Twentysomething: Why I regret getting straight A?s in college

[Pornwolf]

I've always told people this but when you are in school you don't know what to expect so you don't listen to reason. But, this is the absolute truth.

By Jon Morrow - I nearly killed myself in college to get straight A?s. Well, almost straight A?s. I graduated with 37 A?s and 3 B?s for a GPA of 3.921. At the time, I thought I was hot stuff. Now I wonder if it wasn?t a waste of time. Let me explain:

1. No one has ever asked about my GPA.
I was told that having a high GPA would open all kinds of doors for me. But you know what? I interviewed with lots of companies, received a total of 14 job offers after graduation, and none of the companies asked about it. They were much more impressed with stuff like serving as Chief of Staff for the student government and starting a radio station run by 200 volunteers.

I suppose a college recruiter from a Fortune 500 company might ask, but honestly, I can?t see any employer hiring a straight-A student over someone with five years of relevant work experience. It might tip the scale in a competitive situation, but in most cases, I haven?t seen that grades are really that important to employers.

2. I didn?t sleep.
Unless you?re a super genius, getting 37 A?s is hard work. For me, it was an obsession. Anything less than an A+ on any assignment was unacceptable. I?d study for 60-80 hours a week, and if I didn?t get the highest grade in class, I?d put in 100 hours the next week.

Translation: I didn?t sleep much. From my freshman to junior year, I averaged about six hours a night. By my senior year though, I was only getting 3-5 per night, even on weekends. I was drinking a 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew and 2-3 energy drinks per day just to stay awake. Not only is that unhealthy, but it?s not particularly fun either.

3. I?ve forgotten 95% of it.
I majored in English Literature and minored in Communication Theory. The main reason I chose those subjects was I thought they would teach me how to write and speak, two skills that would serve me well for the rest of my life.

Boy, was I stupid. Instead, I spent all my time reading classic literature and memorizing vague, pseudoscientific communication theories. Neither are useful at all, and I?ve forgotten at least 95% of it.

I?d guess the same is true for most college graduates. Tell me, what?s the point of spending 60-80 hours a week learning things that you immediately forget?

4. I didn?t have time for people.
Being in the student government and running a radio station, I had lots of opportunities to build a huge network. But I didn?t have time. Between studying and doing my job, I had to prioritize the people I wanted to develop relationships with and narrow it down to the handful who could help me the most.

That?s no way to go through school. College isn?t so much a training ground for entering the work place as a sandbox for figuring out who you are and how you relate to other people. You develop your social skills and forge relationships with people that might be colleagues for the rest of your life.

If I could do it all over again, I would spend less time in the library and more time at parties. I would have 50 friends, not 3. I would be known for ?the guy that knows everyone,? not ?the smartest guy in class.? Not only because it would?ve been more fun, but because I would still be friends with most of those people now and would have access to the networks they?ve developed over the last four years.

5. Work experience is more valuable.
In retrospect, I could?ve probably spent 20-30 hours a week on my studies and gotten B?s. That would?ve freed up 30-70 hours a week, depending on the course load. When I think of all of the things that I could?ve done with those hours, I just shake my head.

If there?s one thing graduates lack, it?s relevant work experience. If you want to be a freelance writer, you?re much better off writing articles for magazines and interning with a publishing company than working your tail off to get straight A?s. The experience makes you more valuable to future employers and usually results in a paycheck with a few more digits on it.

What about Graduate School?
If you?re getting your masters, going to law school, or becoming a doctor, then you?ll need all 37 of those A?s to get into the best school possible, and you can safely disregard this entire post. Just be sure that you follow through. I thought I would go to law school, and then I found out what a miserable career it is and how little it actually pays. All of those good grades are now going to waste.

It also comes down to the question, ?What?s the most effective use of your time?? If you can?t imagine living without an advanced degree from an Ivy League school, then reading until your eyes fall out and sleeping on a table in the library is a perfectly defensible lifestyle.

