunately at the undergraduate level, its role has largely shifted from a place of learning into a provider of credentials that act as a signal to employers. With the high cost of tuition (especially in the USA), you want a good return on your investment, not waste your time engaging with the material at the detriment of your chances of success. It seems a far better strategy to maximize your GPA while spending the least possible amount of time on the assigned material, in order to have time to pursue your own interests and be able to more effectively learn the things you want to learn.

throwawayjava 8y ago
This post only reinforces my point: GPA hacking is an intentional choice on the part of students, and GPA hacking is not specific to the humanities. You got nothing out of your humanities courses. The fault was not in your courses but in yourself. You certainly could have chosen to improve your prose, refine your theses, and strengthen the presentation of your arguments. Instead, you chose to GPA hack. One of the great things about university is that you get what you put into it. Students who choose to invest in credentialism get credentials. Students who choose to invest in an education get an education. You got what you very explicitly chose to get! The sad irony, by the way, is that your perceived downsides are rare and GPA hacking backfires. I have never heard of a faculty member refusing to write a letter for an engaged student just because they received a B or even a C; however, I've heard plenty of stories about faculty writing lackluster letters or even refusing to write letters for students who were very clearly GPA hacking. Perhaps most importantly, your original post was written as an indict of humanities courses. In my post, I pointed out that GPA hacking is also possible in STEM fields. Your latest post justifies GPA hacking by appealing to the credential-granting role of higher education. Your argument justifies GPA hacking not only in the humanities but also in STEM fields. A common saying in education is that cheaters mostly rob from themselves. IMO the same is true for GPA hackers. One final tangential note about this excerpt from your post: > With the high cost of tuition (especially in the USA), you want a good return on your investment, not waste your time engaging with the material at the detriment of your chances of success... It seems a far better strategy to maximize your GPA while spending the least possible amount of time on the assigned material, in order to have time to pursue your own interests and be able to more effectively learn the things you want to learn. Doesn't this place you in a bit of a double bind? If you know better than the faculty, then GPA hacking isn't required because you already know the material. If you don't know better than the faculty, then it's very likely that you are frittering away your time on fads instead of focusing on fundamentals.
- joefourier 8y ago
  It all depends on your goals, I agree. You can certainly use university as a means to come out a better educated, well-rounded citizen, or simply a method of acquiring the credentials necessary to get hired. If you can afford the former, great, but for many, it may be come across as a luxury.