Im 16, Junior in highschool, my grades are like B&Cs, with the occasional D. I want to be successful in life, but I really dont care about school because its all like busy work to me. I really dont see how anything I do in highschool is going to benefit my future what so ever. The only thing is, is now im kinda worried about getting into college with these grades, im not looking to get into like stanford or anything, just a decent college.. from you guys experience, should I be worried about getting into college??? I actually want to go to a technical school for like 2 years and see what happens, im very interested in computer engineering.. but.. I just get worried with these grades that I wont be able to make it somewhere. Should I be???

 

Some will say what you do in high school doesn't matter. Personally, I think it's not exactly the material you learn, but that habits you build. Grades may not necessarily reflect how intelligent you are, but if you are seriously considering a good university, I think over what you've already said. You have a lot of time ahead of you to build a good foundation to make your way into the real world.

Grades may seem stupid to you, but unfortunately they are a reflection of your efforts and of you. I don't really think your attitude will get you far. Others may disagree. I just don't see how you can expect to get into a good institute or even be successful studying in a good institution if you're happy with occasional D's.

In short, I would be concerned if I were you. You have time until you have to get out there and make a career out of what you learn in school. Don't sit on your ass thinking opportunities are going to present themselves to you. Change the way you look at school and you'll be well on your way to a successful future. Good luck.

 

I am 16 too and i am getting a 3.8 and i got a 1300 the first i took the SATS but i am still worrying about getting in a good college. Its true, the stuff you learn in highschool doesnt help you much in life but it is the learing process that counts. On the average, only 25% of knowledge gained in highschool is actually applied in everyday life. Highschool is really a place for learing and preparing to learn for things in real life in the not so distant future. Statistic say that the most succesful people (money wise) are not nesscasry the smartest. They are the average ones in schools with Bs and Cs who come in to the work world and know how to apply themselves and kiss ass. I know it sounds kinda jaded but my personal idea is "what ever it takes". Cheat, steal, lie, as long as you get what you need. Its cold and calculating but i am a total social darwinist and survival of the fittest is essential nowadays with more and more kids going into college.

just my 2 cents

 

I feel like there is so much to say, but I don't see how anything I say is really going to benefit your future what so ever. Typing out all the things that could be really important to you just seems like busy work and I don't really care about all that. I'd like to get my point across to you but you prolly don't need all that to get into a decent college.

 

thats some interesting reverse psychology there Ash

 

if you are not good in school, or not interested in school shiet,
then try to have at least one thing you are good at and keep developing that skill.

i wasn't exactly an ivy material (all tho i did aim at columbia med at one point.)
but i couldn't careless,
all i did was draw, draw, draw and
now i'm at one of the best art schools in the world.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Dizings2k
Im 16, Junior in highschool, my grades are like B&Cs, with the occasional D.

 

Community and Technical colleges up here will accept you no matter what your high school GPA, but if you don't show that you have basic skills when you take the entrance exams, you will get stuck PAYING TUITION for the same courses you could have taken for FREE in high school. It is not too late to take the college prep courses in HS next year and get yourself reasonably prepared for college.

[lecture]
You really should take as many college prep courses as you can in high school. They are free & they are much easier in HS that in college. A typical 'College Algebra' course in high school will meet one hour/day, 5 days/week for mosr or less a whole school year. The same course in college will will cover the same material but only meet 3 days/week for one semester. So you will be really bustin' ass to keep up in college. when you could have been working at a easy pace in high school.

Another point - from a guy who used to teach machine shop in a technical college - is that much of what you learn in high school and college in NOT directly related to what you will do on your job. I rarely if ever use algebra, history or quantum physics in my job as a network engineer. I do however indirectly use many of the 'knowledge aquisition' and 'project completion' and 'meeting absolute deadline or you are dead' and 'I don't know the answer but I know how to find the answer' skills that I learned in college. These are very, very valuable. My degree is in physics and totally irrelevent to my job but I use the study/learn/origanize skills every single day.

Craming for an exam teaches you how to learn. Having to read a book per week teachies you how to quickly absorb large amounts of info and organize it and summarize it. You will probably never use algebra at your job, but you will be able to think abstractly because you learn algebra in high school, and that abstract thinking ability will enable you to solve non-algebra problems at work, and that will eventually put you in the drivers seat.
[/lecture]

I'm more than 2x your age - so I'm allowed to lecture.

--Mike

 

well... lets see
i think the times have change and grades that some of us had might of been good enough to get into college back then but kids are getting smarter and smarter and it is getting harder and harder to get into college.

i was also not all that great in highschool and all my friends were smarter then i was in the honor classes.
but perfect example is...we all went to separate ways to different college. me going to academy. i study so hard when i was over there and i graduated with 3.7 with dean's list every time.
when i came back home...all my smart friends were kicked out of their college and some were in 10 year college plan.

so what i'm saying is that its not how smart you are but how hard you try. if you have to go to smaller college, then go there and try real hard, you can move on up from there.

 

One thing for sure. Never get a job while you are in high school. It will interfere with your school work.