No. I can’t think of anything that it was useful for. The most I can say is that friends of my parents read my name in the newspaper and congratulated me.

I am no different from a lot of people. I have an “I love me” wall with plaques and certificates and proclamations. I have so many I started ignoring the minor ones and losing them. We tend to congratulate ourselves way too much.

Did any of my awards mean anything? Yes. The ones that came with a $5000 check or 1000 shares of stock. The others are just pretty plaques on the wall.

Do Honor Rolls get you into graduate school or a better job offer? Not in my experience.

Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) Peter Cheung 2020

Honor rolls. Before I was honoured, they didn’t matter to me, as I excelled not for the sake of the honour.

Once recognised. The honour really matters as it is capable of distinguishing me from other Peter Cheungs.

I still remember it like it was yesterday. My graduation from the Howard University School of Business.

The podium is set up with all the garnishes of a graduation ceremony. The faculty is lined up along the sides.

Down below, all of us undergraduates fill the floor seats. Some are anxious, some bored (like myself), but all ready to put this final step behind us. Our time for recognition and glorious send off had finally arrived.

The graduation program has our names listed and as expected I quickly leaf through to where my name is. It shouldn’t be difficult to find, as my major is not the most popular. Yep, there I am.

“Edward Eldridge - BBA Computer Information Systems, Magna Cum Laude”

I scowl a bit. Seeing those 3 words is almost like a punch in the gut.

See, the next step up would’ve been Summa Cum Laude, which required a 3.8 GPA. I have a 3.79. I’m not kidding. A THREE. POINT. SEVEN. NINE.

My mind immediately jumps back to the last professor I had who, despite what I thought was an excellent performance in his class, gave me a B. Really, I don’t know if any students received A’s from that man, but I am almost positive I should’ve been one of them.

Not only that - wait, how did I end up on the podium? I must be on autopilot.

The head of my department is patiently waiting for me to tell her my name and any honors. I tell her “Edward Eldridge, SBEL Honors Program and Magna Cum Laude - I think”. Really, there was no thinking required. A small part of me hoped the universe would shift in my favor, she would realize I deserved Summa Cum Laude, and announce it to the world.

Ms. Chair gives a small smile, nods her head in understanding, and proceeds to announce my name as I walk forward.

“Edward Eldridge, SBEL Honors Program, Cum Laude”

And… That was it. She botched it.

Of course, there was nothing to be done about it. Whether it was a mistake or done with intent, that whole auditorium was now under the impression that I had barely attained Latin honors. Sigh.

Fortunately, that was the last time I would ever encounter anyone that was impressed by my Latin honors or even cared to hear about it.

“Summa cum laude? Isn’t that like, you know, from the Lion King?”

“That’s Hakuna Matata.”

“Oh, yeah, right. What was it you were referring to again?”

“Nothing, forget about it. Thank you for your time.”

“Of course. And thank you for calling Bank of America customer service.”

Aside from certain graduate programs, nobody cares.

Good question.

Personally, I don't think so. I myself graduated in college with honors but I don’t think it’s really a big deal afterward. Well, it could somehow give you some pride and confidence showing you credentials but practically it’s not the most important thing. Being in the real work-world, I’ve realized that what’s important are your competitive skills, good work ethics or attitude, and social skills.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that you should not strive hard and do good in college. Finishing college with honors is amazing but if you’re just looking at it for the “title”, then it wouldn’t help you that much. What you need to do is develop your skills and prepare yourself for the competitive work-world.

Saludos

This sounds like the kind of question which would be asked by a person who graduated without receiving cum laude, magna cum laude, or summa cum laude recognition — and who is looking for reinforcement that “It’s OK, those don’t really matter anyway. You shouldn’t have hurt feelings, that someone else got it but you didn’t”.

Well, we’re sorry about your feelings, but in fact receiving honors at graduation does matter.

It matters first to those who received such a distinction. They performed better academically, they achieved more, they scored higher, they were better students than most of those around them. Their honors degree is a recognition by the university, and a message to the world, that this individual was an extraordinary and exceptional student. Someone who did better than anyone else, other than those who also received such honors.

And who therefore, in some sense, is better than the other graduates who did not earn such recognition. One who deserves, by his/her accomplishments, to have such scholarship recognized publicly for the remainder of his/her life, and recorded for recognition forever after.

It matters also to the academic community. They are people who value scholarship perhaps ahead of anything else other than honesty and integrity.

It matters to one’s family, and relatives, and friends. Their close person — son, brother, best pal or whatever — outperformed virtually all the others. They identify with that, and they feel ennobled, by such public recognition of one with whom they identify.

