Stressful scholarships

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BYU is known for being a great school where one can receive a strong education to help prepare them to enter the job field. BYU also knows how to keep their students on their toes by enforcing a high standard for academic scholarships. As a result of this high standard, many students take easier professors and avoid difficult classes, thus hindering their chances of gaining the best education possible.

I frequently see friends who deny the opportunity to push themselves because they need to maintain a high GPA for their scholarships. They do this by finding the easiest classes to fulfill their general education requirements and then find the easiest teachers for their prerequisites or their major’s requirements.

So the question I would ask is, do they really deserve a scholarship? Does a student who is trying to find the easy way out deserve a scholarship over a student who desires to learn by taking more complex classes?

I believe the solution is simple. If BYU were to lower the GPA for a full-tuition scholarship from a 3.9 to a 3.7, this would reduce the pressure upon students. By reducing this pressure, students would feel encouraged to take more difficult classes and have the desire to truly learn and stretch themselves to their highest potential. A 3.7 GPA would still remain competitive, yet possible for a hard-working student. It would reward those who are excellent students and also encourage them to take more challenging courses.

Michael White
Mapleton

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