MIT describes the purpose of Pass/Fail during the first semester as:
> giving you time to adjust to factors like increased workloads and variations in academic preparation and teaching methods. [0]
I can 100% get behind that logic.
I can't get behind a college saying they're doing it to "curb a mental health crisis".
[0] https://registrar.mit.edu/classes-grades-evaluations/grades/...
> giving you time to adjust to factors like increased workloads and variations in academic preparation and teaching methods.
> curb a mental health crisis
In this context, both have the exact same meaning, of "stop freshmen who are used to overachieving their entire lives from taking a header off the tallest buildings on campus because they're not used to being less than the top 5% at everything"