That is no different than the satisfaction achieved by the fans of a sports team which wins the World Series or the NFL championship. They parade around saying “We're Number One”, with similar pride as those who relate to people who achieve academic honors.

It matters particularly to potential employers. It is one element of creating confidence that they are hiring the top people, those likely to perform best and achieve most in their work, because they have been able to perform outstandingly in their educational challenges.

There are others also, to whom academic achievement matters. But these are enough to indicate that academic honors do matter. A great deal.

Academic distinctions are akin to winning an Olympic Medal, or an international championship, or a named prize. Less prestigious, for sure, than a Pulitzer or a Nobel or a Field Medal or an Oscar or an Emmy or a Tony — yet in the same league, that is, being at the absolute top of one’s peers, in some area of activity. People who outperform their peers do deserve naming and recognition.

Some of our readers are old enough to remember the charming, modest, and insightful cartoon creature, Pogo the Possum. From time to time, Pogo would do something significant, and his response was always “I is quietly proud”. That, I think, is the attitude most honors graduates have about their achievement.

When I received my Master’s degree from Harvard, during the graduation ceremony the President of the University asked all of those receiving their degree with Magna, Summa, or High Distinction honors to stand. With several score of others, I rose before that gathering of some thousands of people. And yes, in that moment, I was quietly proud.

No, they don’t.

College admission is not based on grades but rather the amount of grapes you can eat in 12 seconds. Yes, you have read it right here! Everyone that eats over 30 grapes in 12 seconds is automatically admitted to the college of their choice. Oh, and I forgot to tell you. Because of the acceptance to the college of their choice, they are also guaranteed their desired job position along with a blank space where they can fill in their desired salary. This talented group of winners is also assured an eternal life of happiness, in which insecurities and fears do not exist. Their goals are already accomplished, and they are pretty much set because that one time in their life they could eat over 30 grapes in 12 seconds.

Okay, no.

Grape-eating skills, or grades, which is what they were representing, are not that important.

I substituted grades for grape-eating to show you how ridiculous it is to give grades a massive amount of importance because they do not guarantee a single thing in life for you.

However, grades matter to an extent because they are considered for college admission, academic scholarships, jobs, and grad school. They can also serve for bragging rights but so can other things. Your grades can only take you so far before your hard-work and skills have to take the baton and continue carrying you through the race of life. It is ridiculous to believe that grades matter that much to base your entire happiness and self-worth on them. (So please don’t do that, but if your goals require of good grades, then make sure to dedicate your time and effort to do well.)

In short, grades are not everything, but they do help accomplish some goals, which doesn’t matter if they are not your personal goals. Notice I said the word “help.” There are always multiple paths to one destination.

It depends on what you were hoping to get out of your education. If you viewed it simply as career prep, then maybe. However, if you think of your education as a more personal experience of growth, new understanding, and wisdom gained then those are things that are going to always stick with you regardless of your job.

We are living in a time with a very shallow valuation of college. Rather than being a time of expanding your thinking and learning about yourself, humanity, and the world around you, it is seen as mere vocational training.

One thing I will say regardless of which your view is, the hard work and dedication to learning that you practiced will set you apart from your immature, entertainment seeking, short attention span colleagues.

If one of your objectives for college is getting a job, then seeking ways to differentiate yourself from all the other college graduates is important. All things being equal, a BA or BS with honors is better than the same BA or BS without honors. Only a few percent of students do the extra work—and it shows well on a resume. You may also learn something—a significant part of what college should be about.

On the other hand, a marketable degree is more important than doing an honors program (and I am assuming that is the kind of honors you are talking about, rather than Latin Honors, which every student should work toward achieving). So, if you have a choice of doing an honors program in a non-marketable degree (say medieval culture—trying to find an obscure one) or not doing honors in a marketable degree (say computer science)—it is probably a wiser career choice to study something that has jobs when your are finished with college.

If you intend to go to graduate school—either academic or professional—then achieving Latin Honors is very important and an honors program would be seen as a positive.

“You know, I'm fairly intelligent, but I don't think my grades reflected that”- Every backbencher in this world

I want to share an interesting story.

I had a bad result in my 2nd semester, I was home for my holidays and instead of fooling around I wanted to do something productive with my time. I went to my dad and soon, he handed over a job order to me. It was an order to manufacture 2000 rotor blades. I was given the responsibilty of making 1000 rotor blades out of the scrap that was leftover in our warehouse. The purchase order was of rs. 10,00,000. I was just a 2nd year engineering student and I started sweating quite a bit.

