Reply to Better to make B's and C's than A's?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]It's been said that the A students work for the B students, the C students run the businesses, and the D students dedicate the buildings.

Now, just to be clear, this adage clearly doesn't apply in fields like medicine, engineering and, to a large extent, law, all of which are highly GPA-driven. You won't make it into the door of any med school or halfway decent law school if most of your grades aren't A's.

But in business majors, I think there's some truth to the C-students-rule-the-world theory. Although exceptions abound, students who get 4.0's tend to be follow-the-rules, color-inside-the-lines types who spend college with their nose in a book, refusing to take risks or buck the system. These traits are invaluable to a surgeon or an airline pilot, but in the business world, they often lead to becoming a yes-man who never rises above middle management as opposed to a trailblazer who runs the show.

Another problem with A students is that many of them have been told their whole lives by well-meaning parents and teachers that grades are king and as long as they keep those up, doors will open for them. Again, that's true if your dream is to be a doctor, but for business-minded students, prioritizing grades over socializing and networking can set you on a path to mediocrity.[b] Take two business majors, a 4.0 library shut-in and a 2.9 fraternity president and intramural team captain, and check on them a decade after graduation. My money is on the frat god having the more successful career.[/b][i]

So, what are everyone's thoughts? Is it possible we push kids to focus too much on grades, especially in fields where making top grades often comes at the expense of what actually matters for success?[/quote]

You've set up a false dichotomy.  The reality is the students who rule the world are the ones who have a 4.0 AND are fraternity president and intramural team captain.
Sure, there may be 4.0 shut-ins, but I don't know many team captains who aren't also good students.[/quote]

+1. The OP is all about survivor bias. If you look at all students in a cohort, the top 2-3% will be the cream of the crop a.k.a. "A students". The C or below students on the other hand will span the bottom 75%.  Of course a few of them will be well connected, are really smart but don't care about education or have ADD, etc. and will end up being successful.  That doesn't automatically imply that "C students are more successful than A students". "Some C students (a minuscule fraction) will be more successful that A students" is maybe the right adage, but that it loses its luster.

If anyone cares to do this, pull the names of the CEOs and founders of the top 50 companies and tabulate how many of them were C students vs. A students. You'll know the truth.[/quote]

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