Screaming. Crying. Banging my head against the wall. Things I do to cope with the constant influx of homework, pressures of college admissions, and every other little facet of being a Junior in high school. SATs, extracurriculars, grades, GPA, jobs, class rank, I’m reminded of every five seconds by the stress echoing in my brain that bounces from one brain cell to another like a ping-pong ball. It’s torture, truly. 

At LHS I have recognized a culture in the AP classes I’m taking, something I’ve coined “AP student brain rot.” This is an umbrella term for the effects the obsession with grades and class rank have on the teenage psyche. Essentially rotting our brains from the stress.

Because of this phenomenon, I sent out a survey to my peers and friends, most of which are in AP and honors classes, asking them many questions regarding GPA, class rank, and the like. Here are the results:

GPA, or grade point average, is a measure of a student’s grades, calculated by averaging the grade points in each class, weighted by the credits for each class. GPA’s can be as low as 0.0 and as high as 4.0, when unweighted, and from 0.0 to 5.0 when weighted. A GPA can only go over 4.0 when the student takes honors or AP classes. 

At least in my classes, GPA’s are constantly talked about, to the point where I truly think that my peers have an unhealthy obsession. I mean I do, too, but I’ve gotten to a point where I can no longer revolve my life around a number with a decimal attached. 

96.3% of those who took my survey have a GPA above 3.0, 38% of that 96.3% having a GPA over 4.0. When asked “On a scale of 1 to 10 how much does your GPA mean to you?” 70% choose a number over six, which ranged from six being “I enjoy having a 3.5+ GPA and take harder classes to maintain it” to ten being “My GPA defines my life, if I don’t have a 5.0 I will simply pass away.” The majority of those who picked an answer from 6 to 10, selected 8, which was “I care deeply and need to have a 4.0+.” 

An argument I’ve heard in my classes is that those whose GPA isn’t considered “high” are automatically assumed to be of a lesser intelligence. I think that this argument lacks nuance. There are a million factors that determine someone’s grades and the work ethic that earns those grades. I have met very smart people whose GPA doesn’t necessarily reflect that. On the flip-side, I’ve also met some students who’s high GPA does not demonstrate their knowledge or intelligence. When asked if they believed GPA was a measure of intelligence, 62.9% said no. 

Of those who answered no, Zoe Velevitch, Junior and AP student says, “Everybody is smart, and school testing is a way to grade one part of intelligence, so everyone saying that having a lower GPA makes you stupid, is stupid in itself. Intelligence can be measured in many different ways.”

I believe it depends on the person. Obviously, there is stupidity and ignorance found in every group, but having a low GPA isn’t necessarily reflective of a person’s intelligence, nor is a high GPA. I know cheaters and grade beggars, who stop at nothing to get an A+, employing Renaissance cards and study guides written on their hands simply to get a good grade. Who, if they do not receive the grade they want, will complain to their teacher and claim their life is over. This tactic can earn them pretty high GPAs if their cheating and begging is successful. While this can come off as annoying, it is reflective of a greater problem among high-achieving students. 

It’s an unhealthy attachment to grades that becomes all-consuming, something called “academic validation.” In life, humans have a natural instinct to be “valid,” whether that’s being liked by others or being really good at a sport, everyone has their “thing” they gain validation from. Academic validation is, simply put, validation derived from academic achievement. This can be extremely motivating when successful, and extremely discouraging when unsuccessful. If your validation in life comes only from academic achievement, when a bad grade is received, it is invalidating. This is toxic and inspires the need for high grades to feel worthy or even happy.

My next question concerned class rank: “On a scale of 1 to 10 how much do you care about your class rank?” Of those who answered, 50% ranked 30th or above in their class, with 23% of total participants being in the top ten of their class. Like GPA, a majority of 51.8% of participants answered from six up to nine, with six being “I actively work hard to maintain a moderate to high class rank” and nine being “I work to be in the top five, and if I was to drop, I would freak out.” Thankfully, no one answered ten which was “If I’m not valedictorian, I will die,” because that’s a bit problematic. 

Class rank is another piece of the AP student’s repertoire that is heavily competitive and significant. For those in the top twenty, class rank is extremely important. You stand a chance of being in the sought-after top-ten, which is preferable for top colleges. Class rank is dicey. You can have a good GPA and not be where you want to be. Once you get past around 20th in the class, it is down to the thousandths place of your GPA that determines your spot. 

Faith Keroack, current salutatorian of the Junior class and constantly surrounded by AP student brain rot, as am I, says “Our class has many students that pretend to not care about their rank, but continuously take AP classes unfit for them that stress them out, giving them c’s and b’s, just so they can be in that top ten spot. It’s not worth it.” 

