Do bad grades in school = Failure in the future.

I got a D in mathematics in GCSE, and I know I will get a D or below for my Business Studies at A-Level, but at least I will get at least AB for my other two subjects.

Since I was a child- I kept having the idea hammered into my head that.

"No good grades at high school = can't get into a good uni = Complete failure in life = become a blue collar worker or beggar".

Have any of you gotten bad grades at high school but become something good?

Is the stuff they tell you at school really true when you leave school? Or is that just b.s. they tell to keep you in line?


I really want to know- please.

It depends on what you want to do in the future - what you want to study etc. Most of the people on these boards will tell you that your grades in HS, or education in generall, don't mean much. But I have to disagree with them.

If you get good grades in HS, you'll have a wider set of options when it comes to college with regards to what you want to study/scholarships etc. I'm a proponent of keeping your options open, and not narrowing them down because of some stupid sh!t like getting bad grades in HS.

I graduated with good grades from the top HS in my country, then I went into the army and spent 2 years fvcking around abroad before deciding to study law. Guess what? I got accepted straight into a top law program right away, just based on my grades from HS. If I had bad grades from HS, I wouldn't have gotten in, and I wouldn't have had the blast I'm having today.

Moral of the story : Always strive to do your best, you never know when you just might need that extra grade.

As my dad would say, do the best that you can do in school. A person who makes Bs and Cs in school who busted their ass to get those grades will ultimately do better in life than a slacker who easily gets A's.

Good grades will get you in the door to better schools easier, but if you have a slacker attitude, you will never live up to your life potential, even with straight A's.

I'm going to say this now before all the bashing about school is pointless come in and so on.

First, I will state this:

No.

Failure in school does NOT equal failure in life.

To be exact, it means that those who fail in school trend to be the failures in life a lot. Not always, but the guys who like taking every drug on the list and so on, they trend not to do well in school nor live too well after either.

Parents drill that thinking into you to motivate you. They know from experience and from their observations that the people who trend to be well off, usually come from a good education. So to bring their children to their best interests, they try to push them to do well in school for it is a step in the right direction.

There will be some people who will come in and say school is pointless made to educate the masses to be drones and so on. They will point to guys or themselves that got rich or living well despite doing horribly in school.

To be honest, yes, they do have a point too actually. Much of you do in school is... well... pointless. Many of what you learned will not help you at all, but much can help in ways that's not expected (that is why we study history, we learned their mistakes and subsequently ourselves) and of course there a good bit that depends on what you wish to do in life.

What this mean? Don't start telling yourself school doesn't matter and its okay to fail because it means nothing. Push yourself, gain knowledge. You have a D in mathematics, you know what? You can do better than that, look and think of a plan to deal with it. Don't just rationalize by dismissing it.

Look at it this way:

I got a "D" in Juvenile Studies in college.

Today, I work as a Juvenile Counselor.

I agree with TheHumanist and will add that the thing that you should be concerned with is why your grades suffered. Was it lack of ability, lack of interest, lack of preparedness? Taking care of the root of the problem will help you in the future aside of whatever grade you get. Understand though, people will judge you by the last grade that you get unless you can show them something similar which directly offsets it.

I say yes and no. if you get bad grades in school it can motivate you to do better in life. when i was in highschool i didnt have the best grades ever, now im in college im doing really good. so i think it just depends on how hard you work and stuff.

when i was in highschool i didnt take it to seious, i mean i was a kid and i didnt know crap basically.

but yeah i think it depends on the person. in my opinion.

No, not necessarily, but it is a lot harder to succeed. You already closed the door on a lot of opportunities

Its not bad grades that will hold you back, its the reason why you got bad grades. If you got bad grades out of lazyness, then your lazyness will hold you back.


I got bad grades until my junior year of highschool. Some how I 'got it' that this is my last chance for some major opportunities, so I worked hard, got decent grades, when to a good uni.

Its not to late for you either, theirs still community college, technical schools, ect.

Well to be quite honest, I am really only scared about ONE subject, which is Business Studies- and if I dont get at least a B in it, I wont get into the uni I really want to go to.

I think the bad grade is attributed to my demotivation in class, and the sheer fact that I hate my finance teacher. He is an idiot- the first question he asked us in the first lesson was, "How to you spell business?"....I am NOT joking. He an ex-rugby player, and has a cauliflower ear- and surprise, surprise, hes a fvcking idiot! Oh wait- I mentioned that already.

