What do you think of my PhD friend saying grades do not reflect ability or success?

[jennifer_bloom]

He said he knows insanely smart people with low grades and dimwits with very high grades, which is why medical schools care more about your personality and interview skills then they do about your GPA. Of course, low GPAs usually cancel any chance you get, but I wonder if you agree that academia does not always reflect status and status does not always reflect intelligence and intelligence does not always reflect ability and ability, does not always reflect status.

[Veronica-026]

As much as it hurts to admit, smartest individual I knew, from highschool, ended up not going to university at all, and as far as I am aware is doing so much better than any of us who did finish our bachelors and masters since then...

I remember the gossip being along the lines of her not making it anywhere, being too uncaring and whatnot, although she honestly came across as extremely sharp in any conversation I had with her. She ended up starting her own business and when I see her through social media nowdays she is clearly not doing bad at all financially.

Can say the gossip in town is much more toxic and based on jealousy now.

[pascal_climbs]

Correct. Smartness alone is not enough for success. You need social skills and views too.

[CalmUntilAbused]

Well... Grades do not truly reflect the ability to do anything but take tests (of various kinds), but they sure do reflect success (or rather either enable or disable it), and at some point they start to reflect status, as well. It's just that grades affect the way You are seen by potential employers, thus enabling You or disabling You from a well-paid job that is the basis for success, at least the way it's usually understood. And as people mature and learn the aforementioned fact, grades start to affect Your social status as well.

[tariful25]

Your PhD friend's perspective aligns with the idea that academic grades don't always fully capture a person's abilities or predict success. Many factors, including work ethic, problem-solving skills, and practical experience, contribute to success. Grades might reflect one aspect of academic performance, but they don't necessarily encompass the diverse skills and qualities that contribute to achievement in various aspects of life.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/NqEi_JAd7Mo

[Crankor]

There's different forms of intelligence so I would agree with him that to an extent grades di no dictates actual life succession. Only thing it really does is get you into a better college assuming that's something that person even wants to do