<p>I’m close to graduation and getting mostly A’s now. For my first couple semesters at university, I got some Bs and some C+s. Then, for a long time, I had mostly Bs. </p>
<p>In high school and in university both I’ve always been someone who has to work really hard to achieve a B, and so I’ve always been proud to get one. Not frustrated that I didn’t get an A. Even now that I’m getting more used to As, I’m still really excited when one shows up, not stressed out if it doesn’t (when I first started getting mostly Bs in high school I was really excited about them to). </p>
<p>I’ve just been reading through a lot of posts on this site and it seems like a lot of people are stressed out because they aren’t getting mostly As, and I don’t understand it. A B is a good, solid, grade…or at least I’ve always thought it was. </p>
<p>I just find it really sad that someone would get really stressed and think their future career was ruined because they didn’t get mostly As all through university. Maybe I’m just not taking things seriously enough? I don’t think so, though…</p>
<p>I think that you should study as efficiently as you can and think of the best ways to succeed in the class. If the best you can do is an A, wonderful. If your best is a B or even a C, then good for you. Not everyone can make A’s; it’s better to try to do your best to know the material and be able to use it in class.</p>
<p>It’s because of grade inflation. Sure, even though sixty or fifty years ago getting a B would be considered to be good, as the majority of the class would have gotten Cs, Ds, and even Fs, and few people got As. But nowadays, grades tend to be pretty inflated, so getting straight Bs, or a 3.0, would technically put you in the bottom of the class at several universities. Things are not better at high schools, especially when wGPA comes to mind.</p>
<p>There’s also a difference in perception with regards to GPA among majors. For an engineer, even a sub-3.0 might be acceptable. For an English major, you’d almost have to be 3.5+ to be taken seriously.</p>
<p>I would say it depends on your environment.</p>
<p>I went to a pretty laid back non-competitive High School and a “B” was considered great and an “A” was amazing.</p>
<p>When I got to college, a “B+” became the bear minimum acceptable grade and a “B” became unacceptable (but not horrific). </p>
<p>SOOOOOO, i’m sure somebody that goes to an Ivy or one of the whiny little rich kids who come on this site and threaten to cut themselves after getting a 3.82 Semester GPA will have an issue with getting a “B+”.</p>
<p>It depends on the class. In some classes, the distribution is such at the average is close to a B-, therefore a B is fine. In some classes, there’s a disproportionate amount of A’s which in turn makes a B poor by comparison.</p>
<p>It’s bad only if you didn’t meet your potential. Someone in high school once half jumped on me in excitement cause he got a C on accounting test and I’m like ***?? I understand now though after finally being challenged in classes.</p>
<p>I would definitely second the thing with majors. A lot of my friends are theatre, rhetoric & media studies, psychology, or foreign language majors and most of them don’t work nearly as hard as I do and achieve better grades. Taking chemistry, biology, and biochemistry courses (and not being pre-med), I’m happy with Bs in some of my classes. I’ve got about a b+ average GPA (though that may go down a little depending on how this semester turns out, I took more credits than I should have…) and I’m fine with that. I’m only a sophomore and I’ve already got research experience in my field and I’m TA-ing organic chemistry next semester </p>
<p>I think GPA matters more to people who don’t have other things going for them :P</p>
<p>I got a B+ in one class this semester and I’m more annoyed about it because the class was a simple writing in bio course that was made more difficult than necessary by the professor.
However, I got a C+ in cell bio and animal bio and I’m okay with that because the one class kicked my ass and the other had average exam scores in the 50s/60s with the curve. I also changed my major recently and I’m more excited about taking my classes next semester than anything.</p>
<p>^oh yeah. I have friends majoring in psych of sociology that do better than me as well as a nursing major friend that works her ass off and it shows. It could have to do with departments and classes, too. One’s a comic book nerd and taking a seminar on comic books so an A was expected. But the bio department at my school is known for having LOW averages and lower evaluation scores semester to semester so just passing is something many aim for.</p>
<p>I think a lot of it is because you’re on college confidential. For the most part, we’re a bunch of overachievers and work pretty hard for our grades. For a lot of us, that usually culminates in an A, and when people don’t get what they expect, they get upset about it.</p>
<p>I definitely wouldn’t say we’re the “norm” and most people in the real world, on the whole, are fairly satisfied with a good mix of A’s and B’s.</p>
<p>Definitely depends on the major and school. I’m a writing & rhetoric and French major, and I got a 95 in writing and a 97 in French this semester. At my university, this translates to a 3.8 and a 3.9 respectively, so it also depends on how the university ranks your achievements. A B would be in the 3.0-3.5 range here, and that would be horrible for the grad school hopeful.</p>
<p>We sound very similar in terms of what grades we receive. I worked hard for a B in my Anatomy and Physiology 2 course this semester and I feel like most of my time went into that course alone. I’m pleased with it as I’m not a nursing major at my school were a B would look ok but an A would surely increase your chances.</p>
<p>Part of it is grade inflation nowadays, but one thing I’ve learned in college is that I’m satisfied when I receive the best grade I can. I was annoyed to get a B+ in one of my classes this term because I had an 89.3% and I felt like I understood the course very well, and if I had only had one more point on any of the tests, it would have been an 89.5, rounded up. So, yeah, I’m a little annoyed with myself for not being a tiny bit more careful on any of the exams, because my tiny errors cost me a little bit.</p>
<p>On the other hand, I was more than thrilled with the B- I got in my physics class a few terms ago, since I legitimately failed the first midterm (prof doesn’t curve and first exam was ridiculous; the class average was literally a 48. I scored above the average but still wasn’t above a 65). I knew there wasn’t much else I could have done because although I studied like crazy and still feel like I learned a lot and knew the material, his class was legitimately really, really difficult to do well in, and I was really glad to have been able to pass. </p>
<p>So, at least for me, it comes down to how well I think my grade reflects how well I performed in the class and knew the material. Sometimes, it’s also good to keep in mind that CC tends to have more overachiever-type students who are more likely to be distressed when they don’t receive absolute top grades. A B is fine and if you really worked hard I think you have every right to be happy - don’t stop challenging yourself or get complacent, but definitely feel proud if you feel like you really worked for it.</p>
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