The race for the highest GPA has become one of the biggest problems in high school today. It affects how students see themselves, how they plan their schedules, and even how they sleep. A 2024 Frontiers in Education study found that “higher GPA contributes to worse burnout,” which honestly didn’t surprise me. When getting a perfect transcript becomes the main goal, school stops feeling like a place to learn and starts feeling like a constant competition. Instead of curiosity, many students feel pressure, stress, and fear of falling behind.
We need to stop treating GPA as a measure of worth and start building a school culture that prioritizes real learning and student well-being over competition. The current system pushes students toward burnout, not success.
The mental health impact is huge. A 2025 study of nearly 30,000 students showed a clear link between academic pressure and depressive symptoms, especially in 12th grade. My school counselor explained it well: “Hay quienes lo viven desde la ansiedad,” meaning some students experience AP-level work through constant anxiety. Another study on AP enrollment found that students with heavy AP schedules slept less and reported much higher stress levels. Interestingly, students taking just one to three AP classes had the best mental well-being. This shows that “more” isn’t always better — sometimes it’s actually harmful.
This pressure also changes the purpose of school. When I interviewed a student, she told me, “It feels more meaningful when I actually learn something new.” That stuck with me, because so many students don’t get to feel that anymore. Their focus shifts from understanding the material to simply surviving the workload. Research backs this up: students who are driven mainly by pressure burn out faster and lose motivation. And counselors see this every year. Ana, our school counselor, said that stress hits hardest “cuando un estudiante se mete a materias por razones superficiales,” like taking a class just because friends did. When choices aren’t based on interest, everything becomes harder.
A lot of this pressure also comes from outside the classroom — from parents, expectations, and college admissions. One student told me that “many students feel like they have have to take APs to look good for college,” even if they don’t care about the subject. It’s easy to understand why. Everyone talks about college as if it’s the final judgment of your worth. But Ana reminded me that school is supposed to help students “encontrar lo que realmente les gusta,” not push them down a path that exhausts them.
Some people argue that taking tons of APs “prepares you for the future,” but the evidence doesn’t fully support that. What it does prepare you for is sacrificing sleep, rushing through work, and ignoring your own limits. It teaches you to push through burnout instead of learning how to prevent it. And long-term, that’s not a skill — it’s a problem.
What we need is a mindset shift. Students shouldn’t feel guilty for wanting balance. One student put it perfectly: “I wish teachers understood that students have multiple classes… We’re not lazy, we’re just overwhelmed at times.” The truth is that burnout doesn’t make someone a better student. It makes them tired, stressed, and disconnected from what they used to enjoy.
If schools want curious, motivated, and mentally healthy students, they must take action now. That means limiting extreme course loads, giving teachers training on balanced workloads, and encouraging students to choose classes based on interest — not pressure. It’s time to create an education system that supports students instead of draining them.