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7 Economical Reasons Why Good Grades in University Matter

By Avigayil Morris, 12 years ago

I am in university and cringe in horror when I hear students bragging about poor GPAs and threats of suspension. Whether you get thrills from being on the naughty list is up to you - but from a frugal perspective it is not economically smart to be a bad student.

Here are 7 reasons why getting good grades should matter to you:

You get scholarships for good grades.
The higher your grades, the more money you get from scholarships.
With good grades you can become eligible for membership to clubs like the Golden Key Honours Society.
Membership to grade-driven societies will give you access to more scholarships specifically for members.
Clubs/societies will afford greater networking opportunities that could help you find your next job.
You can put scholarships received and clubs a member of on your resume which will look great to future employers
You eliminate the need to retake a course (and thus spend all that money again) because your grade wasn't high enough to graduate or transfer the credits.

A few personal examples to demonstrate that this all works. I currently am getting $2200 a year in scholarships with my decent GPA. If I could increase my GPA by a bit more, I would increase the money I get by nearly an extra $1000 - just from the 2 types of scholarships I get right now. A girl I know who is a member of the Golden Key Honour Society just was awarded a $5000 scholarship exclusive to Golden Key Members.

May I say, that is a lot of money.

Grades matter: not just as bragging rights or to please your parents and teachers. From a financial perspective they are a wise investment.

Moosers, what do you think?

Comments

Martha S.
I wasn't a high achiever in school, and suffered many years because of it. Great job Avigayil! Doors certainly open wider for a student of such caliber. Keep up the great work....
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- Avigayil M.
  High school I sucked. And truly, the flip side is grades aren't everything. Grades wont get you a good job. It is a combination of who you know and what you know. Networking is very important. That is something I suck at.
  Reply
Alexandra
Before joining the Golden Key Society (which here in Quebec cost money) make sure that there are scholarships or other type of opportunities available in your domain. I study Translation Studies and there were none. However, I agree with Avigayil, good grades are important! I'll be a doctoral student in September and I was awarded around 14 000 just for next year in scholarships!
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- Avigayil M.
  Congrats. The thing with Golden Key is they also have non specific scholarships as well. Like the Undergrad scholarship doesn't require you to be in a specific program, just an undergrad student. It costs across the board to join Golden Key, I paid just under $100 for a life membership.
  Reply
maerin
could you publish a site for scholarship applications for elementary students? starting early...!
Reply
- Avigayil M.
  Sorry, but I don't know of any applications that early. Most scholarships to get in to university depend on grade 10, 11, and 12 grades.
  Reply
lindsay
There is also stigma against the GK. When I was a computer science undergrad there was much emphasis on group assignments- as exams approached, the GK types would often be conspicuously absent, studying while leaving it to the other group members to do their work for them. being focussed almost entirely on prestige, they tended to suck at actual engineering. In postgraduate classes they tended to maintain an embarrassed silence. A's are great, but gotten for sake of getting them is not so cool. things like GK proudly displayed on a CV needs to be backed up with real evidence of competence, otherwise it's a red flag IMHO.
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