Intelligence associated with grades

I was wondering how many people think grades are based off effort and how many think they are based of actual intelligence, perhaps a bit of both?

Some personal experience:

I went to school for nearly 15 years of my life, and always got pretty good grades. Up until like sophomore year of high school I maintained at least a 4.0 (I'm in no way bragging, and you'll see why.) After that, I usually got around a 3.3-3.7 (A's and B's) without trying all that much, I just did well on the tests, but never really did the homework and all that "work". My grades "dropped", because I started to care more about the things I thought mattered in life rather than the things I was being told mattered (ie. religion, school, looks, brands, etc....) I still love(d) to learn and read all the time, it's just that I literally stopped doing the work, because I'd rather learn whatever I felt was/is relevant to my life and do so at my own pace, be it faster or slower. I've always felt school is more about curriculums and schedules (unis/colleges are first and foremost businesses), with learning taking a back seat to those two (obviously it's still present). Just take for example how you have to say the pledge of allegiance in schools in the states....now I feel as though school is a institution used to form drones that are similar to everyone else, then they go to college to get a degree (not actually going with the intent to learn) so that they can get a job, then feed in to the consumerist society that for some reason people view as good. That's pretty much an entirely different conversation though, so let's not get in to that.....

Anyways, what I've noticed through my very own experiences and others as well is that school is about 80%-90% based off the amount of effort you put in to doing what you are told , rather than actual intelligence. I've also known people who have gotten and still do get "superb grades" that are definetely not as intelligent as others I know who get worse grades, simply because they don't do the "work". Now, don't get me wrong, I believe completely in the whole notion, "You get out however much you put in to something," it's just that I feel school is often viewed in sort of a false fashion.....and I'd like to hear other peoples opinions.

 

grades are putting up with bullshit. nothing more.

 

I made honor roll in school... so yeah...

I never thought school was that hard to begin with, some classes all you have to do is your home work and pass your tests...Some you just had to pay attention...

 

you do become a kinda folk hero when you can do the "wake up and know the answer" thing though.

 

Bit easier to excel in things like that when your smart of course. That doesn't mean everyone with good grades is a genius. I think I read that 15% of high school drop outs are gifted.

In my US government class in college I went 4 times on 4 test days and got an A. I have many stories like this.

 

coming from someone with a transcript all over the fucking place (high honors - almost getting kicked outta school) i can say for myself grades just mean that i tolerated spending the time to get work done on occasions. my intelligence is not effected by my grades.

and lode, i wish i could do that, just show up on test dates, however every school i've gone to would have dropped me from the class with a F for even trying to do that it almost happened a few times, but luckily i talked to the professor and talked them into letting me stay in class. attendance policy sucked at my school.

 

nevada schools have a "three absences or more and you are presumed withdrawn" policy, it's god damn retarded.

 

That is pretty extreme...

 

yeah, but at least we have whores and gamblin'

 

yea, my school has 3 unexused absences....after that, you and your adviser receive a letter saying you are close to being dropped with an F, so you better show up to class or else. you continue to miss classes, then you get an F

 

really, three? I missed tons of school and never got anything.. Perhaps it's cause I am just too cool...

 

I think it's both...

It's tough to have a complete dumbshit do everything told and still pull out above average...But also, you get people, like me, who pull off pretty average grades but don't do much, and the teachers think they're brilliant...

I think people gotta remember that a lot of ditzy people, who seem dumb, can be very smart...I think that turns some people off. I know a girl, probably one of the smartest in the grade, but you talk to her and her friends outside of school, and you'd think they were in a "special" class. She gets the excellence award every year... And she also works her ass off...Well, I'd say she works her ass off, but if I were that smart, it prolly wouldn't seem like much work, you know what I'm saying?

Me? Typically, once the teachers get to know me and see the stuff I can put out, they fall in love (mostly language and social science and whatnot classes)....But I'm a lazyass...it's cuz when I do do the work, I do it well, I actually can not halfass an essay, I have a need to put myself into it for some reason.... So I only pull off average.

So yeah, it really is both intelligence and effort...you got both and you're golden, you got one and you can okay (but you gotta make up for what you lack somewhere), you got neither and you're fucked.

 

depends on what you have going for you and what sort of smart you happen to be. i don't think it gets much simpler than that. some people aren't smart enough in the right way to excel in the high intensity classes, no matter how hard they work. that doesn't mean they're stupid, though, they just don't have that particular talent. and some seemingly smart people with the perfect grades and such end up being COMPLETELY idiotic in various important endeavors. so what? there's a place for everyone.

 

I think the whole point is that if you are intelligent enough to earn good grades, then you should be intelligent enough to realize that everyone has to play the game and work, and you aren't excluded.

 

What they teach is never hard to comprehend, I understand exactly where you're coming from. It's just the workload that can at times be difficult (mainly because you'd rather do something else).....especially when you don't see the point in something.

Play what game? The get up at 7, be at work at 8 and work until 5 at a job you don't fully enjoy game? If that's the game then I sure as hell don't want to play...Give me a self-sufficient village/commune with some good bredren, sistren and idren and I'm happy for the rest of my life (music, herb and some other things would be nice as well.....)

 

School isn't set up to make you intelligent. It's set up to get you used to showing up to a location 5 days a week and being told what to do, when to do it, and how it's to be done. Once they get you used to that routine, they send you to another place(college), where they continue prepping you to show up and do what you're told. The only difference is, when you're done being told what to do at college you get to do what you want, typically, on the days off.

Sounds like it's a mock-job. . . Has very little to do with personal skill or intelligence and more to do with how often you show up and how well you follow directions.

 

Exactly

(That's rightfully the shortest post I've ever made)

 

No kidding eh?

The workload is ridiculous at times and it's only getting worse...They think that making people do more on their own time will make them learn more and in a better way...it just turns people off from education you know?

 

It just seems schooling is not so much about actually teaching the students the material, it's more about getting them to remember a few things in order to pass tests that they'll forget within a week, and if that doesn't work, then they just put more of an emphasis on homework.

Anyways, many thanks for the responses everyone, I love hearing other opinions, because I already know mine and often times they can evolve with the incorporation of others.

 

it really depends on what level of education you're capable of. my teachers were never preoccupied with dates and specifics. they were more preoccupied with us understanding what it was all about.

mind you, that didn't stop me from forgetting anyway.