What do you think? I'm in my last year at college and I don't think prospective job offers will be looking at my grades much as long as I passed. I think that work experience matters more than grades.
Poll: How much do grades really matter?
- Thread starter PunchClockVillain
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Depends on what you're applying for. For prospective Air Traffic Controllers, there is something known as the "AT-SAT" test, in which you are graded. Depending on where you score, determines whether or not you will get called. If you don't study for the test, good luck doing well enough to be called for training. You must get a 90% or above nowadays.
While school grades may not be important for the job, they do reflect on the AT-SAT.
With that said...I feel core classes are essentially wastes of time.
While school grades may not be important for the job, they do reflect on the AT-SAT.
With that said...I feel core classes are essentially wastes of time.
Grades matter nothing to the human mind because it is a consequence too far after the fact to make a difference. If grades were given instantaneously after you complete the assignment, then it would work better on 90% of the human population or so.
And pete240 answered the original question well. If you got lots of work experience, you're good to go. If not... then do good in school, don't get senioritis.
And pete240 answered the original question well. If you got lots of work experience, you're good to go. If not... then do good in school, don't get senioritis.
Work experience is more important, but good grades help when you apply for a job that actually matters. Like a pilot, or something.
To someone just coming out of college I'd be surprised if your work experience amounted to enough to make your grades irrelevant. But someone 5-10 years or more down the line can probably expect their grades to get ignored.
Having said that, the exact grade you get isn't always important, most employers will treat everyone vaguely equally over a certain level - possibly even view someone with ridiculous grades as either too high-maintenance or too much of a geek.
Having said that, the exact grade you get isn't always important, most employers will treat everyone vaguely equally over a certain level - possibly even view someone with ridiculous grades as either too high-maintenance or too much of a geek.
They correlate to how well you will do in your job, assuming it relates to the education you've received, but certainly don't determine anything all by themselves.
In engineering (which I am in), knowledge of core classes is required to pass the FE (Fundamentals of Engineering) exam, which is necessary to become a professional engineer, but not necessary to graduate. For me, it really depends on where I want to take my degree. I'm curious on other majors, such as the air traffic controls which Mr.Pandah mentioned.
Depends on what you want to do, and what level of education you're currently at. Before 16, they don't really matter. 16+, you're talking about actual job or university qualifications, or your chosen discipline which you're already motivated in, which generally makes grades less of a problem.PunchClockVillain said:
In every year up to final year all you need to do is pass.PunchClockVillain said:
In final year it may matter for getting that first job, and it definitely will matter for getting into University.
Once you're in the workforce grades are irrelevant.
Once you're in Uni it's only Uni grades that matter. Once again, only your final year matters. However do your best in all Uni years just in case you drop out or defer study sooner than anticipated.
As most people will tell you, most of the things you learn, you will learn from working on the job. This holds most true to ATC from what I've experienced. You really only learn the basics of the basics prior to going to a facility where you will have to learn all of the runways and lingo tailored to that facility.PunchClockVillain said:
The test was being administered to people off the street at several points during its span (Not literally off the street, you needed 3 years of work under your belt) or a degree of some sort. For the most part, those people never really got the job, because, go figure, they didn't study for it. While it may seem basic to someone who is going to school for it, its enough to be over the heads of other people who haven't really looked too much into it. Which is the same for just about anything else.
When you arrive at your facility of choice (after going to Oklahoma for training and passing your test) nobody is going to care what your grades were in school. Trust me. However, using those grades to get to that point, is whats essential.
I think grades just show the ability to do the work you are given without totally screwing it up. They're not really a measurement of how smart you are. Somebody could be absolutely brilliant, but also be a complete slacker and not do any work in school; thus earning bad grades despite their intelligence. And a student with a 4.0 could be nothing more than a mental sponge, absorbing what they are told and regurgitating it back out, without ever forming an original thought of their own.
Unfortunately for me, nobody else seems to think this. Especially the colleges that don't have grades...
Great. Now I'm all depressed again.
Unfortunately for me, nobody else seems to think this. Especially the colleges that don't have grades...
Great. Now I'm all depressed again.
Grades matter because they indicate your capability. At my local college, if one's Grade Point Average isn't high enough, then they aren't permitted to join particular classes, participate in Co-op job programs, or advance to a higher-level campus to attain a BA.
That is what I've heard from a lot of people who've gotten jobs in my field. But I've also heard different stories about grades too. Supposedly, one of the people who graduated from my college went on to be vice president (or some higher-up position) at Sun Microsystems and he had the lowest grades in his class. It really makes me question that validity of grades and college in general sometimes.Mr.Pandah said:
Sometimes, low grades don't necessarily mean your capability to grasp a subject. Its just that you had a bad day on test days, or the time between the material you learned and the test was far too long and you can't exactly be bothered to remember every little detail.PunchClockVillain said:
Don't get me wrong, bad grades are not something one should aspire to, but it isn't the end of the world if you get them. As seen by the man that went to your college. He may have great business smarts or "street smarts". He may actually have a really good handling on the subject matter in certain areas then others. It all depends on the person.
I look at it this way, if I can't get good enough grades to satisfy myself, then I've failed somewhere along the line. If you're fine with just coasting along with mediocre grades, thats your business. I don't get high grades because someone tells me to, or because my job demands me to, but because it gives me a sense of accomplishment in college. It makes me feel like I'm not wasting my time.
I hope this has been somewhat insightful/helpful for you.
Depends upon the situation. In college, grades don't matter THAT much unless you need the GPA for scholarships and the like. As long as you pass and get the degree, it honestly doesn't matter what rank you were....unless you were able to get Magna or Suma Cum Laude.
In highschool...GRADES MATTER. Holy fuck do they matter if unless you don't mind asking "Do you want fries with that?". I learned this the hard way when it took years to be able to attend college, no scholarships or help, simply because I graduated highschool with a C- average. I was lazy, didn't do homework, aced the tests and thought that would carry me through.
I will pound that into my kids when I have them.
In highschool...GRADES MATTER. Holy fuck do they matter if unless you don't mind asking "Do you want fries with that?". I learned this the hard way when it took years to be able to attend college, no scholarships or help, simply because I graduated highschool with a C- average. I was lazy, didn't do homework, aced the tests and thought that would carry me through.
I will pound that into my kids when I have them.