Students Share Thoughts on CR Option

“The system does have [its] benefits though and I hope that it’ll help students who have extenuating circumstances due to COVID-19 and need the extra boost from CRing their grades. Hopefully, colleges will be understanding of the current circumstances and they’ll be willing to give students a break and not look too harshly at students that CR some grades.” —Joshua Yagupsky, junior

“The CR system is necessary, but an attached note explaining personal circumstances is probably more important [...] It’s necessary as long as we have remote learning, but once we're all back in school full time it should be done away with [...] It takes some of the pressure off, but at the same time, that might lead students to miss their own expectations.” —Maximillian Farrell, senior

“CR [...] is kinda dishonest to whoever is viewing the grades. [...] I personally haven’t CRed yet because I have to be honest with myself and see if I have improved or not. I want to be honest to my parents and my colleges, so that’s why, even if I have a bad grade, I wouldn’t CR that.” —Manhai Liu, freshman

“For the people unfortunate enough to have to balance school and familial issues, the CR option is a good way for them to not worry about seeming like they're slacking in school because their grades are dropping, especially if they're still trying their best.” —Sydney Lau, sophomore

“I CR'd my computer science grade this past semester. I did it because I didn't do as well as I wanted in the subject, and it would seriously bring down my average even though it was a class I did not intend to continue. Were it a core class, I would not have CR'd it. I know that I have been worried that colleges would take a CR as an automatic 65, which is why even though I didn't love my math grade, I left it alone.” —Maya Brosnick, sophomore

“I used the CR option once for a grade below 90 in the 2020 spring semester because I had a lot of difficulties studying for that subject as we transitioned to online learning and the grade would've impacted my GPA a lot.” —Anonymous, senior

“I, personally, even though I’m not super happy with my grades, have not chosen to use CR, just because I think I’d rather try to explain this to colleges than just not have it count toward my grade [...] I don’t want to completely not have a class grade just to have my average be slightly higher, so that’s just personally for me, but if students need to use it, then that’s definitely fine for them.” —Olivia Zheng, sophomore

“People are afraid to CR in the first place [...] Most people aren't abusing the system. There's a general fear that colleges might look at it negatively, so people aren't trying to abuse.” —Mahin Shahrier, junior

“It’s a great option for students whose grades are not consistent with their performance pre-COVID. I think colleges will show sympathy for those students since everyone has different circumstances, especially during this difficult time.” —Marilyn Shi, sophomore

“It is good that Stuyvesant gives students the option to choose to CR a grade. There are pros and cons to CRing, and it honestly comes down to the person on whether or not they think it is right for them. But overall, I am glad that it is there” ––Jason Wang, junior

“It's a nice option for those who wish to use it.” —Edward Wu, junior

“CRing a grade is a good thing [in] these challenging times. I personally would not use a CR unless I have below an 80.” ––Ariel Fuchs, Sophomore

“The CR option is really helpful because it takes all of our situations into account. We can’t learn as much [...] by looking at a computer screen compared to being in a classroom so we might receive grades that we think are low and unsatisfactory. CRing grades allow us to hide grades that don’t show our full capability, which prevents our overall GPA from going down.” ––Jasmine Shek, sophomore

“It’s a good way of compensating for hardships that students are going through that might reflect on their grades, but there should be more clarification from counselors about how colleges view CR because while some people are scared to use it in case colleges assume they got a 65 in the class, others are using CR for grades which are perfectly fine, just not up to their high standards.” ––Riona Anvekar, junior

“It’s good that they provided us with the option because considering everything that's going on, people aren’t performing their best, but I feel like many are confused on when to use it. I see some people contemplating using it on low 90s when I really don’t think that's the purpose, but I also see some who are scared to use the option because of how colleges might see it. I wish they explained it a little more to the students.” ––Nafisa Ishra, junior

“Neither good or bad feelings; I know I will never use it since I'm positive I'll keep all my class averages above 85s, but I guess it's a good option for people who do want to use it.” ––Freda Dong, freshman

“Changing grades to a CR are up to the person and their standards, but I personally wouldn't do it, especially if my grades aren't close to failing.” ––Kaitlin Tan, freshman

“I’ve never CR’d a grade but I think it’s nice that people have to choice to do so if they want to.” ––Vicky Liu, Junior

“CR is cool, but I’m confused as to how they’re gonna determine GPAs [for those who CR]. What if one kid CR’d everything but his 100s and then becomes valedictorian––what do you do then?” ––Anonymous, Junior

“CR is a really good option for people who need it and I think it’s not fair to judge other people who might really need that option.” ––Bella Rosen, freshman

“It seems pretty good to me, but everyone’s saying how colleges will assume the worst about the grade that you kept off your transcript.” —Sasha Burshteyn, junior

“I don’t know much about it and I have never used it, but I always appreciate that the option is there.” ––Yarza Aung, freshman

“It’s a really good idea and I think it is honestly the bare minimum for Stuyvesant High School to do for its students, especially for those that have had to deal with various hardships during this pandemic.”––Bella Rosen, freshman