PArents of b/c students what do you think future will be?

[Anonymous]

It matters why the kid is a B/C student. A kid getting B/Cs bc he has too many other interests -- social, extracurricular, buildings things, whatever - and thus barely gets around to hw/tests is going to be just fine. That's a prime candidate for starting a business and probably the kind of kid that does really well with work but not with book learning re topics they'll never need again like Shakespeare. That is MUCH different than a kid getting B/Cs bc he is lazy, video gaming all the time, and/or has problems reading/is behind his classmates and just doesn't get it and no adult has ever noticed or intervened; with that kind of kid -- pray that he's social and charismatic and everyone wants him around bc he can probably turn that into a sales type career if he pulls thru college with a 4 yr degree.

[Anonymous]

I was a C student in high school. I got into college, got a degree and am a productive professional in my field.

I also grew up in a part of the country where parents weren't a pack of TOTAL FREAKING HELICOPTER PSYCHOS like the parents around DC seem to be.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think your results are very distorted by self selection here.

My C sibling didn't go to college and works for a retail company, making about 30k a year as a 35 year old. I think this is standard.

This.

Frankly all the B/C (and lower) students I know currently who are about 25-ish now "work for their dad." Except dad holds down a corporate job as an engineer or accountant or whatever, so you wonder how that's possible. Well turns out DS is in "real estate with his dad" -- i.e. dad owns one single rental property which he's had for 20 yrs with stable tenants for 10 yrs and DS "manages" that, full time. Yeah -- I'm sure depositing that rent check 1x/month is a 40 hr/wk task . . . .

I imagine the outcomes for the C student, daughter of lower middle class family with no connections, are very different than l for the C student, daughter of doctors/lawyers/corporate execs. So yeah, if your kid doesn't figure out the work ethic, you will be supporting your kid and they will not be exactly as you hoped. But if you keep them off of drugs, it won't be the end of the world although, again, not what you hoped.

The world is filled with C students who find their groove. But that does not mean that the majority of C students aren't just having C lives, professionally speaking.

[Anonymous]

Omg, this thread is nuts. You guys are acting like B/C grades are failure. WTH!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think your results are very distorted by self selection here.

My C sibling didn't go to college and works for a retail company, making about 30k a year as a 35 year old. I think this is standard.

This.

Frankly all the B/C (and lower) students I know currently who are about 25-ish now "work for their dad." Except dad holds down a corporate job as an engineer or accountant or whatever, so you wonder how that's possible. Well turns out DS is in "real estate with his dad" -- i.e. dad owns one single rental property which he's had for 20 yrs with stable tenants for 10 yrs and DS "manages" that, full time. Yeah -- I'm sure depositing that rent check 1x/month is a 40 hr/wk task . . . .

I imagine the outcomes for the C student, daughter of lower middle class family with no connections, are very different than l for the C student, daughter of doctors/lawyers/corporate execs. So yeah, if your kid doesn't figure out the work ethic, you will be supporting your kid and they will not be exactly as you hoped. But if you keep them off of drugs, it won't be the end of the world although, again, not what you hoped.

The world is filled with C students who find their groove. But that does not mean that the majority of C students aren't just having C lives, professionally speaking.

Yep -- that kind of kid is lucky to be from a UMC type of family where parents can "start a business" for him-- even if said business is one modest rental apartment that the kid "manages." You throw the apartment into some kind of LLC structure with a corporate name and what do you know, kid is a corporate vice president for resume purposes and frankly could probably get some job later on if he needed to. OTOH is parents don't have those kinds of means -- the kids end up working at car dealerships, bank tellers etc.; at least that's how it worked out in my hometown in the last 1.5 decades.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg, this thread is nuts. You guys are acting like B/C grades are failure. WTH!

