Why should you care about your grades?
- materriseup01
- Aug 24, 2024
- 4 min read
The Role Grades Play in Students’ Opportunities, Including Scholarships, Sports, and Extracurricular Activities
Authored by Dafne Betancourt
Grades serve to convey students’ abilities and performance in school, demonstrating the areas in which they excel, as well as the contrary. However, grades are not the only tool that offers insight into a student’s academic excellence. So, why should they put effort into earning good grades?
Scholarships
There are countless reasons why a student should care about their grades. A notable benefit of maintaining good grades is the advantage it allows in regard to scholarships. According to Allison Ourada in a blog by Education Quest Foundation, many scholarships, both need-based and merit-based, require a minimum grade point average (GPA), which can range from 2.00 to 3.00.¹ The organizations offering such scholarships want to ensure that they are investing in educated and hardworking individuals. Hence, they turn to their applicants' grades as they are the exemplary demonstration of a person’s performance and academic rigor.
Moreover, students who are able to maintain a high GPA are often rewarded with greater financial support from scholarships. Admission officers seek to invest in accomplished students, and grades are the perfect representative of such merits. As stated in the article “What a Merit Scholarship Is & How to Get One,” with excellent grades, students are much more likely to receive benefits varying from full tuition coverage to financial aid for housing and even traveling. In addition to financial benefits, numerous scholarships allow a variety of exceptional opportunities such as priority registration for classes and other exclusive events to students with a higher GPA.²
In the article “13 Things to Know About Merit Aid Scholarships” by U.S. News and World Report, Kerr and Wood reported that students who are interested in attending an out-of-state university are more likely to be considered for merit-based scholarships.³ Merit-based scholarships determine eligibility solely based on a student’s academic standing. Although impressive test scores and participation in extracurricular activities also play a role in determining a student’s eligibility for such a scholarship, grades are the most accurate representation of overall academic performance. Grades offer a clearer measure of a student’s abilities, reflecting notable details about their accomplishments in the classroom, including the effort and dedication they put forth and the difficulty of their coursework. Therefore, grades are a key factor in the selection process for merit-based scholarships.
Unlike need-based scholarships, merit-based scholarships allow individuals more freedom in terms of their college decisions, as noted in the article “What are Merit Based Scholarships & Merit Aid?” by Appily.⁴ Students are held to a higher regard as admission officers feel they are highly likely to continue to excel in their studies. In other words, such scholarships lack excessive requirements for students to keep receiving benefits throughout their college careers.
Once students are granted a scholarship, it is imperative that they continue to earn satisfactory grades as this will allow for its renewal. For instance, the Bright Futures Student Handbook clearly states all of the requirements a student must meet to be eligible for their scholarships.⁵ If admission officers notice that a student has ceased putting forth substantial effort into their studies, they will not consider them for the scholarship’s renewal.
Sports
Throughout a student’s high school career, grades are also important for their ability to participate in the sports of their liking. In many schools, students are put on probation or removed from their team if they show that they are unable to manage both their academic coursework and responsibilities as an athlete. This is because students are expected to prioritize their grades regardless of the sports and other extracurricular activities they partake in.
Athletes who are able to keep their grades up and do well in their sport demonstrate the attributes of a model student. As Akshay Maliwal asserts, sports require the same skills as academic coursework: “...grit, determination, organizational skills and time management, adaptability, resilience, and refusing to give up in the face of difficulties.”⁶ In other words, if students put in the same effort into their academic coursework as they do into their performance in a sport, they will likely be equally successful.
In regards to recruitment for sports, coaches are likely to search for high-achieving students, apart from athletic skills. According to Dylan Tehada, an intern at 2aDays, those with good grades show that they are trustworthy individuals who will be committed to their team and have the ability to learn quickly.⁷ If students do not show dedication to their studies, coaches will not see them as appropriate candidates for their team. Hence, a good academic track record is essential for all students, even if they have outside interests.
Extracurriculars
As with scholarships, grades are one of the main deciding factors for students to be admitted into extracurricular activities and outside programs. Pre-college programs, for instance, usually require a minimum GPA of 3.00. Applications for such programs also ask for recent transcripts to ensure that those admitted are among the highest in their class. Johns Hopkins University is one of the schools that offers programs for high school students to gain college experience, and their requirements for admission include exemplary grades.⁸
Additionally, a majority of school clubs, such as the National Honor Society, expect their members to maintain As and Bs as well as a GPA of 3.00 or higher.⁹ Being part of clubs is very beneficial for countless reasons. These extracurriculars offer experience in an assortment of areas, community service and volunteer hours, benefits for college, and much more. However, without good grades, students cannot participate in a great number of these clubs, causing them to miss out on extraordinary opportunities.
In essence, grades offer much more than data on an academic track record; they exemplify a student's performance in school and overall abilities. Although they may not seem relevant in certain circumstances, a majority of programs look to a student’s grades to ensure that they are hardworking and trustworthy. From scholarships to sports, good grades are necessary to succeed. Nonetheless, grades do not define a person; there are plenty of other factors that affect the path to success.
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