https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueAskReddit/comments/1i6ny1g/do_highschool_grades_matter/
created by FF1starz on 21/01/2025 at 17:28 UTC
20 upvotes, 46 top-level comments (showing 25)
I've been reading alot of stuff where it says grades don't matter and alot of people actually like this because they might be bad at school so it gives them hope.
But for someone like myself who's entire skill is school is kinda haunting. My mind might be the one thing im naturally good besides that nothing else i can think of.
So if i hear grades don't matter in life, my one skill is useless.
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1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
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Comment by Obwyn at 21/01/2025 at 17:36 UTC
81 upvotes, 1 direct replies
They matter to an extent. High school grades matter for getting into college and scholarship to pay for it. College grades matter for getting your first job (depending on the job.) A couple years into your career no one cares what your high school grades were and probably don't care what your college grades were either.
And you have other skills besides "school." Learning is a very important skill and something that you need to be able throughout your life no matter what you end up doing.
Comment by bassjam1 at 21/01/2025 at 17:34 UTC
17 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Good grades will get you scholarships. Good grades allow you to brag about them on a resume. So they do matter. It's just easy to hide bad grades if you get them which is why people say they don't matter.
Comment by ImportantWords at 21/01/2025 at 18:20 UTC
26 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Someone once told me - “Grades just tell people you did the work; college, high school, those aren’t going anywhere. So you can do the work now, or you can do it later, but you’ll eventually realize how precious time really is.”
Just because you get shit grades doesn’t mean you are an irredeemable dumb-dumb. It just means you are gonna have to work harder later on to make up for missed time. You can fail high school, flunk out of community college, get fired from McDonalds for being high, go to jail for dealing, and still end your life with a PhD. You will have just wasted a whole lot of time before getting to where you wanted to be.
Comment by georgejo314159 at 21/01/2025 at 17:54 UTC
7 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Your entire skill isn't really school. You simply haven't figured out what it is about school that works for you
You have an ability to learn.
Your grades are an indicator and sometimes they allow people to let you in a door. You need grades to get to many next levels
Comment by MyUncannyValley at 21/01/2025 at 17:40 UTC
3 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I think there’s a bit of nuance between “getting good grades” and what the grades represent. The grades themselves will open opportunities for you, like college acceptance, scholarships, honor programs, etc. But that just gets your foot in the door. You need to be able to really *learn* to move forward from there. For example, good grades can get you into medical school, but you need a love of learning and many other life skills to actually be a successful doctor.
So if you’re focusing on getting good grades, just remember that grades are meant to represent what you’ve learned, they don’t exist in a vacuum. Good grades are useless if you’re not actually dedicated to learning.
Comment by Ok_Lecture_8886 at 21/01/2025 at 17:44 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
If you are incredibly hardworking, have great drive, and have some luck, yes you too can be Bill gates. For the rest of us, qualifications matter. A degree is important as it opens doors and gets you the interview. I have had interviews, as I have a masters. I would not have had an interview without the masters.
If you want to something medical, teaching, law etc., you MUST have the appropriate qualifications, or you cannot be registered. And without registration, you will not get a job. Most jobs require a certain level of education. Engineering, my field, requires people to have been to university. One of friends has all the attributes a good employee needs, but can't progress up the corporate ladder as he is not a qualified architect.
So I would say qualifications matter, they get you in the door. Once there, it is your attitude, how responsible you are, how much you apply yourself, etc., that matters, and people without qualifications, sometimes have no stickability and it shows. So Employers simply do not have the time for the unqualified. Business is about making money. You make the business money, they want you.
Comment by DisplacerBeastMode at 21/01/2025 at 17:49 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Good grades are required to get into top (expensive) universities. Most people don't get scholarships.
It really depends on your field. Having good grades can be helpful to get your first job, but after a few years of experience, it would actually generally look a bit silly to bring up your grades. You'd be focusing on your work achievements / experience.
Comment by mwdeuce at 21/01/2025 at 18:17 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
lol yes, they definitely matter. Saying they don’t is just coping with lost opportunity. You could get lucky in life, of course, but that hard work you put in has a very high chance of paying off in the form of getting into a good college where you can make high value contacts, getting those competitive internships while in college, and landing that first job amongst a sea of hopefuls. I went back to school late in life to become an actuary, and I can tell you, all young actuaries, meaning credentialed before the age of 30, without exception, got outstanding grades in high school.
Comment by Pizzagoessplat at 21/01/2025 at 17:37 UTC
2 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Not in my country. Experience is valued a lot more. There's also multiple ways to get the experience ignoring you high-school grades. It would be seen as childish to even list them on a CV
Comment by darkapollo1982 at 21/01/2025 at 21:28 UTC
2 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Adult here: no. They don’t. I was a D student in high school because IDGAF. I graduated college with a 3.8 because I DID GAF.
Neither grade score has matter one bit to anyone. What you will find with your reliance on high achievability is you will push yourself to continue learning and being successful. That is truly where your grades will matter. That level of self discipline will carry over into the job market.
Comment by [deleted] at 21/01/2025 at 17:35 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
[removed]
Comment by luckygirl54 at 21/01/2025 at 17:51 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
If you're good at school, keep going. Keep learning and one day you will figure out how to make money from your brain. People who work with their bodies get broken down and die early, working with a good brain is better for you in the long run.
Try to become expert at something. Learn everything you can about something interesting
Comment by mothwhimsy at 21/01/2025 at 18:00 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
It depends tbh.