He has a 'I will exclude all non-rugby players from class discussions, and only talk to those that I know from the field, all others are not even in my peripheral vision and DUHHHHHHHHhHHHhHH'.....oh and he treats our business class like its some stupid prep talk before a rugby game- and 95% of the students swallow this bullsh!t.

The people in my class are always trying to bring me down, I ask a question like, "Sir, how does gearing ratio relate to this question?" and this fvcker from the corner would say, "OMGGGG, HE DOESENT KNOW IT!"...then laughs with his friends....OMG..

Sorry for my rant- its very childish I know.

I fvcking hate my finance teacher, and I fvcking hate the people I share my class with- they suck the life right out of my soul. I leave these classes feeling empty and less-human, and I die inside a little each time I see the teacher's face.

In 5-10 years from now, your any one grade in course wont matter. Don't get bogged down in just one or 2 classes. If one class is not going well, then focus on getting good grades in the 4 others you are enrolled in to buffer your GPA.

Talk to you teacher. Get a school tutor. If you believe you honestly did the best you can, then let it go. Don't get depressed over it. Don't beat yourself up.

This book really helped me, perhaps it will do the same for you in the 'school game':

"What Smart Students Know: Maximum Grades. Optimum Learning. Minimum Time. (Paperback)"
by Adam Robinson

I got a 'D' in PreCal in high school. I have PhD and publish in high impact science journals.

Bad grades doesn't equate to bad future but I'm sure most people with bad grades do bad in the future. Bad grades usually means either they are stupid or lazy or both. Any of those qualities is a bad one to have if you want to be successful. I'm not saying that if you get bad grades you will be a failure though because that isn't true I've known people who got bad grades and became successful. It was either because the subjects they did bad in bored them or they just weren't cut out for school. There are tons of blue collar jobs that make grip loads of money. My grandpa didn't go to college and did bad in high school and makes over 6 figures. He was a hard worker though. So bad grades doesn't always mean no future.

Absolutely not. Bad grades don't reflect failure for the future.

It just shows that you are not a follower.

If you are a leader, you don't need good grades.

Not learning = failure in the future.

Grades alone mean nothing outside the entry level for certain careers. While one can still learn while receiving poor grades, how likely is it that one with poor grades is really engaged in learning?

Wutang, ain't that the truth..

I use to be considered a genius in high school, ie top 5 in the school every year in a school of 1000+ students. Then I get to a reputable university, and it turns out that while I'm doing alright, there's tons of kids from India and China that have been doing calculus since grade 7 and clean the floor with us.

Not that I want to give up all my childhood free time to study like they do... but it certainly does give them an advantage. No wonder statistically they earn more than white Americans.

And yes I realize I'm stereotyping, but this one's fairly accurate.

michaelhctam said:

"No good grades at high school = can't get into a good uni = Complete failure in life = become a blue collar worker or beggar".

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although i realise that you are looking for some TLC for your student soul here because you got a couple of bad grades, and i really should not be telling you this, but what the hell...

good grades at school = good (and HARD) uni = degree = limited social skills = limited life experience = working for some a$$hole in an office your entire life, because the fukkedup education system killed your creative thinking...

i've always believed it's better to screw up a few years of formal education and learn the answer to life, the universe and everything (even if it is 42 )

while it may hold true that for the average person, getting a degree means that they wont struggle through life, it also holds true that no school or education has ever made anyone rich. while getting that degree should be a clear goal to you, don't ever forget to think creatively and out-of-the-box... like someone already said, don't be a follower... find your own path and then TAKE IT.

like mark twain said... “I never let schooling interfere with my education.”

*m

It all depends on the person. If you're ok with being in a min wage job and continue to want something more, but never do anything about it, then you're gonna be stuck in that min waged job.

Me personally, I did very well in school. I was accepted to a good college with a full scholarship for band. (yeah i was a dork, but most girls at my school were attracted to my brain). Anyway, at the last minute, I decided that I was tired of school and definately tired of playing my trumpet. I enlisted into the Marine Corps.

Now what most people won't tell you is that someone with 5 years experience in a specific field will always get hired over anyone with a 4 year degree from the best college in the world. Why? Because you don't have to train that person with the experience. He already knows how to do the job.