But my dad had his own way of making this game a bit more interesting. Dad Said, ‘Meet Mr Shah, Siddharth. He had recently graduated and is a gold medalist engineer from M.S. University. He’ll be making the remaining rotor blades in the other plant’. After saying this my dad left and I was sweating Niagara falls !

We both had to complete the order within a month. I took it to myself as an opportunity to learn.

Here’s what all i did and learnt.

1. While we have a CNC machine to cut out the work piece to the required dimensions, we needed to develop a vendor for shearing the blades at the lowest possible price as this type of job was a regular at our company. I hustled to some vendors in the city and found out a vendor who had reasonable rates. His price was rs 10/piece. I talked around a bit and bought down his price to rs 6/piece even though he had to cut the rusted scrap metal, risking the life of his machine. I learnt how to negotiate :)

Total shearing cost: rs 6000.

2. I was given charge of 2 contractors for the job order. Together, they charged rs 3/kg to fabricate. The total job weighed 55000 kgs. First 2 days we just made a total of 7 rotor blades. I counted and figured that at this pace we’re not even going to make it to 200. I divided the work load. I made contractor ‘A’ incharge of the CNC machine and Also of welding the blades . Contractor ‘B’ was given the responsibility to check the dimensions of the work pieces cut from the cnc machine and of grinding the welded joints. I declared, If the dimensions aren’t right contractor ‘B’ will reach me and if the grinding finish isn’t right, Contractor ‘A’ will reach me. I managed to develop a healthy competition between them. We manufactured the blades in 25 days with our quality department clearing all the pieces. I learnt how to manage a given situation :)

Total labour cost: rs 1,65,000

3. The job required the use of electrodes, grinding wheels and paint. Our store has a policy of only providing the necessary amount of supplies required for a particular job. If required, it provides with extra supplies. expect for grinding wheels (required to remove the rust from the scrap metal), Our team never ordered for any extra supplies. I learnt to use resources judiciously :)

Total Supply cost: 2,00,000

I knew Mr shah would have completed his job by now but I was happy that i completed the job assigned to me. I went to my dad’s office with a small chit and a few papers on the 25th day.

The chit read.

Total cost: Rs 3,71,000

Total profit: Rs 6,29,000

How much of it mine ? - Siddharth.

There were two papers I stapled behind the chit. One was dispatch clearance paper for the 1000 rotor blades stamped by the quality department. The other was the dispatch paper for the same.

After reading my dad looked at me and said, ‘ Mr shah hasn’t even manufactured 500 blades’

I was atonished and wanted to pat my back at the same time.

‘you see son, Its not about the grades but solving real life problems’

I felt better about my semester and wanted to pat myself twice.

‘After all i’m just a diploma graduate’

I felt proud of my dad to have reached this far. I wanted to pat his back and hug him.

‘i’m proud of you son’, he smiled, gave a pat on my back and hugged me.

Bloody hell they do. Grades, marks, tags and colleges all of them matters. I wish I could tell you that grades don’t matter. Being a 6 pointer I know they do. Try applying for good colleges they won’t take you without grades. Try applying for MBAs they will ask for your grades. Try getting a job out of college , they will ask for your grades.
Does that mean you can’t succeed without having higher grades? No, nothing can stop you from succeeding if you want to. But you have to compensate for your grades. Do you have a shitty grade? Then work hard getting some real life skills. Be amazing at your Job. The route ahead will be tougher but not impossible.
If you want to be a drop out like Bill Gates make sure you get through Harvard first.

Edit :
If 100s of students sit for one job, no company will choose the most passionate one. They will judge you on the basis of grades. If you don’t have grades make sure you have something good to show instead. (Goes for entrepreneurship as well)

Rob Wilson’s answer indicates that no one in the five job searches he has gone through has even asked about his GPA. I have a very different set of experiences (this does not deny the legitimacy of his response, but my experiences are different).

• Your grades (and thus honors) definitely matter for graduate school admission.
• Grades matter more for your first job. After that, your performance counts more. And, even in your first job, GPA is not the only thing that matters.
• Every job for which I have applied has required transcripts.
• Every job for which I have hired people has required transcripts.

I suspect that the discrepancy can be explained by the fact that his GPA probably mattered in his getting an interview. During the interview no one asks about your GPA, that part is correct. But to get to the interview stage, GPA matters — not so much that 4.0 is significantly better than 3.9, but a 3.9 *is* significantly better than a 2.5 or a 2.0.

Part 1 of 3:Finding out the Requirements
1. Ask your teachers.