I don't think a B or C here or there on a high school transcript is a tragedy. Sure it may blow your chances at an ivy, but going to flagship state u isn't tragic either. But being a pure B/C student -- yeah I do think that's failure. Sorry the educational system just is NOT that tough and everyone knows it. If you're getting solidly B/Cs it's bc you're either goofing off (which is a fixable situation - often those kids do better in college studying what they actually want; they're the charismatic types who are better off in sales, starting businesses, and in other people oriented fields) OR you just don't get it -- in which case, good luck.

I think all the -- I was a C student and am now a CEO or make $500k or whatever is nonsense. I mean YES it does happen, but statistically it is very very unlikely to happen. So I don't understand why the parents of these kids count on these stories -- just bc it worked out for 1% doesn't mean the other 99% don't end up as retail managers, working at car dealerships etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Omg, this thread is nuts. You guys are acting like B/C grades are failure. WTH!

If you (the parent) never had a b or c, of course it feels like failure for your kid to earn those grades. We all want to see our kids do better than we did or at least as well, and it would be natural to worry about their life options if they aren’t excelling academically. The principal at Dc’s school once said it amazed her how many parents push for a diagnosis (adhd, dyslexia, etc) when their kid is getting average grades but she finally realized it’s because a diagnosable problem has a set of solutions. There is no real “solution” for simply being average.

[Anonymous]

"To those of you who received honours, awards and distinctions, I say well done. And to the C students, I say you, too, can be president of the United States."
- George W. Bush, commencement ceremony at SMU

[Anonymous]

My dc is a b/c student, and wants to get a phd and go into medical research. I have no doubt she will achieve that goal. She's the hardest worker I know and doesn't back down from a challenge.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s more personality than grades.

I had mostly D’s and F’s in high school. Knew the material just didn’t want to do homework etc.

Parlayed a summer internship into an early starter career. Through networking ended up in a completely different field.

Will make somewhere between 750k- 1 mil this year.

Have a realitive who graduated from and Ivy MBA program a few years ago. No solid job and because of his personality will probably be a great manager. Never a leader or innovator.

Even with a great education you are an extreme outlier, you have to realize that or you are so out of touch. Do you know what median income looks like for most "successful" people?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s more personality than grades.

I had mostly D’s and F’s in high school. Knew the material just didn’t want to do homework etc.

Parlayed a summer internship into an early starter career. Through networking ended up in a completely different field.

Will make somewhere between 750k- 1 mil this year.

Have a realitive who graduated from and Ivy MBA program a few years ago. No solid job and because of his personality will probably be a great manager. Never a leader or innovator.

pp, are you in sales?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:C's get degrees!!!!

Yes, yes we do!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was a C student in high school. I got into college, got a degree and am a productive professional in my field.

I also grew up in a part of the country where parents weren't a pack of TOTAL FREAKING HELICOPTER PSYCHOS like the parents around DC seem to be.

Love this post! Yes!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It’s more personality than grades.

I had mostly D’s and F’s in high school. Knew the material just didn’t want to do homework etc.

Parlayed a summer internship into an early starter career. Through networking ended up in a completely different field.

Will make somewhere between 750k- 1 mil this year.

Have a realitive who graduated from and Ivy MBA program a few years ago. No solid job and because of his personality will probably be a great manager. Never a leader or innovator.

pp, are you in sales?

Yes, but it is highly technical and very hands on. It is more consulting and problem solving than sales. Will maybe do 3 or 4 transactions this year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think your results are very distorted by self selection here.

My C sibling didn't go to college and works for a retail company, making about 30k a year as a 35 year old. I think this is standard.

I totally agree that B/C students can succeed because I was also one of them.
But I think there's MASSIVE selection bias by asking this question on DCUM. You're asking a group of largely successful, mostly >5%ers (many >2%ers) whether any of them got B/Cs.
Of course some did.

The majority of kids who get B/Cs don't end up with $200K jobs down the road. The vast, vast, VAST majority.

Guess What? The has vast vast vast vast vast majority of high schoolers making As also are not making 200k/yr.

You people are nuts.