Another chaotic fall semester has begun, and St. Edward’s University has been making a lot of changes. From renovating the lawn in front of the library to updating buildings — our school is stepping up its game in terms of aesthetics.

However, one thing that I cannot get comfortable with is the new grading policy. Starting this semester, all classes are being graded on a plus/minus grading system, as if we didn’t already have enough to worry about with the switch to Canvas and Blackboard being down for the past two weeks. Maybe it’s because I’m not the type of person who handles change very well, or maybe it’s because I see this change directly impacting my five-year plan. Either way, I don’t think this is a campus change that I can get behind.

For those of you who are still a little confused on this whole concept, fear not, because I have done some research for you. Basically, this grading system means that the drastic differences between letter grades will not be as harsh anymore. Though it does make it harder for you to get a 4.0 GPA.

According to the Rutgers University Senate, the cut off for an A is a 95 versus a  90. This means that getting a grade 90-94 would be an A-, which is not equivalent to a 4.0 GPA anymore. This doesn’t seem like a big deal now but it is not going to be nice when you get your transcript and it says your GPA is a 3.67 instead of a 4.0.

A main reason for a university to switch to a plus/minus grading system is to increase student differentiation, which means getting students to be more competitive with each other and making it easier for faculty members to grade. But is this really about student body competition? Who is supposed to benefit from this change?

Another reason for this change might be to inspire students to learn more, but is this really the best way to do that? Doesn’t this add pressure to us students, who are already so burdened about how our grades are going to impact the rest of our lives and affect our future endeavors? Do we really need to worry about these tick marks on our transcripts, as if our plates aren’t already full enough?

The group of students that are going to be hit the hardest with this system are those with higher GPAs, and those wanting to further their education past undergraduate school. This whole system is simply going to make it harder to get a 4.0, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that.