By: Dr. Sparks

You’ve likely asked yourself this question a time or two… or every day.  What’s the point?  As a former Valedictorian, I’m here to tell you that, yes, grades are important, but they are not the only thing that matters.  If you are not a top student competing for a full ride academically at an ivy league school, which is great if that is you, then what should your goals be?

Let’s look at a few things: 

What if I am not a 4.0 student? 

Most colleges will accept students with a 3.0 grade point average.  No, not every one of the highly competitive universities, but your general public schools will.  Even if you have a 2.5 gpa, you will be able to take alternate routes to achieving a college education if that is your goal.  So, if you’ve blown it, pick up where you are and find ways to make it work. 

How can I earn merit scholarship money? 

To obtain a lower, but good merit scholarship, aka academic scholarship through a school, then you need to be striving for at least a 3.5-3.75 gpa.  These could also be obtained by scoring well on the SAT or ACT.  Money is limited these days, so the higher your grades, the more likely you are to earn more.  

What should be my focus? 

Grades are good, but if you finish school and have only learned to memorize, then you’ve missed the entire point.  Use these years to gain knowledge, discover things that interest you (even if it’s just a small topic in an entire class), and learn about careers related to different subjects.  Use these years to practice conflict management conversations, practice leadership skills, spend time shadowing or interning, gain some certifications, and read.  Jim Rohn said, “You’re the average of the five people spend the most time with,” so either find quality people to glean from or find those people through books. 

Figure out who you want to be.

Often you are asked what you want to be when you grow up.  What I’d like to pose instead is, who do you want to be? If you want to be a person of character that’s respected, sought after, etc… then start becoming that today.  If you want to achieve much in the future, those habits of working hard, decreasing procrastination, planning, and working with people starts now.  The great thing about this is that it typically translates into improved gpa’s simply as a byproduct.  So, though grades are not the focus, becoming a person who can be seen as trustworthy, reliable, and capable is.  Think about some people in your life that you want to emulate in different ways.  What qualities do they exhibit and what can you start doing now in your life to build those same characteristics? 

As a teacher, I can tell you that grades do matter, but not in the typical sense.  Grades often give us really good insights into the type of people we have in our classes.  We know the ones that are working hard and the ones that don’t do anything or take shortcuts. These speak of life patterns.  I encourage you to take stock and consider what type of student you are and if you are taking steps to becoming the type of adult you want to be in the future.  Learn to learn and shift your focus from grades to knowledge, which will give you the tools you will need to succeed.

Check out our “SAT and ACT: Keys for Success“, “Stop Re-Reading the Madness” and “Tackling Test Anxiety” for more tips on how to succeed this semester!