I agree and disagree. I agree in that pressure is good, I disagree that audits are bad because of no pressure. Audits mean that is low priority which means that it will fall off when your busy schedule of "actual" courses have deadlines. Which is not a refletion of your ability nor interest to learn but of your workload.

This is the main reason I hold resentment towards GE's. Not because I don't want to be a well rounded person, but because when 3-4 other major classes are already crushing you the last bit of "pressure" needed is some random music theory or history course quizzing you. I never really got the time to breathe in college, and taking my time woulda been a $20k+ decision on top of the $80k I already had in debt. I literally could not afford to learn properly.

External pressure can work in the short term, but it disincentivises taking risk (which is where life-long learning happens), it steps on internal motivation (which is where life-long learning happens), and once the external pressure is removed, the interest in learning drops to further below where it was before the pressure was introduced.

So yes, it works in the short term, but I believe it's a net negative overall.

Grades are great, but not for the pressure they apply on students -- they are a measure of how successful the teacher has been in reaching their students!