These two statistics clearly demonstrate just how important GPA and class rank are to students, predominantly those in AP and honors classes. At the end of the day, both of these factors are important really for one thing only: college. In twenty years if you still think and talk about your GPA and class rank, frankly, that’s embarrassing. Just like the star football player or the classic popular girl, who typically peak in high school, those who achieve academic excellence also have the capacity to peak. Maybe it’s unheard of in the world of idyllic-stereotypical 1980s high school movies for the nerd to peak, but in real life, it is very possible. 

With this push for the perfect grades, comes a whole lot of stress. Taking any AP class, even the seemingly “easy” APs, provides an immense amount of stress to the poor student. All of this is exacerbated by taking more and more AP and honors classes, and only made worse by the other stress-inducing parts of being a high schooler, including, but not limited to, getting a license, a job, taking the SATs, the never-ending drama, and parental pressure. It all comes together into one beautifully brewed bout of stress, pain, and anxiety, all of which is self-inflicted in the hopes of being accepted into a good college, the ultimate goal.

Stress is one of the most important factors in achieving true “AP student brain rot.” With the pressure of being the best and securing a spot at a top university, naturally comes with a lot of school stress, add on everything else, stress is inevitable. 74% of students who answered the survey said that on a scale of one to ten, they were over six on the stress scale. This ranges from six being “I am pretty stressed, but not really” to ten being “I am drowning in stress and will implode due to it soon.” A large majority answered seven, “I am stressed and I can almost handle it.” 

The stress to be the best and beat the best is one motivation that many AP students have. This prompts them to take every AP class, even if they aren’t necessarily gifted in the subject. For instance, I decided to take AP chem after a year of scraping by in honors. Yes, I have a B, but I am genuinely clueless about chemistry and bombed every single test. It caused me unnecessary stress, but did lead me to the realization that I am not scientifically or mathematically gifted, which was helpful. It also brought up my GPA and rank significantly, which I am not mad at.

This AP student brain rot is often confusing to some, especially to adults who haven’t been a stressed out teenager in a hot minute. Because of this I was curious to get some opinions from the teachers who teach AP classes and witness the sometimes crazy behaviors of AP students.

Mr. Cangemi, Cub advisor and AP Language teacher, thinks that “class ranking is a bad idea. I have seen students become obsessed with their rank and resort to avoiding electives that they would otherwise be interested in, sacrifice their health and peace of mind in order to get straight A’s, argue with teachers over every B, and even cheat if needed.” He continues, “It creates a competitive, negative environment, and this is why many school districts have abandoned the practice.”

I have seen many students in my classes crying, complaining, and acting crazy over any grade deemed “bad.” It’s insane to me. You got a 92, not a death sentence. Trust me, as an occasional perfectionist, I’ve felt the pressure of needing to get perfect grades, but that is just not a productive way to exist. Not to sound like a parent, but there are far worse fates than an A-. We need to think beyond ourselves and our stupid and somewhat unimportant grades and realize that it truly doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. Getting a B or even a C isn’t going to bar you from getting into colleges and living a successful life.

“I see a lot of AP students putting a ton of pressure on themselves to keep up their GPA and class rank,” AP Chemistry teacher Mrs. Valentine says, “Sometimes, it pushes students to work hard and stay on top of things, which can be great. But for others, it can get overwhelming and lead to burnout or anxiety. I’ve noticed that some students start to see their worth based on their grades, and that’s tough to watch because they’re so much more than a number.”

The idea that our worth is attached to any number feels so stupid, yet it is a very real concept. I wonder what a life without grades and numbers almost defining our intelligence would be like. While not explicit, there are people in our school and in this world that truly believe these numbers are the ultimate determination of whether a person is smart or not. It is painfully sad, not for the person they are judging, but for them. It’s almost ironic these people deemed smart by their pristine GPA and rank can believe something so stupid. 

Mrs. Zianio, AP US History teacher, states “I find that the pressure of class rank and GPA leads students to focus on ‘checking off boxes’ as they do their work, rather than taking an authentic approach to material. I find that students are less focused on learning and more focused on what a grade will do for them.” 

I see this behavior as well, with many peers I know cheating, barely understanding the material, and not actually learning, yet somehow grade-grubbing and cramming enough to get an A. This is not the point of education. You are supposed to learn, not ask Chat-GPT to summarize the unit you never learned, cram it in your brain the night before, and regurgitate the information on the test. This culture creates a generation of people who haven’t really learned anything, and, believe it or not, that is harmful, especially with misinformation rampant and increasing social media addiction among youth.

These teachers, not afflicted by the same pressures and culture surrounding grades that we are, have a clear view of these behaviors, something I think is very helpful for students to hear, to break out of the toxic haze of perfectionism and back into reality. I’m not saying we completely abandon the whole idea of GPA and class rank, but we definitely need to put less emphasis on it, and actually learn.

With AP tests now over and AP student brain rot ceased, pure serenity has flooded over the brain folds (Heimler reference for the cultured) of all AP students. Underclassmen be warned, AP classes are not for the weak.