U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’ • Hacker News Board

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#521

Post by bko » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 9:56 AM UTC

Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #103

bradfa wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are normal adults not "working" in a similar way to your kid for 15+ hours per weekday? Comparable adult parent things would be up at 6am, prep kids for school day, in the office by 8am, 8 hours of work plus a lunch, departing the office around 5pm, transporting kids to/from some activities, dinner, helping kids with homework, somehow fit in regular shopping needs (food, essentials, etc), maybe some volunteering or h…

Children are part of hobbies. Very challenging at times, but for example I sleep with my kid hugging me, or I chat with them while in the car, or we do chores while watching tv or something like that. And not every day is packed like that, you can tell your kids "no more than 3 times per week of activties, the other 2 days are for playdates", and that should be acceptable. There are horrible days of the week, but it'…

> Homework for break and homework for weekend should be STRONGLY ILLEGAL.

Get a grip dude. The standards for school have never been lower. In the US there's a graduation rate of 87% while a math/English proficiency rate of 22/35% respectively.

Something doesn't add up, and it's not too much homework

https://www.nationsreportcard.gov/reports/mathematics/2024/g...

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#522

Post by ktallett » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 10:12 AM UTC

hirvi74 wrote: post #307

iamnothere wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We need to normalize a gap year, or at least a gap semester. Young adults need a break after the pressure of graduation and college admissions, and whether it’s work or travel, some perspective helps ground the college experience and make it a choice instead of an obligation. In my experience, many freshmen treated their first year as a gap year anyways, especially if they took difficult senior classes. First year cl…

I wish the US had mandatory conscription. Not necessarily military conscription, but kind of like the German model where you either do military service or public service (if I remember correctly). I sure could have used the maturity, the money, and the time when I was younger. I learned the hard way that attending college when you have no idea what you want to do only delays your graduation date (major change absolut…

The issue is that these conscriptions are rarely for the benefit of the person and are usually for the benefit of the nation. They are usually cheap labour or just bodies to put where you need a physical presence but no real skill. If the conscription paid the appropriate wage for the role, absolutely that would be a great idea and help those who were coming out of difficult situations such as foster and poor home life too.

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#523

Post by flufluflufluffy » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 10:25 AM UTC

I was a straight A student all through high school; first year of college I got Bs and Cs, couple As, and failed one class. Next three years I got my shit together and was back to straight As, including retaking the class I failed. I would have appreciated this lol

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#524

Post by NichoPaolucci » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 10:57 AM UTC

Soon they will start a program where you can either take a failing grade, or pay double tuition for those credit hours to get a pass in that class.

When I has in school we had a similar semester during covid. The school offered the entire student body to either take their letter grade, or take a PASS/FAIL (Which in some cases would improve GPA).

The idea is probably that if you give students good grades, they're happy to pay more in tuition. High drop-out classes and difficult coursework will go the way of the dodo.

Re: U of Michigan drops first-semester grades to ‘curb mental health crisis’

#525

Post by mishellaneous » Thu, Aug 13, 2026, 11:14 AM UTC

hackyhacky wrote: post #41

consensus1 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we really want the upper echelons of society to be made up of neurotic workaholics? Do we really want universities to be gate keepers here at all?

No, we don't, but the alternatives are worse. Universities at least apply some meritocratic standards. If we bypass universities, there will be some other gatekeeper, it will be worse: mostly an "old boys network" and corrupt, pay-to-play advancement.

where i come from, university admissions are determined exclusively by performance on an exam you take after high school. it's meritocratic, and the work it involves is much more sensible IMO: no leadership/well-roundedness/whatever theater, and in the ideal case, it only lasts 1 year.

also, this grind is barely meritocratic. all these extracurricular activities show is you had a solid family supporting you. it's literally impossible for a poor kid to participate in this. they can pick up a book, OTOH. yes, it'll be harder, it'll take longer, and they won't do as well as the rich kids with test prep, but they are given the opportunity to try.