All of this may be true, but I really wish the NYT would run one column about not-elite colleges where the big issues aren't perfectionism, they are students coping w/financial stress and other issues that prevent them from focusing on school nytimes.com/2018/12/08/opi…
I've been teaching at public schools for about 11 years now, and I have very few students whose biggest issue is desperate need to get As. Instead, it's balancing work and school, dealing with depression/anxiety, etc.
Ironically, for most of my students, this means that getting As actually is an indicator of tremendous grit and leadership, because it's not only an academic achievement but one of overcoming tremendous obstacles! That's not to say grades are *only* indicator of that, but still.
Also, I'm a little bit tired of the trope that all universities emphasize in classes is bullshit, e.g. "straight-A students master cramming information and regurgitating it on exams." Okay, some do, but some of us try to do a hella lot better than that.
I know these columnists mean well, and this *is* what they are seeing, it's just a small slice of American college students. I was actually a TA as an MA student at Penn, and yes, I had a student who complained bitterly about getting an A and not an A+ on a paper.