Talk to your teachers about what you can do to get yourself on the honor roll. Ask what the grade point average (GPA) requirements are as well as if there are any other necessary qualifications. Find out if there are any extracurricular requirements, like joining a club, participating in afterschool activities, or playing an instrument in the school band or orchestra.

There may also be behavioral requirements related to being on the honor roll. So make sure you behave well and treat others with respect.

You can also try talking to your guidance counselor to find out more about what it takes to meet the honor roll requirements.

2. Plan your courses according to your skill level.

Some courses (such as honors or AP classes) are given extra weight in your GPA calculations. This is intended to make up for the difference in grades based on the amount of effort it takes to achieve them. You need to keep this in mind when choosing your classes.

In most schools, you can still be on the honor roll without taking honors or AP classes. So it might be a smarter idea to take the regular classes where you have a better chance of making an A.

However, if you plan on attending college, taking AP classes is important. So it’s probably worth the extra effort to take the honors/AP classes.

For example, you might have to work really hard to make a B in an AP class whereas you could have made an A in the regular version of the same class.

3. Meet the grade requirements for each class.

It is easy to think of the honor roll as a holistic performance evaluation, but you need to also consider the smaller parts that make up the whole. Making good grades in each individual assignment is just as important as thinking about the whole picture.

Keep track of upcoming tests, quizzes and exams so that you can plan to study them. Generally, these assignments are worth a very large amount of your grade so getting good grades on them is important.

Never stay up late before such an assignment so you can be well-rested and awake.

4. Find out your current grades.

This is important so that you can keep track of what areas you need to focus on and how much. It can also be helpful to calculate the grade you’ll need on major assignments to maintain or raise your GPA. For instance, knowing that you need a B+ on the final exam to get an A in the class can help you prioritize your studying.

If you have excellent grades in one class, you’ll just need to work hard enough to maintain that grade. But if you have a lower grade in another class, you’ll have to work harder to make up the difference.

Remember to always communicate with your teachers. If you have questions about class assignments or your performance in class, talk to your teachers about it. They are there to help you.

Similarly, if you are struggling with a subject or if you have a schedule conflict and have to miss a few classes, be sure to tell your teacher as soon as possible. The more advanced notice you give them, the more flexible they can be to help you.

Part 2 of 3:Making the Grades
1. Pay attention

The first big step toward making the honor roll is making sure that you pay attention in class. This is crucial so that you can understand what is being taught and ask questions if need be.

If you don’t pay attention, you’ll miss learning the material as well as comments about homework assignments, projects, and other graded assignments.

2. Keep up with your homework.

Whether at school, in a study hall, or at home – always make time to do your homework. One missed assignment usually will not harm a class grade significantly, but many missed assignments in a row will.

Remember – homework is intended to increase your understanding and help you find what you need to learn. Take advantage of that, and come to class with questions about it if you don't understand.

Never leave assignments and study time for the last minute. Procrastinating will not get you the grades you need to get on the honor roll.

3. Write assignments well

You want to turn in interesting, polished writing assignments. This means that they shouldn’t have spelling or grammatical errors. Be sure to make it interesting to read and never repeat yourself.

If you can, choose a topic you’re excited about. This will make the assignment more interesting to read for your teacher.

Answer the assignment question thoroughly and don’t get off topic. Develop a clear thesis statement that helps you stay on topic throughout.

If your teacher gives a specific essay format, be sure to follow it in order to avoid losing points that could have been saved easily.

Make sure you proofread your writing assignments thoroughly before handing them in. You don’t want to turn in assignments with careless mistakes you could have easily fixed.

Part 3 of 3:Going the Extra Mile
1. Ask for help.

Talk with teachers and get help with subjects you don't understand. Your teachers will be happy to help you if you come to them after class or during office hours and tell them that you are struggling. Show them that you care about your grades by going the extra mile to ask for help.

If you don't get one concept, or have a question, be sure to ask the teacher. There's no such thing as a stupid question.

If you're studying or doing homework at home and don't get a problem, ask your parents or call a friend who has the same class. If they don't know the answer, make sure to come into school, ready to ask your teacher.

2. Study for upcoming exams

This makes it easier to study for tests and keeps all your notes fresh in your mind in the event of a pop-quiz or even just for class participation. Reviewing topics daily will help you stay on top of your studies and prepare for whatever happens in the classroom on a daily basis.

Reviewing for exams a little bit each night means you will absorb much more of the information than if you wait to cram it all in at the last minute the night before the test.

Always have time set aside to study and search for techniques that work for you.

3. Take good notes.

Always take thorough notes in class. Be sure that your notes are easily readable and contain everything you need. Trying to study notes that are incomplete or illegible is a waste of your valuable time and making the honor roll requires organized study routines.