They matter if they're bad enough that you can't get into college if you want a career that requires college or a specific college.
Good grades can get you scholarships, can get you into better colleges, and can allow you to skip 100 level courses and time saved on low level classes is very valuable. So they matter in this regard.
Once you're out of high school and have moved onto the next stage, whatever situation you end up in, they don't matter much. If you're in college, your grades *in college* are what you need to focus on and no one cares if you got straight A's in high school. If you don't pursue more education and get a job, a high school diploma might matter but the grades beyond earning said diploma don't.
Comment by ActualDW at 21/01/2025 at 18:06 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Good grades make some things easier. Mediocre grades - at least in US/Canada - make some things more challenging, but they don’t actually slam doors shut permanently.
Comment by Distwalker at 21/01/2025 at 18:10 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I had poor grades in high school. I had the ability to do better but I had shit going on in my life so my grades sucked. Like a 1.9 GPA.
I got out of high school and did a tour of duty as a Army paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne. Got out and went to college on the GI Bill.
Two years in community college with a 4.0 GPA. Two years in a tony private school with a BS in economics and a 3.8 GPA. Went on to get an MBA at a state university and have had a great and very successful career.
Other than my brother, nobody remembers my embarrassing HS grades. People just assume I was always an academic high achiever.
Comment by Strange_Quote6013 at 21/01/2025 at 18:31 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
That totally depends on your career aspirations. If you plan go into a trade after graduating then no, not really. I have a friend who makes ~30 an hour welding ans getting 45-50 hours per week reliably. Could afford a house fairly comfortably. If you want to be a doctor or a lawyer however, your grades are pretty damn important.
Comment by JC_Hysteria at 21/01/2025 at 18:34 UTC
1 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Yes, they do matter…because they require **discipline** to achieve- period.
You don’t necessarily need to be *smart* or be skillful to achieve good grades…especially given teachers, lesson plans, and expectations are subjective.
But, it’s a pretty good indicator that the person will be able to navigate life well.
At a minimum, they have been able to deliver on what society hoped for them as a student…the same mentality and work ethic can now be applied towards a different outcome that’s more of your choosing.
Comment by kstaxx at 21/01/2025 at 18:48 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
As someone who also felt like my whole ability was school, I get why you’re feeling a little wonky hearing that. As others said, school is not your only ability especially as school breaks down to many different abilities: the ability to follow directions well, good reading comprehension, social skills, etc.
If you genuinely care about your grades in high school beyond the age of 22 (presumably after 4 years of college) it means you don’t have much else going on in your life. You should care about the things you’re learning more than your grades when it comes down to it.
Comment by 00rb at 21/01/2025 at 19:17 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Your mistake here is assuming that grades are your "one skill in life." I am sure there are plenty of things you are good at and plenty of things you COULD be good at given the effort.
I wish I'd learned earlier that practicing something daily is the most powerful skill in the universe. If you want to get good at anything, just practice it.
But that's just another way of saying there are plenty of things you can do. You're young and life is long.
Also, good grades mean you have a big head start over everyone else. It's amazing how much it gives you an entryway to a much nicer life than other people have. You have a shot at the best jobs, etc. It's not everything but it's certainly something.
Comment by yungrapscalli0n at 21/01/2025 at 19:19 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
In my experience it hasn't impacted my life tremendously, but it could have boosted my college career. Do what you can to stay afloat. Just do your best :)
Comment by blueponies1 at 21/01/2025 at 19:37 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
They don’t matter per say as far as you will be judged heavily in your future based on your high school grades, but if you can’t pass high school classes you’re much less likely to be able to learn the necessarily skills for a job. High school teaches you to get your work done independently and gives you knowledge for the future. Just because your future employer will probably never see your high school grades doesn’t mean that they literally don’t matter. If someone uses this as an excuse to not try in high school it shows that they are short sighted and don’t care about bettering themselves.
Comment by PracticalSouls5046 at 21/01/2025 at 19:40 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
High school grades absolutely matter for getting into college. They are a major factor in determining which college you get into, and can help you earn scholarships. In turn, the college you get into plays a part in creating opportunities for you and introducing you to a network who will help you throughout your adult life. However, note that grades are not the only consideration for college admissions. If you are involved in sports, music, performing arts, volunteering, extracurriculars etc. it shows colleges that you are a complete person. They want someone who will contribute to the college's community both while you are a student and in the future when you are an alum.
If you're not going to college, grades still reflect certain qualities about you. They demonstrate that you can complete tasks, that you are responsible, that you have discipline, and that you show up every day. You will have an easier time convincing someone to hire you for your first job or two if you have that track record of consistency to back you up.
Comment by WhipTheLlama at 21/01/2025 at 19:53 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Did you think that getting straight As in school will make your future boss like your work more?
High school is easy. Most people who do poorly have a poor work ethic so they don't hand in assignments (or rush them), or they don't study properly do they fail tests. People who do well at school tend to spend a lot of time doing homework and/or studying to ensure they know the course content.
Those skills are valuable to you as an employee. It means you can probably focus on a task to get it done, you don't procrastinate, and you care about the quality of your work.
Comment by BengaliBoy at 21/01/2025 at 20:32 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
If you think of life like a big RPG, being good at school is one of the top "skills" or "perks" you can have in your big adventure. It will unlock lots of "branching paths" that others will not be able to access. You can still go down the normal routes that others go down or even get a Game Over, but it definitely opens more doors than it closes.