Everything in Moderation: GPA, Grade Anxiety, and the Academic Toll

University of Canterbury’s Puaka-James Hight Library from the UCSA. Source: Madilin Macpherson / Canta.  

Tertiary students are facing many challenges. Rent, the cost of groceries, and most are worried about the economy, or the climate, or the job market - if not all three. But one of the biggest issues for University students stems directly from university itself. Where academic-pressure and grade contingencies are core anxieties for many students, especially those in conditional entry courses or academic scholarships, for which GPA is trump card. 

In first-year, conditional entry courses are battles to be won, and being accepted into my journalism major felt like winning a war. Course entry demanded a CV, a portfolio, interview, writing test; and my own personal fixation, a strong GPA. And now that exams are behind us all and I get to ask the questions, not hurry to answer them with a foggy brain, and a clock on the wall rapidly losing time, I’ve been wondering: was it worth it?  

The late nights, the tears, hours fettered cramming, the rite of passage that is breaking down on Level 4 of the library. Spiraling in pursuit of a GPA which is either entirely arbitrary, or all-important, depending on who you ask.  

Was it all worth it? I desperately want to say yes. But maybe the answer is: only in moderation.  

Eva Gibson, now a second-year student majoring in speech and language pathology, was once a first-year who went through a rigorous application and grading process, submitting a CV, a formal interview, and crucially, maintaining a B grade average to progress. 

“It’s a professional degree, so it’s definitely a lot of pressure” said Eva, and successful acceptance after first-year doesn't always guarantee that a student will be able to complete the degree. Maintaining a B grade average is required every year of study, in order to progress to the next, but in such a content specific degree, transferring to something new is almost impossible. 

An overemphasis on grades can be highly reductive, abridging student success to a measurable academic benchmark. According to Luc Mackay, UCSA President, “I think the value in grades is that they provide an objective test of someone’s knowledge. They act as a baseline”, but as grade anxiety spikes over exams, many students are questioning how much pressure is motivating, and how much is completely overwhelming.  

An unnamed, University of Canterbury spokesperson, said that although “grades are important for motivation and fair comparison among students, at UC we also believe it’s important to consider other factors”.  

Daniel Ramsey is a civil engineering student, who says that despite grade-pressure, “I hope other things can be more important. Especially in civil, personal skills mean a lot”.  

Skills outside of those graded are often neglected by the academic emphasis on GPA and number grades, and according to Eva, “The hardest part is you can be a wonderful speech pathologist, but not be meeting that grade-boundary. If you’re passing, and you have a great bedside manner, the grade conditions are arbitrary.” 

As cohort numbers drop after first-year, Eva added that in emphasising grade margins, the degree is “losing really valuable students in the process”, as many switch disciplines due to academic-pressure.  

UCSA President Luc Mackay added, “there are always valuable students who get lost, but we lose less and less due to support programs”. Luc says he is very proud of the student rep system, which helps to monitor existing courses, and when new courses are developed. 

“UCSA is heavily involved in that process, to make sure the course load is actually achievable”. Luc stresses that grade conditions are “not there as a barrier”. However, academic challenges can regress quickly into academic deterrents. 

Eva adds that maintaining a work/life balance has become increasingly difficult, and the course load has her lamenting, ‘no more family holidays!’. I understand that time commitment is important, but how much sacrifice is too much sacrifice?”.  

Personally, I’d say that much. Giving up time with family, friends, partners; giving up holidays or semester breaks - that’s a lot of sacrifice for a work/life balance that is less balanced, more seesaw, with one arm up in the sky, and the other dug deep into the sand.  

According to Caleb Cooper, second-year software engineering student, the course load is “a lot of work, not much life”. Grade contingent courses can take a huge toll on aspiring students, and engineering qualifications are notorious for their strict grade policies and competitive entry - and for their grading curves.  

UC spokesperson also acknowledges that “overemphasis on grades alone may not fully capture a student's potential or abilities beyond academics”, and reference the 2023 Te Kakau a Māui scholarships, as the first scholarship of scale in New Zealand “that didn’t filter students by their grade”. Instead, the scholarship evaluated “their willingness to give back to their communities”, and considered personal achievements, or extracurricular involvement.  

And yet, retaining the “community-based” scholarship is entirely grade contingent, and the scholarship may be withdrawn, and paid funds recovered, if the recipient cannot maintain ‘satisfactory academic progress’; the maintenance of a 5-point GPA, or a B grade average. The academic expectations are incredibly rigid, and for many students, conditional courses and conditional scholarships, which should feel like academic opportunities, often feel like an academic burden instead. 

Sneha Pardeshi, who volunteers as a homebase leader and mentor for the scholarship, says that grade anxiety impacts student life significantly.  

“That’s really obvious. Academic pressures are very course dependent, but it can be so overwhelming”.  

Sneha points to the value of grade emphasis as a measure of consistent performance but says that a lot of first-year students don't know where to reach out when that import becomes overwhelming. 

Sneha, now working as a UC Employer Engagement Advisor, says that a huge amount of academic-pressure comes from fears about industry success. “Students are competing with so many people for industry roles, and they stress to get competitive grades”, which might set them apart for employers, and Caleb Cooper, software engineering student, says that he is prioritizing career outcome over university experience, and he’s focused on pursuing job opportunities, rather than choosing courses for passion or enjoyment.  

But work requirements are “another major stress”, for students who are trying to maintain competitive GPA’s. Engineering students require 800 work-hours to graduate, but Caleb revealed that “most companies I’ve gone to have turned me away because they’re not interested in second-year students. They’re asking for more experience, and it’s hard to get a foot in the door”.  

A lot of the grade-pressure comes from “competing with other students for placement in the same discipline”, according to Daniel, and an anonymous 3rd year student who is majoring in biochemistry, agrees that course grades “feel ‘make or break’, especially when there’s so much internal competition, and limited entry to grad programs”.  

For students who feel similarly overwhelmed, there are pastoral care services directed by UC.  

Anna Clinch is a Law student who said, “I feel like I’ve experienced quite a good amount, and witnessed quite a good amount, of pastoral care around uni”, especially as a PALS student, who really valued the collaborative program. But Law is also a highly competitive degree, and there is a lot of pressure to achieve highly, and demonstrate a rather unflinching work ethic. Anna says that recognising grades may be more about recognising commitment.  

“Maybe there’s not value in emphasising grades so strongly. But it takes a lot of dedication to get those grades, and that might be the logic and reasoning behind the grade performance requirements.” 

“I think it might be more to do with work ethic to be completely honest. Which is not necessarily accurate, because you can put in a lot of work and still not be getting those A+’s,” continued Clinch.  

Ultimately, grading systems measure the output, not the input. Grades don’t always reflect the work that goes into an assessment, or the hours poured into a tricky course, and they don’t always capture passion, dedication, or work ethic.  

And if you are struggling to reach the grades you were hoping for, if you love your degree, but just hate exams, Luc offers some advice, “It’s not because you’re not any good. It’s because academia is hard!”.  

Sneha notes that pastoral care at UC has improved significantly in the last few years, “but because the university is so big, there will always be scope for improvement”.  

Academic pressures can be highly motivating, or they can be incredibly destructive. Strive for the grades you want, apply for conditional courses and scholarships and grad programs, be proud of your GPA! But remember there will be far more to your career than your degree, and there is far more to your degree than your grades.