Do grades matter ?

[Afterglow]

I see people near me trying to get into the best colleges, study 10 hours a day and do some really crazy stuff just for the goal that they would land a very high paying job in the future which they don't care if they are passionate about.

Also, they take up some crazy loans of like $20-50k for their graduation. After they get a job, they spend quite a few years paying off that debt.

I don't see the point why people are still going after things like this and why does a college degree / high grades matter at all ?

Here's an example of a very popular exam in India,

More than 10 lakh people appear for the UPSC exam every year.
Out of that, about 10,000 of them qualify for the mains.
Out of that, about 2000 of them qualify for the interview.
Out of that, about 700 of them get various posts, including IAS.
That's a funnel with a 0.000007% conversion rate.
This is not just for UPSC. I can make a similar funnel for engineering, MBA, CA etc and we will probably get similar conversion rates.
Why do people still do it then?
And after prepping for so long be it for UPSC, JEE, or CA and they don't make it; at the end of it, they don't even have a skill they can use in the real world. They are left with no skills and no job and a sunken investment (tuitions, books etc.). The opportunity cost is too high.
(80% of the people don't do it because they're passionate about it)

Every single day, I see new content creators popping up and people who changed their career from being a 9-5 person or whatever to something they like doing.

Has a college degree, high grades in school ever helped you in a way which IM hasn't when the main goal for *most* of the people is just to make more money ?

I'd love to know your opinions on this !

 

[TheVigilante]

NO

 

[Afterglow]

NO

OK

 

[Toz]

"Hey, Mr. Benjamin Dover, I was just about to hire you but then I saw that 'B' you got in chemistry in your Sophomore year. Too bad, man. Everything about you was great but you got that 'B'. We can't hire you."
^ I don't think that ever happened.

 

[UnusualSubstance]

You can learn pretty much anything on the internet. It honestly is underappreciated.

 

[Afterglow]

"Hey, Mr. Benjamin Dover, I was just about to hire you but then I saw that 'B' you got in chemistry in your Sophomore year. Too bad, man. Everything about you was great but you got that 'B'. We can't hire you."
^ I don't think that ever happened.

Lol got it

You can learn pretty much anything on the internet. It honestly is underappreciated.

True !

 

[chrono01]

Yes

 

[midnightsavant]

Yes

NO

 

[HustleTong]

Underlying principle:
The system is designed to keep you in the same place

 

[kvvni]

Hell no. Definitely No.

 

[Psh]

University/College nowadays is a scam IMO, like Tai Lopez courses but more expensive

* Unless you're trying to become a vet/doctor, etc. where you actually need to study properly.

 

[davids355]

I would say that grades themselves don't matter but obviously, information is one of the most important elements in life - without the information you simply cannot make good decisions. It therefore stands to reason that if you spend time and focus your attention on education, you are gathering more information and thus you are potentially going to be better off for it.

I say potentially because I think balance is important - for example, if you spent too long gathering information and not enough time acting on it... well, we all know where that leads.

Also, focus, discipline and consistency are very important skills for life and in particular they breed success and I think those types of skills are what you learn as you go through school and university. The kids that study hard like you have described, are developing those skills so that's another plus point.

Of course though, you could feasibly develop all of those skills without necessarily getting any good "grades" as a result, so that in and of itself is not important per say.

 

[BimTop]

High grade is just overrated. Many dropout are those controlling the economy with their riches

 

[Halch]

Someone has to build the comfortable house I want to live in. Preferably so that the roof won't fall on me. Also, I'd appreciate roads and such so I can take my 4 wheels to them to grab some cheap food that comes from factories.

Not everyone needs to do well at school, but I don't see the system going anywhere. Personally, I'd like to go off the grid.

 

[TheMarquis]

Nope. With or without University grades, a smart man will achieve good results.
And..
Without or with University grades, a lazy man will achieve nothing.

 

[splendiddog]

I can talk hours and hours on it since im facing and fighting it currently.

There are lot of factors that takes place in here especially third world countries like India. They dont know another thing(not now of course) and parents want their child to be top and have a good career and showcase their child as a trophy sometimes even when kid is not happy. They just want a "secure" future for their kid.

Sure there are rebels like who becomes headache for their parents. Im currently doing my ca final and you can expect how hard it is. I joined the course as per few suggestions and excelled in the course until i joined internship and saw the reality of job. I hated it but i loved marketing.I begged my parents to leave the course but they are like nope im is not secure career. Sure they have good intentions at heart but they take u turn and hurt and leave scars

So now I'm on my journey to prove my parents wrong and do what I love.

 

[IM Dude]

Every single day, I see new content creators popping up and people who changed their career from being a 9-5 person or whatever to something they like doing.

By content creators you mean
like on takatak? Because tiktok is banned.
They mostly seems to be good looking young women in early 20s who are getting views. No?
Yes, grads matter and college degree matter to qualify for a 9-5 job. It is what it is.

 

[Deleted member 1333509]

Well it's a complicated question isn't it.

Do grades matter.. to someone that wants to become a biochemist working for a large pharma company?

Do grades matter.. to someone that wants to create websites or run Google Ads?

Do grades matter.. to someone that would like to create a multi-billion dollar startup?

Do grades matter.. to someone that would like to create automated trading bots that exploit machine-learning related discrepancies in markets?

All 4 have different answers, and still none of them are really "yes" or "no", it's just that some are more "yes" and more "no" (except for biochemist - that's pretty much a straight yes).

Generally speaking, there's more chance to get around needing academic grades to pursue high-revenue careers in 2021 than ever before. That doesn't mean that getting good grades and getting a degree is useless or a scam.

As was already pointed out, the secondary information and soft skills you get from university can be far more valuable than people that haven't been to university give it credit for. But then many people that have a degree over-inflate it's value as well, so it can go both ways.

 

[adesh2587]

I will answer your question in simple words:

Yes and No both.

Grades have their own value in the market where they are needed.
You will fail 90% of the time if you have skills but no grades in that market.

Alternatively their is another market here where skills matter most. Here grades are mostly useless.

 

[JackThompson]

NO