Numerous studies have shown a correlation between life events and physical health, mental health, and behavioral measures such as impaired grade point average. Most of these studies have measured stressfulness by summing the total number of events experienced in a given time period. However, Vinokur and Selzer have shown that the amount of undesirable change correlated better than total change with psychopathology and with a behavioral measure, number of traffic accidents. In this study, 253 college students rated the life events they experienced in the past year as mostly desirable or undesirable. Undesirable life events had a higher correlation with lowered grade point average than total life events. Desirable life events did not correlate with grade point average. Practically all of the correlation between total life events and grade point average came from the undesirable life events. Furthermore, undesirable life events correlated with lowered grade point average when academic ability and past academic performance were partialled out. This was not consistently true of total life events. The results support Vinokur and Selzer's claim that stressfulness can best be conceptualized in terms of its undesirability. (Author)