05/05/2026

GPA over Learning: Facing Academic Pressures in High School

by Maya Alas

(Image credit: Canva)

This year I had the opportunity to be a part of the International Day of Academic Integrity high school panel alongside some of the top students in the International Baccalaureate Programme (IB) at Westwood High School, as well as represent my school. Being one of the two high schools on the panel was surreal, especially knowing that people across the world were not only listening to what I had to say, but valued my opinion regarding academic integrity in schools.

As a junior, I'm in my first year of the IB program at Westwood, but so far I love it. I love the aspect of community that comes with it, the supportive teachers, and interesting classes. When my classmates and I were discussing our experiences with being a part of the IDoA panel, I came to the realization that the students alongside me on the panel have a genuine love of learning and value honesty and authenticity in their learning. The IB program is known for its rigor beyond a stereotypical high school experience with topics covered ranging from organic chemistry to the global economy and diploma components such as the Extended Essay (EE), so the students who are a part of it are truly invested in their academic career. I think my favorite part about IB is how motivated students are to not only learn the content, but to genuinely understand it deeply. The people in my class have a true love of learning, so when they struggle with a topic, the temptation to cheat is not the first thing to come to their mind. They instead ask their classmates or teachers to help them understand the answer, but more importantly how they got there.

This past March, one of my friends in our school’s journalism program wrote an article about our school's adoption of an academic integrity matrix, a code of honor and the training that students undergo to help instill academic integrity. Her article highlights that despite all the efforts by teachers and administrators, academic dishonesty persists amongst some of the students. When I read through this article, one of the key components that stood out to me was how the teachers and staff try to use our “academic integrity matrix” and our “code of honor" to combat cheating. But these efforts aren’t taken seriously by some students, causing them to continue having an inauthentic academic career. Her article brought a lot of attention to the issue, as it was read by both students and staff members, I remember when I had initially read it, I was severely frustrated. Her article exposed a small network of underground student cheaters who go by the name “the gophers,” and it felt personal to me as I had been friends with some of these students and been completely oblivious to what they had been doing to me and other students the whole time. Unfortunately, for these students, academic dishonesty is normalized. These students have stopped caring about the process, and only care about the outcome.

At a school where GPA and class rank mean a lot to students, the difference between a 98 and a 97 can make or break a student. It is notable that for some of our students taking Advanced Placement (AP) courses, they are more prone to cheating due to not being as invested in the learning process, but instead students are focused solely on the numerical outcome. Why do these students value their grade over the process of learning? IB on the other hand, focuses on reflection and understanding a topic as a whole. Many of my friends in the AP program will tell me how they wish they were in IB, because we “look like we have fun” or that “we don’t care as much about grades.” The truth is, we do have a lot of fun while also caring about our grades. Many students choose to go into the IB program even though they know that the expectations for rigor that comes along with it, the lack of easy assessments, and the potential dip in their GPA, yet students still choose to join IB.

The IB students care about academic integrity and are frustrated when they hear about the cheating going on with some AP students. Cheating and academic dishonesty in the IB program is extremely difficult, and if it does occur the consequences are quite harsh. This leads to students not even bothering to try and cheat as they know the risk is far larger than any reward. I knew that IB was going to be a difficult challenge for me when I first joined the program, but I didn’t expect to get the opportunities to sit in class next to so many people who share the same love of learning as I do. When I surround myself with those who love to learn and see the process over the end product, academic dishonesty, temptations, and unethical actions aren't even considered. The love of learning is most important to me.

Maya Alas is a junior in the International Baccalaureate program at Westwood High School in Texas.

The authors' views are their own.

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