I deal in military computer systems and if you look at most of the jobs on my companies site most of the listings say "4 year degree or 4 years experience." I only have a high school degree and now 7 years in my field. I'm young, making close to the type of money that my parents are making at their age/experience/job level. AWESOME BENEFITS one in particular being the fact that at any time I can take a college course and as long as it's towards a college degree, my company will pay for it, so when I decide that I'm ready to go back to school that opportunity is there free of charge. They will also pay for any class dealing with my field so I can expand that way also. Talk to any boss and they will always take the experience over the degree.

So if you don't like school or are not doing well find a skill that you enjoy, find a school that specializes in that field, enroll, do well, then go job hunting.

*mattster said:

although i realise that you are looking for some TLC for your student soul here because you got a couple of bad grades, and i really should not be telling you this, but what the hell...

good grades at school = good (and HARD) uni = degree = limited social skills = limited life experience = working for some a$$hole in an office your entire life, because the fukkedup education system killed your creative thinking...

i've always believed it's better to screw up a few years of formal education and learn the answer to life, the universe and everything (even if it is 42 )

while it may hold true that for the average person, getting a degree means that they wont struggle through life, it also holds true that no school or education has ever made anyone rich. while getting that degree should be a clear goal to you, don't ever forget to think creatively and out-of-the-box... like someone already said, don't be a follower... find your own path and then TAKE IT.

like mark twain said... “I never let schooling interfere with my education.”

*m

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I will have to disagree. Education is never wasted.

Your rationalization is flawed. University actually promotes creative thinking.

It is proven that for every degree you aquire is that you lifetime earning potential is enhanced by several hundred K. Ok, sure some clown will argue that Bill Gates or who ever don't have degree, but that is exception rather than the rule. For every Bill Gates, you have 1000 failures. Yes, you can make alot of money as plumber or electrician, as you are skilled professional, but you still require an 'education' except that is through professional trade school then a long apprenticeship...you will work for money.

You perspective will change you that when you 32 or 40 (and without a 4 year degree) . You will likely have to switch jobs, and then you will realize that you passed by individuals with 'weaker resume' but with a 4 year college degree.

4 years at university has become a right of passage from the transtion through adulthood. It not some much the facts you learn, rather its the ability to intergrate idea and communicate these ideas.

Road Demon said:

I will have to disagree. Education is never wasted.

Your rationalization is flawed. University actually promotes creative thinking.

It is proven that for every degree you aquire is that you lifetime earning potential is enhanced by several hundred K. Ok, sure some clown will argue that Bill Gates or who ever don't have degree, but that is exception rather than the rule. For every Bill Gates, you have 1000 failures. Yes, you can make alot of money as plumber or electrician, as you are skilled professional, but you still require an 'education' except that is through professional trade school then a long apprenticeship...you will work for money.

You perspective will change you that when you 32 or 40 (and without a 4 year degree) . You will likely have to switch jobs, and then you will realize that you passed by individuals with 'weaker resume' but with a 4 year college degree.

4 years at university has become a right of passage from the transtion through adulthood. It not some much the facts you learn, rather its the ability to intergrate idea and communicate these ideas.

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:crazy: :crackup: First, it was hard to even understand what this guy was trying to say. Must be that 4 year education hard at work. Second, the parts of it I could understand were total b/s.

Individuals with weaker resume but with a 4 year degree? Like I said before and you can ask any employer. A person with experience will always be chosen over someone with a degree.

Dork!

Road Demon said:

... Education is never wasted.

...University actually promotes creative thinking.

...sure some clown will argue that Bill Gates or who ever don't have degree, but that is exception rather than the rule. ..

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So true. What people fail to acknowledge when they toss names like Bill Gates, Michael Dell, Steve Jobs or Ted Turner is that these people had more than conventional intelligence, they had plans that they knew how to bring into fruition.

They already had the skills that they could immediately capitalize on AND created their own environments in which they could thrive. They didn't rely on anyone else or some corporation to hire them to make them successful, they had what it takes to be successful.

College can help people learn how to capitalize on their creative abilities. It's disconcerting to hear that there are people who don't think that is worth the time or effort.

kdnash82 said:

...Like I said before and you can ask any employer. A person with experience will always be chosen over someone with a degree.

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And if you ask who owns the company that the hiring manager works for and more times than not it is a person with a degree.