By Miles Hayter ’24
Balancing academic and extracurricular efforts is a challenge, and with the inflation of GPAs and the increased difficulty of college admission standards, pressure is always rising for students to perform well.
As the saying goes, hindsight is always 20/20. So, before leaving St. Andrew’s, the seniors of the Class of 2024 reflected on their academic efforts and how they handled the growing academic demands of college admission.
Senior Leila Edu reflected on her academic effort saying, “Junior year I took on a lot more academically rigorous courses than I could take on, and it led me to not have as much of a social life and therefore do as well in my classes.”
Edu said that rigorous courses are important, but that students should only take classes that they are interested in so they do not overwhelm themselves with a heavy workload.
“If I could go back, I would take more regular classes so I could do better overall in my classes,” she said.
Senior Andrew Saavedra, a well-rounded student and artist, believes that both academics and extracurriculars play an important role in high school development.
“I did have a good balance between academics and extracurriculars,” he said. He also stated that not all students can reach the highest grade and that is fine as long as they put in their best effort and complete their work.
Senior Kevin Hallagan, a student-athlete, also thinks that having extracurricular activities can have a positive effect on school performance. “It made me more disciplined and gave me something to focus on,” he said. Hallagan said he was able to handle the academic pressure by finding other activities to spend his time doing and by listening to music. He along with Edu and Saavedra agreed that finding enjoyable extracurriculars is one of the best ways to handle the stress of school.
From the administrative perspective, while admissions have gotten more difficult, grades at St.Andrew’s have stayed relatively the same. Ms. Porterfield, College Counseling Assistant, said, “Our grades have stayed fairly consistent.” She accredits this to the small classroom environment, good teachers, and the fact that St. Andrew’s is a college preparatory school.
Ms. Porterfield did note that grades are critical for college admissions. “If your GPA is low you might not even get a second look to see if you are interesting or bringing something else,” she said.
Despite this, she acknowledges that not every student may get all As. “If your best ability is a C fine, if your best Ability is an A fine, but you should work to the best of your ability.”
Mr. Gerelus, director of college counseling, acknowledges that grade inflation has played a large factor in the college admissions landscape. “The grade inflation has led to a different landscape of admissions because of all these students with these exorbitantly high GPAs,” he said.
He does encourage students to still take academically challenging courses, saying “Students should focus on getting the best grade in the class they can knowing there is a net of help if needed. [This] gives the students the flexibility to try and do the best they can.”
Although GPAs have risen over the past couple of years, academic excellence still runs through St. Andrew’s and the continuance of support systems has helped students to continue to succeed amidst more difficult times.