Is GPA an Indicator of Future Success?

Parents Forum
1

<p>So I was thinking the other day, thinking about life... haha</p>

<p>Well it started by me looking at my grades throughout high school: Freshman year, all honors, all A's both semesters except for two B's and one A-. Pretty good.
Sophomore Year- all honors, 2 A's, many B's, two C's (this is for both semesters.) Pretty darn bad.
Junior Year (This Year)- Ahem.... All honors/AP's.. No A's, few B+'s, many B's, few B-'s...</p>

<p>So as you see, Even though I stayed with my honors track, my grades have declined significantly. </p>

<p>I can't really explain the sharp decline. Obviously weighted my GPA is above a 3.0, however unweighted it is in the high 2 range. This is a lot different from freshman year and the realization hasn't hit me yet. Yes I am one of "those kids" who freshman year was looking at UPenn, Stanford, UWash in St. Louis, etc. Right now I'm still kinda dreaming about those schools but I think I've relaxed a bit.</p>

<p>I tend to think I am a pretty good kid. My GPA is very low but my ACT is a 29 on my first try with no studying and 3 hours of sleep (crazy night aha), I went to ISEF (International Science Fair) freshman year, I got into National Honor Society, I've been the Vice President and President of my BBYO Chapter of over 50 kids for a year now.. </p>

<p>I think the low GPA is because of a few things... Well first, the work-load tripled haha from freshman year to this year. There is just so much work, I don't know how other kids do it. And second, I am a bit lazy (not too bad) and have time management. I know what you're thinking, but I do get everything done. </p>

<p>Anyways I started thinking.... Why do I care so much about my GPA? Why do I start sweating when I see my grades? Why do I get sad at the realization that I won't get into top colleges like all my friends?
Is it because the college you go to indicates your success later in life? Does your GPA do that? Is it because I really love learning and I love spending hours on hours analyzing and learning certain subjects? Or is it because all my life my parents grew me up to believe that grades were everything? Is it because my parents would use my grades and smarts to brag to all the other parents?
Maybe it's because getting accepted into selective colleges makes me feel better about myself. Maybe getting into a top college makes me feel smarter than the person next to me, that I'm worth more....</p>

<p>Well, sorry about my rant, but that was my sad thought the other day. :(
Back to point- is your high school GPA a measure of success later in life?</p>

2

<p>to answer your question: NO</p>

<p>the questions to ask yourself are: are you kind? are you empathetic? are you smart? can you think clearly and critically? are you afraid of hard work? are you generous? can you talk to all kinds of people? </p>

<p>these are the questions that matter. and their answers will determine your “future success” more than gpa (and standardized test scores) ever will.</p>

3

<p>If you been success as fitness which is the potential to have many offspring.</p>

<p>Then, no, you should drop the GPA, become Mormon and marry 5 different women</p>

4

<p>^ what???</p>

5

<p>HS GPA is generally considered the best measure for how you will do in college. In life, not so much. The question is are you going to do something about it.</p>

6

<p>Your GPA for the year is a good indicator of how you will do in the next year usually. There are kids who decide to stop doing their schoolwork at any point in their academic lives and that prior gpa is not going to figure to well into the picture when that happens. There are also those who decide to sit down and work after years of not doing so. But the latest GPA is a snap shot of what’s doing right now and does have limited but proven predictive value. That’s why for law school graduates, for instance, hiring from each law school tends to have a GPA pecking order.</p>

7

<p>Honestly college isn’t everything. Grades aren’t either. Going to college for 10 years doesnt mean you will be successful. As long as you live a happy, debt free life. And are able to think for yourself and are super creative…you will definitely make it in life :)</p>

8

<p>Well, just think about it a minute. It depends what you are selecting for.</p>

<p>If you are looking for someone who can do what you ask them to do, stay focused on task over time, be consistent and determined, and see things through, look for someone with a high gpa.</p>

<p>If you want something else, then you may not be helped by looking for someone with a high gpa.</p>

<p>My opinion.</p>

9

<p>To answer your question. You’ve realized you’re probably not going to get into Stanford. However, there are plenty of colleges that you can still go to that are great colleges.</p>

<p>Just get your act together and work hard your senior year, and carry that forward into college. Your performance in college will determine your internships, grad school, and future employment. It’s not too late to start trying harder.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

10

<p>When you visit your GC to put together your college list, see if there is Naviance info for your high school. It’ll pretty clearly show you where you need to be in gpa and test scores to have a reasonable chance of getting accepted to certain schools. And a rising trend is much better than a declining one.</p>

11

<p>Honestly that’s the problem now…no one is really looking for people that can do what they say. They want you to think. We’re so brainwashed into thinking that we all have to be book smart to live well. There are so many different kinds of smarts.</p>

<p>If college is what you want to do, then do it. But if you go and feel like “what’s the point”, get a job and start living.</p>