i was a gifted kid in high school, slept through classes and got a 3.96. Struggled in college due to lack of study skills. Barely graduated. First job was incredibly hard to get. With no experience they look at GPA. If you are under a 3.5 or even a 3 don’t even apply. After getting work history it no longer mattered.
I was a shit student in high school, but managed to pass.
In college/grad school, I think what helped me do a lot better was the fact that my parents weren’t involved. I am 100% a believer of this. My parents were “involved” in my work all the time — making me tell them about my tests/quizzes/projects so that they’d always know to ask about my grade in it later. They always knew.
One stretch of time in 8th grade, I remember just going ‘fuck it’ and not telling them anything. After ~1mo or so, my dad called the teacher and she told him all my test grades — all of which were in the B-range; a lot better than usual, at the time. There was no acknowledgement of being impressed with my independent performance. The big issue was that I never told them about these tests/grades. That was THE takeaway from that.
My parents always made it sound like a threat that when I finally went to college, they wouldn’t be able to monitor my studies. And at the time, it was scary. But in reality, it was GREAT! I made honors three times (each level of school) — all without my parents breathing down my neck!
Now I work in a hospital
Highschool was all about homework. Like I had a lot of classes that 80%of your grade came from homework, and I am NOT a fan of busy work. If you teach it to me in class and I can repeat it back in class work, I DO NOT NEED MORE TO TAKE HOME! But in college it’s almost reverse where most of your grade comes from tests scores, thankfully I don’t have test anxiety so I tend to do fairly well on tests. Got my LPN and will have graduated the RN program by Christmas.
Where I live only your final exams in the 6th year matter you need 7 and above so C or above for every test on those finals for the job I want to do become a dentist because that’s what they look at
I was a poorish student. Cs mostly, a few Fs, a couple As but was simply disinterested, not challenged and no one gave a crap, I skipped a lot of classes, and floundered till I quit High School mid junior year. Got a GED and joined the Air Force. After
.. I did a tech school, graduated in the upper 1/4 of the class, caught a few college courses along the way but never got a degree.
Long story short, I worked in hands on technologies jobs, customer facing for the most part; ending my career as a Engineering Technician working in a R&D test lab. Retired early, now own my home with no mortgage, and in all did alright. I got lucky, and could not do as well today with the emphasis on having a degree in the last 20 years.