On the other hand, if you want to get a job and make as much money as possible, then good grades aren?t going to help you as your teachers and parents might have you believe. You?re better making powerful friends, building a killer résumé, and generally having the time of your life on your parent?s dime.

[spooky181]

Don't let the kids here read that......

[After Shock Media]

Originally Posted by spooky181

Don't let the kids here read that......

Most of the kids on here are so A.D.D. that they will ask for cliff notes *like they seen those either. After three sentences.

[Kevin Marx]

LMAO... half the kids on here are either dropouts our spend so much time on their computers, they wouldn't know a textbook if it hit them on the side of the head.

Made me think retroactively about my education though. I think it was pretty much spot on.

[madfuck]

hummmm, well at least you knw wht you did...

[webmasterchecks]

i disagree

when your in school, thats your objective and you do what you have to do your best, which is qualified by your grades

then when you graduate, you need to do your best in your career, thats the next step

as a employer, i would always hire the guy that got a's. that was the goal, and he was smart and motivated to accomplish what 97% of people cant, its rare to find overachivers

[woj]

This is probably true for worthless majors like English Literature / Communication Theory etc, but in technical majors, it actually does matter. And it's not really the grades that count, but whether you know your stuff or not. If you do, you will get As anyway without much effort, if you don't you will get Cs... So really, grades are a quick way for an employer to evaluate whether you know your stuff or not...

[Shaze]

Believe it or not this is 100% true! I'm a college graduate and I actually worked for a Fortune 500 company as a "Network Administrator" and they never asked me what grades I got in college. The only thing they care about is if you have the college degree.

I actually thought the exact same things this guy was saying on more than one occassion. What was the purpose of trying to get a high GPA when they never ask what it was when you go get a job. Granted if your apply for a prestigous position or maybe at a company that has thousands of people wanting to work for it like Google they may ask about your GPA, but for any regular company they will never ask.

On another note, high school is totally worthless. You can pass high school with all C's and will never get asked about your grades from any employer.

[Shaze]

Originally Posted by woj

technical majors, it actually does matter. And it's not really the grades that count, but whether you know your stuff or not.

For technical positions the employers are more concerned about how easily you can pick up new things, and not how book smart you are. Once they hire you they need you to adapt to the new technology on your own, and be able to troubleshoot the technology and develop solutions to complete projects. People who are just booksmart can have a hard time doing this.

[Pornwolf]

Originally Posted by madfuck

hummmm, well at least you knw wht you did...

Yup, I used vowels.

[woj]

Originally Posted by Shaze

For technical positions the employers are more concerned about how easily you can pick up new things, and not how book smart you are. Once they hire you they need you to adapt to the new technology on your own, and be able to troubleshoot the technology and develop solutions to complete projects. People who are just booksmart can have a hard time doing this.

yea, but if you can pick up new things easily, then you will get good grades anyway... but yea, I agree, if you are a dumb ass (like maybe the article writer) then studying 80 hours a week just to memorize some things and get straight As won't do you any good...

[Buff]

Unless you're in the hard sciences like physics or biology, or you're an idiot, making a 3.0 or higher is a breeze. College is catering to the dregs of society now, not the elite. Go to class, take good notes, and read over them before the tests. You don't even have to buy the books in most classes. There's more than enough time to party 3 nights a week and play sports.

Now if you're in the hard science? Different story completely. If you want a 3.0 or higher and you're not a prodigy, you will have to work at it. You have labs (often 5 hours of actual lab tab + a lot of work on your own for 1 hour of credit), and you have a lot of reading and studying, and you can't bullshit or play on a teacher's sympathies. It's real work.

[aico]

I am glad I dropped out, otherwise I probably would have read that whole thing.

[snaker]

ha, so true good post! I was more consumed with drinking and tryin to get sorority chicks to blow me, ha!

