College is designed to be more rigorous than high school, but first semester grades can still be a rude awakening fo freshmen at competitive colleges -- many of whom are accustomed to high marks. And some faculty members and administrators argue that worrying about grades can prevent these students from taking the kinds of intellectual risks they’re supposed to in college — or at least from focusing on real understanding over rote learning. In response to such concerns, some colleges have adopted “shadow” or “covered” grades for freshmen, in which their first semester grades are privately shared with students but don't appear on their transcripts. At the same time — and much of the chagrin of undergraduate activists — one institution is moving away from this model, saying that more shared information is better when it comes to student success.