Although I have an excellent academic standing (ugh, I feel so lame writing that), I must say that grades and standardized testing doesn't say too much about a person. In fact, it pretty much breeds mindless competitiveness and grade-obsession among students. It's lamentable that a lot of educational institutions these days have too many stellar students but not enough stellar scholars.

Gone are the days where peers would start a conversation about something they recently learned for the mere purpose of discussion. Nowadays, chemistry and biology courses are filled with dishonest pre-medical students scheming together to "make the grade" (I witnessed 5-6 students who were caught "working together" on laboratory assignments that were to be independent work; it was hive mind at it's finest) and countless other academic disciplines with students who don't comprehensively understand what they learn. Professors are sometimes partly to blame because of their "this part of the textbook isn't important" attitude and their "the-night-before-cram"-promoting multiple-choice exams. A lot of countries admire the American system of education, but it's slowly turning into education systems similar to that of Asian countries where it promotes rote memorization rather than critical thinking.

However, I must say that grades and test scores are a good supplementary indicator to one's intellect. Nonetheless, other factors are equally important when judging ones' value and intellect, and I guess that is precisely why we have holistic admissions criteria in the American higher education system.

Note that a few of the things written above are generalizations. There is still faith in a lot of people involved in academia. Also, sorry for the tangent post. It's 3:04 AM! Leave me alone.