[JakeR]

I majored in English Literature and minored in Communication Theory

what did he expect?
should have gone for a real degree

[Pornwolf]

Work experience, competency and personality are the only things that matter. It seems like having 2 out of 3 will get you in the door, unfortunately.

No one gives a shit if you barely made it out of college or if you barely graduated from high school to get there. I've hired well over 60 people in my life and never asked about a gpa... and I have never been asked about my gpa.

That's the truth of the matter. The whole, get really good grades mentality goes back to the days when young people didn't work much before graduating. Now a days you better make strides into the field that you want to be in BEFORE you get out of school.

[hypedough]

Very nice read.

[justFred]

I did a year and a half in general ed college before I realized that Google was teaching me more. This year I'm taking a break from college, and for once I'm actually learning something valuable.

I plan to go back when I can focus more on school, and after taste-testing the career menu- but only to obtain that piece of paper, and to keep my social life active. I used to get straight A's all through k-12 with no effort and I used to want to get a degree right after High School, like everyone else. But I would hate to make the mistake of spending thousands of dollars and several years of my life learning something I'm not interested in or is not relevant to the workplace of TODAY and TOMORROW. Cliffnotes:

So while I used to want to supplement my education with experience, I now would rather supplement my experience with education.

[D]

Originally Posted by woj

This is probably true for worthless majors like English Literature / Communication Theory etc, but in technical majors, it actually does matter.

Who would you rather: the coder who schlepped by with a C average, or the guy that able to hit A's in his programming classes, and now considers your tasks a breeze?

Not to mention, without the right grades, you don't even get into the "right" institutions or have the scholarships to back you to begin with.

Not saying they're the end-all-be-all... but in technical majors, they matter more.

In journalism/literature/art, etc... I think your portfolio matters more.

[kovacs]

Originally Posted by woj

This is probably true for worthless majors like English Literature / Communication Theory

it's the people who know the ins and outs of communication who lead the world and make real decisions, whilst technical drones get on with carrying out the grunt work.

[abyss_al]

Originally Posted by woj

This is probably true for worthless majors like English Literature / Communication Theory etc, but in technical majors, it actually does matter. And it's not really the grades that count, but whether you know your stuff or not. If you do, you will get As anyway without much effort, if you don't you will get Cs... So really, grades are a quick way for an employer to evaluate whether you know your stuff or not...

[webmasterchecks]

how you do earlier in life is a good indication how you will do later in life

[Farang]

'so fuck school, I'm too cool to go back
give me the mic, show me where the fucking studios at'

[Pornwolf]

Originally Posted by kovacs

it's the people who know the ins and outs of communication who lead the world and make real decisions, whilst technical drones get on with carrying out the grunt work.

This is true with very few exceptions.

[tranza]

When I was studying at Georgia Tech, I remember that I spent at most a couple of hours a week actually studying. I got B's on all classes and was happy with it.

[corvette]

it's the people who know the ins and outs of communication who lead the world and make real decisions

great quote

[Shaze]

Originally Posted by Pornwolf

Work experience, competency and personality are the only things that matter. It seems like having 2 out of 3 will get you in the door, unfortunately.

No one gives a shit if you barely made it out of college or if you barely graduated from high school to get there. I've hired well over 60 people in my life and never asked about a gpa... and I have never been asked about my gpa.

That's the truth of the matter. The whole, get really good grades mentality goes back to the days when young people didn't work much before graduating. Now a days you better make strides into the field that you want to be in BEFORE you get out of school.

Totally agree.

Personality and being a people person is the #1 most important thing for any type of job in the business world. Even if your mediocre in your technical skills your personality can get you a long way.

[Brother Bilo]

Unless youre trying to pull down a kick ass job right out of school and your graduating with some kind of honors, GPA doesn't mean shit. I figured it towards the end of sophmore year. I tried for A's, but I didn't sweat it if it didn't happen.

3.2 was good enough for me, and my employers since.