Try to organize your notes as you write them (with bullet points) so that they make sense later.

4. Go above and beyond.

If your teacher offers extra credit, always take advantage of those opportunities. This is one of the easiest ways to improve your grade, and it won’t hurt it if you don’t do well. In addition, you can put in some extra work to help you understand the concepts that are taught, rather than doing the bare minimum for each assignment.

For instance, do independent research so you have thorough background knowledge of the subject. This is especially helpful if you will have to answer essay questions on the topic.

5. Join extracurricular activities.

Show that you are a well-rounded student by joining some extracurricular activities. Being on the honor roll is more than just about making good grades. It means that you are an exemplary student that your school is proud of. Participating in extra activities on campus will help your school administrators and teachers view you as an involved student.

You could run for class president, become the treasurer of your school’s chapter of the Environmental Society, or start playing the violin in orchestra class.

6. Minimize stress

Being stressed out all the time will make you unhappy and, in the end, it could cause your grades to drop. Take some time to enjoy life, but remember to keep up with your work and your review.

Go to a movie with your friends or go on a weekend trip with your family. Spend some time reading a book for pleasure or playing sports with your neighbors.

Avoid expecting too much from yourself or setting unrealistic expectations.

Don't focus on school so much that it consumes your life. While school is always the priority, be sure to get involved in other things as well.

If you are taking the classes just to learn, then you weigh the options. For example, in my middle school I was able to take IM1 to IM3 and Calculus (IM is basically high school- so if you took IM1, you did 9th grade work, and if you took IM2 you did 10th grade work and so on) in regular classes if you completed all of the curriculum for your grade level (if 7th grade, you still have to complete Math 8 to get into IM1 and if 8th grade, you can go straight to IM1 to IM3 and Calculus) using their programs. The honors classes at my middle school sadly didn’t give us this option because the program they used a program that didn’t allow us to go to IM2, IM3. So at the end, I chose regular classes in middle school because they gave us more options if we happened to finish all of the curriculum for our grade.

If you are taking these classes so you could get into a great college, probably take honors classes if you are able to do well in them. I chose to take AP and honors classes in high school.

And if you want a class that is easier, choose regular classes

Once upon a time there were two guys; 'East' & 'West'. Both had put their profiles on Matrimony site.

East was good looking guy with high salary whereas West was average looking with moderate salary but intelligent.

Obviously, many girls poked East. East had finalized two beautiful girls; 'Northi' & 'Southi' to proceed further. Both the girls started chat with East.

West had poked many girls in the site but he personally liked 'Northi' & 'Southi'. So, he repeatedly texted both the girls. 'Southi' had outrightly rejected him. 'Northi' entertained his request & started chatting.

'Northi' & 'Southi' found East was Dumbo (not smart enough). 'Northi' rejected him but 'Southi' went with him for his looks & job.

Meanwhile, 'Northi' impressed with West's smart behavior and said 'Okay' to him.

So,

Better Grades brings opportunities to you.

If Grades are not better, you have to search/create opportunities to prove yourself

Finally, Grades do matter but Grades are only not matters!!

***All the Best***

Grades …they are just a number or an alphabet …that I suppose doesn’t decide ones intelligence. Some people may not good at studies. But they are master at other field . then what we think that they are dumbed one. That really not right. Let take an example a boy who is not good in a study and also got punished many times because of dullness but he is good in cricket or any other game.

On other hand there is one who is the topper of the class and always in a top and got appreciations from all teachers.

Now after many year the topper one become atop rank in police and other one got the fame of national player.

Atlast the topper may be known by all school staffs or some more district. But that other one is known by whole nation.

That simple means don’t just go for marks. Just leave it if ur not much good at study… Do what u can do best.Because if u keep going on with the burden of studies and not doing in what u best at.

Belive me..when u will grow old..u will always melancholy of yourself.

According to an article I read in The Chronicle of Higher Education, the Honor Code was invented by Thomas Jefferson after students at the University of Virginia killed one of the professors.

Students in Virginia would fight to the death to defend their family’s honor. Jefferson did not try to persuade them not to fight for honor. He made them realize that a university has an honor of its own, without which its degrees are worthless, and that they had to defend the honor of the University of Virginia in all their behavior.

I can’t link to the article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, since it is for subscribers only. So I did a bit more research to find something to link to, and it turns out the story I had about the origin of the University of Virginia’s Honor Code, while well-known, may not be true. This pesky article suggests that the origin of the Honor Code might not have been a result of the murder after all. The Evolution of Honor: Enduring Principle, Changing Times