<p>I was talking to an admission office via e-mail for the last couple of days and they said</p>
<p>"there is a strong chance the University will be eliminating the cover-grade policy for the coming academic year."</p>
<p>is this true has any one else heard of this?!?!</p>
<p>I don't know, that would be a big change. But I wonder if it will be selectively retroactive? I seriously hope so.</p>
<p>It is highly doubtful that such a move would be retroactive in any way. In my son's case his "covered" grades from last year were excellent but I think changing this policy is a bad idea. The covered grades allow freshmen to ease their way into JHU with a lot less pressure.</p>
<p>There have been on-going discussions about eliminating the first semester, covered-grade policy for the 2008-09 academic year. No final decisions have yet to be made. The policy will NOT be retroactive.</p>
<p>What are covered grades?</p>
<p>Covered Grades
The letter grades earned by students in their first semester at the university are not reported on the transcript. Each course that was passed with a grade of C- or above is assigned the letter S (for Satisfactory) in place of a grade. Letter grades below C- are assigned the letter U (for Unsatisfactory).</p>
<p>but why would they want to change it???
I mean it was one of the top reasons I wanted to go to JHU!!</p>
<p>^ yes, it was definitely a big plus for me too..... a little disappointed that this will be gone</p>
<p>It is a mistake to eliminate covered grades. Incoming freshman have enough pressure on them. Changing this policy will increase the risk of suicide among young adults who have left home for the first time and are in an unfamiliar environment. There is little to benefit from eliminating this policy. First semester grades tell you more about what school the student came from than the student's academicy ability. I vote a big NO.</p>
<p>I'm also more than a little disappointed by this possibility, but I don't want to bash it without giving it a chance.</p>
<p>Would you mind offering some insight into why the change is being suggested, AdDan?</p>
<p>Unfortunately at this time I do not have any insight about why the change is being discussed. Once a final decision is made, I expect the campus community will be provided with a full explanation. </p>
<p>The one thing I can definitely tell you is that there is not going to be an increase in suicides because of the elimination of covered grades. The academic leaders at Hopkins are doing a lot of research about all the academic traits of the Hopkins curriculum, and any changes that will be made will be with the point-of-view of bettering the environment for students. </p>
<p>Don't judge the decision with out knowing everything. In my years at Hopkins I have known the perks of the concept of covered grades and I have also seen the system abused by students. Just have patience and allow the Academic Deans to do their research and make decisions.</p>
<p>Wow, I haven't heard anything about this till now, but I agree that it would be a bad idea. Daniel, is this just something they're looking into, or has it moved beyond that stage and it's something we should expect an announcement on soon?</p>
<p>The first I heard of the possible change was this summer and since then I have not received any updates. I am not privy to these discussions being that I work in Admissions, not Academic Affairs. </p>
<p>Some have been asking what my opinion is of getting rid of covered grades, and simply put I am holding my ultimate judgment until a final decision is made. I believe in principle covered grades as a tool to encourage students to explore new areas of study and ease the transition to college is a fantastic idea. I also know and have seen evidence about how students can abuse the covered grade policy. </p>
<p>That's all I can say on this topic for now.</p>
<p>Thank you Admissions Daniel!! :)</p>
<p>what are the cons of cover grading?
how where students abusing the policy?
somebody please explain!!</p>
<p>It could be exploited so that students take harder classes (Gen. Chem vs Orgo) and then become content with the mediocre grades because they will be covered up. It may seem beneficial at first, but the students will suffer later on in the upper level courses because they lack a firm grasp of rudiments of the subject.</p>
<p>I know my friends (and me) study really hard despite the covered grade policy...for the people I know it seems like covered grades don't exist, and we still want to get the best grades we can. Covered grades...it's like a safety net really. Well, for me at least. I would assume there are many people abusing the system out there as well, but they aren't going to pass the next level of classes =P</p>
<p>but can't one only take covered graded courses that do NOT fulfill ones major/minor requirements or pre-profesional programs? (I know expcept 1st semester Freshmen year; but your not likely to be taking ORGO Chem as a freshemn)</p>
<p>First, you can take covered graded courses that do fulfill requirements. And although its not the norm, students will take orgo as freshmen, welcome to hopkins.</p>
<p>I'm not sure the admin is worried about students "abusing" the system by taking harder classes like orgo. Its more likely that students abuse the system but not caring about school AT ALL. Most students certainly do, but a decent portion don't and get by with doing virtually nothing all semester. Back in my freshmen year I went to 2 intro physics lectures and 2 macro lectures first semester (not counting exams). I decided to skip the other 25 or so lectures and just cram for exams. I was far from the model student back in the day, it was by far my lowest GPA that I got at Hopkins, and I didn't really use the covered system as a stepping stone to succeeding in college, I used it as an extended senior year in high school. I think the admin is trying to get rid of that mentality, despite the fact that it is not the norm. One way or the other, nearly all incoming freshmen have some sense of I can relax a bit more this semester which might not be the best thing for an institute of higher learning. </p>
<p>On another note, first semester in college with covered grades was amazing and I couldn't imagine college without it....my vote, stay covered hopkins</p>