Being a successful student doesn’t mean that you will also become successful in life. In fact, there are many examples that prove quite the contrary.

“Go to college, get a degree, and pursue a career in your field – that is the real success!”

Most students, both from high school and college, hear it all the time. Well, maybe their parents or teachers put it in some other words, but the point remains the same. Your education and a degree are what determines whether or not you can be called a real success.

However, a lot of examples we know of today prove the opposite. People like Mark Zuckerberg who dropped out of college demonstrate that straight As at the university won’t make all the difference. One needs something more than that.

Scholars these days firmly believe that it is not your degree or grades that make you successful. So, why are we so sure that being a successful student does not mean that you will be more successful in life? Meet our list of reasons for it.

Here are five reasons why being a successful student does not necessarily make you a success:

1. The definition of success is entirely subjective.

Who can say what real success is for sure? There is no single clear answer. Someone believes that success is to work at a hardware store next to your house, while others see it as a failure. That is why, when you graduate from college and go work at a hardware store, then even though you will think that you achieved everything you wanted in life, others might consider you a huge failure.

For this reason, we believe that the idea of whether you are successful or not does not depend on what grades you received in college but rather on what you believe is a real success for you. So, success is hard to measure, especially with a college degree and grades you received for your academic performance.

2. No matter how good your grades were, you still have a student loan to pay off.

Of course, scholarships can be of much help to students here. But still, by the end of the day, someone who was an extremely successful student and someone who got some mediocre grades will have to accept any jobs to pay off the massive loans.

That is why instead of opting for jobs which they feel passionate about, students accept any offers that come their way. Unfortunately, many of them end up working at places with higher pay rather than pursuing the career of their dream.

However, we firmly believe that success is when you are doing what you actually care about. All in all, when college ends, all students deal with the same issues.

3. Colleges focus on homework rather than on a clear understanding of the subject.

We mean that very often, those who get straight As might not be the brightest students but rather the most disciplined ones. We realize that discipline is essential to success in many cases, however, just the discipline will not do.

You should also have creativity, understanding, a good level of expertise, determination, and gift to make it to the top in some area once you graduate. For this reason, grades might not give the correct judgment about a student.

4. Creative people often fail to meet deadlines and expectations.

They are not lazy or silly as some would say. It is just that their way of thinking differs from the standard one. It might take them longer than a disciplined person to fulfill a task, so, frequently, they are given lower grades for missing deadlines.

But when given a chance, creative students can really surprise and impress their tutors with their outstanding solutions to ordinary problems.

Unfortunately, today many universities put too much pressure on creative students. They make them follow precise guidelines instead of giving them freedom. This can hinder their future careers because creativity and ability to think out of the box is what it takes to be a good entrepreneur.

So, creative people can get lower grades but achieve more in their careers unlike those who met deadlines but lacked a fresh perspective on each and every topic they studied.

5. If successful means wealth, then a degree is not exactly what you need to make it to the top.

Just look at a few examples we are all familiar with. The founder of the huge Facebook empire or the man who introduced Microsoft products to the world proved us that even without a degree you can make fortune. You must have a real entrepreneurial gift, a desire to outdo yourself, and an ability to face difficulties and learn from them.

We are not saying that colleges bring no good. We still need the basic knowledge we can receive there as well as numerous social skills obtained while still studying. But the degree alone cannot be your key to success.

Therefore, if success for you is making lots of money by doing what you love, then don’t set your hopes too high on your academic performance. But be ready to work hard to make your dream come true.

Unlike a conventional belief that GPA can determine your career, we guarantee that there are other things that are way more important than just being a successful student. So, if you are a ‘C’ student, be sure that a good career is always an option for you. Meanwhile, young people with straight as should realize that just the grades will not do.


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This Post Has 2 Comments

  1. Kano

    Wow. Finally! I thought I was the only one thinking and saying that college is not a one way ticket to success.

  2. Jon Ayer

    Which colleges focus solely on homework. Our’s rarely did that but we had to know the concepts and be able to work problems.

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