My job as a student is to check my grades regularly.
“Kyuwon! Our math test scores came out!” my friend told me.
I quickly opened the Aeries app and frantically logged in, but unfortunately, I received a pop-up notification on my phone that my grades weren’t available for me to view.
My face turned red, and I madly took out my Chromebook, both frustrated and unsurprised, as it wasn’t the first time I had needed to engage in this nuisance of a task to figure out what I got on my math test.
I open the Aeries app to check my grades every day, but it logs me out most of the time, so I have to sign in frequently. The inconvenience of opening the platform on two different devices to check my grades is often bothersome and frustrating.
After experiencing multiple irritations of being unable to review my scores, I found an app called Gradekit, formerly known as Grades App, when I signed up for a story assignment. I learned about it more after interviewing the creator of the app, Adrien Truong, to write a feature article, “ALUMNI ARTICULATION: Class of 2015 graduate quits high-paying computer tech job to return to high school passion project.”
Undergoing continuous anger using Aeries, I was, quite frankly, done with it. Thinking Gradekit was my last strand of hope, I decided to download this app.
While using this platform for six months, I noticed many different benefits. The app was a breath of fresh air as it was much easier to access, and it didn’t log me out each time, displaying my grades every time without any issues.
In October 2024, I shifted to Gradekit, and it made my experience less cumbersome and more efficient, especially since I wasn’t forced to waste nearly five minutes of my precious time waiting for an app to load. Since then, I have barely opened Aeries on my phone.
Gradekit also includes features such as College Prep, which shows profiles of students admitted to the University of California [UC] schools, GPAs, transcripts and information about the colleges. Anytime I’m curious for more information or want to check my GPA, I immediately open that tab, and I also like how I have it easily available instead of waiting and going on my laptop to find my GPA on Aeries. This appealed to me a lot as I’m interested in applying to the UC schools, and it gives me an idea of what I need to do to be accepted into those colleges.
Additionally, the bright, colorful design caught my attention and was even customizable. Instead of the original rainbow color, I changed it to different shades of blue, which is my favorite color.
Gradekit excelled in appearance and features as compared to Aeries. This app provides a much more convenient way to check my grades with my phone at any time instead of constantly opening my computer.
When I open Gradekit, my friends always question me about it.
“Oh! What app is that to check your grades?” they ask.
Since it won’t log them out, they will also be able to avoid the same time-consuming struggle.
Nonetheless, each app has its drawbacks. For example, I cannot check my report cards and standardized test scores like my English, math and science benchmark results on Gradekit, while they’re available on Aeries.
However, it does not bother me since I don’t check those scores often. In fact, I like the clean and pretty design of the app that only includes the necessary features.
The uncomfortable Aeries app bothered me for a long time, but I finally found an app that could help me manage and check my grades and explore different universities. Hopefully, Gradekit will soon replace Aeries as the primary platform for students to check their grades.
Once again, the time for me to check my math grades came.
“Kyuwon! Our math test grades are out. Check!” my friend said.
Now, without any frustration or hesitation, I gently open Gradekit to see what I got on the math test.
