Recently, I read a lot about why grade inflation is so horrific and how professors and students should hold themselves to a higher standard ("Earning grades more important than GPA," Jan. 31), but it is difficult to hold yourself to a higher standard when no one else is doing it.

To preempt criticism, please note that I am against grade inflation. However, as a Penn State honors student who has applied to graduate Ph.D. programs, I have to compete with undergraduates from Ivy League schools, which practice rampant grade inflation sanctioned by a majority of their faculty. So, how am I to compete with undergraduate students from Harvard and Princeton with 4.0s? It is difficult enough trying to compete with them on name basis alone. Historically, grade inflation started in the 1960s during the Vietnam War in which giving a student a bad grade could mean the difference between life and death. Consequently, many of these students, who probably make up a majority of professors, had their grades inflated. This is why I'm not surprised when almost every Penn State professor's CV has them graduating with honors from a school like Princeton and then continuing their graduate work at Harvard. And, name recognition matters a lot when you are trying to find employment in academia.

So let's calm down. Here's my solution. How about Penn State and other schools join to form a coalition of say "Schools Against Grade Inflation" or something like that? At least I'd have a fighting chance in an increasingly competitive world.