Evergreen isn’t a typical college. Unlike most schools, Evergreen doesn’t have letter grades. Instead, we have evaluation conferences.

While some people might be intimidated by the prospect of substituting grades for evaluations, I promise you’ll soon join the many students who are overjoyed at not having grades.

Here are some of the perks:

Your worth as a human being isn’t measured by a letter from the Roman alphabet.

While we’ve often been taught the opposite throughout grade school, Evergreen’s evaluation system is both validating and freeing. This means that your individual personality gets to shine through a detailed account of your strengths and process throughout the quarter. You get to reflect on these in a self evaluation, as well as a faculty evaluation, which are then compared at your end-of-the-quarter evaluation conference.

This also means that you are an individual student competing only against yourself. Competition against others is immensely decreased because students are often learning for their own passion and motivation. Especially if you’ve been through a lot of US public schooling, then you’ll know that learning for individual passion rather than learning for a letter grade is a way more beneficial style of education.

No grades also often means less harshly-graded tests and essays.

Although I can’t speak for every student, I know that I have had very few tests while attending Evergreen. They’re definitely more common in science and math programs/classes. These are the only times that I’ve encountered tests, while studying physiology, neurology and  pre-calculus. And even when I have run into tests, my faculty have made it very clear that the tests are only measures for our individual learning, not measures of our individual worth. Especially because math isn’t my strong suit, I almost didn’t believe my professor when she told me this. But it was true! The tests were only a gauge so that I could see where I needed to focus more attention, or to take in my progress.

And while there’s a large emphasis on essays and writing at Evergreen, I’ve often found that final drafts aren’t just smacked with an empty letter grade. Often, there is detailed critique of the writing, and feedback from professors and peers.

At first it seems like having no grades might be a roadblock for getting into graduate schools, but it’s actually often an advantage. Most graduate schools (and jobs you will apply for) actually do evaluations and performance reviews. Although your transcript may not contain a GPA or letter grade, it will contain a personalized account of who you are as a student. Praiseful evaluations will definitely be taken into consideration when it comes to applications.

Evaluations are like quarterly diaries.

Imagine ten years after you graduate. What if you want to go back and relive the experiences you had in college? Evaluations track your educational path with an update each quarter. I’ve found this to be very helpful in reflecting on and deciding where my passions lie. It also allows me to appreciate the experiences I’ve had, and all of the skills I’ve gained and all the skills I will gain in the future.

Finally, evaluations means Evaluation Week!

Evaluation Week is an entire week after classes officially end where your only requirement is to show up to your faculty’s office once for about 30 minutes. This essentially means that a week is added to breaks like Winter Break and Spring Break. While most schools only get a week off for Spring Break, Evergreen students technically get two weeks off if Eval Week is included. This can be what you make of it. But at least for me, this week is a time to decompress. Although there’s always work to do, it’s a nice transition into the rest of break.

And as Eval Week comes to a close, it’s always a signifier that a new quarter is on the horizon. This means that new leaves can be turned over in the near future. Eval Week is a staple part of the Evergreen education. And while the word “evaluation” might cause some anxiety, they’re a lot less scary once you experience them!