Does anyone realize what is going to happen to the Class of 1998 come senior year? Basically, we are going to get screwed as a class in terms of GPA awards like cum laude, magna cum laude, suma cum laude and phi beta kappa.
Why? Because the number of these awards is calculated according to the GPA of the previous class.
At first, that doesn't sound that bad, I mean, not to be disrespectful, but the '97s are not particularly smarter than us. The only real difference is that we've been forced to fulfill new distributive requirements like?
We were the guinea pig class of Dartmouth, forced to take more classes outside our majors to fulfill requirements that no one understood, especially the College's so-called academic advisers.
The only thing anyone did understand is that our requirements were a lot more difficult. And that means lower GPAs for '98s.
Because of the new distributives, our class could end up with an average GPA that is a tenth of a point lower than the '97's average GPA. But the minimum standards for honors will stay high, based on the average GPA of the Class of 1997.
Instead of the top 35 percent of our class being cum laude next Spring, perhaps only 25 percent will be. Instead of the top 15 percent being magna cum laude, maybe it'll be only ten percent, and so on down the line.
In the long run, these numbers will come back and stabilize. The Class of 1999 will be OK, as their honors standards will be based on us '98s who took the same distributives as they did to graduate.
So, from the College's standpoint, they're is no need to worry. That is why no one has discussed this issue. It's not that they didn't realize it; they must have (assuming that they are intelligent people worthy of holding their positions). They just didn't care.
Hey, why didn't anyone tell me this when I was applying? We all know why.
Could the College prevent this problem from occurring? Yes. All it would have to do is figure out exactly what the effects of the new requirements are on student GPAs by comparing the '98's GPAs with the '97's GPAs. Then the College could devise a way to compensate for the discrepancy. It would only take a committee or two, a statistician or two, and some time and money.
The question is, does the College care enough? Obviously, forming a committee isn't a big deal. In fact administrators seem to like it. And I know good statisticians are out there because I'm taking a statistics class.
But the administration has shown zero desire to take action. It has no qualms with screwing the Class of 1998; it has done so repeatedly already by changing Dartmouth Dining Services and changing the housing system to screw sophomores after our freshman year.
The only solution is for us students, us '98s, to get together. We can organize through class council, student assembly, or create a new group, and put this gripe on the agenda.
If we fail to do so, we will not receive our deserved honors. I'm up for it. Who else is? We need a captain; we need leadership, but most of all, we need a desire. Apathy will not change the status quo.
