So i have been thinking about this for awhile, are grades as important in university compared to high school? I know that your grades determine whether you will be accepted into the program of your choice in 2nd year but other than that what are the benefits of having a high average.

grades are important for grad school and your very first job outside of school.

other then that, do you think anyone would care that you got 51% in woman's studies when you're a mid-thirties engineer?

It all depends on what you want to do after graduation. If you are thinking of pursuing Professional School (Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy etc.) grades are very important, and will often dictate which schools you can apply to/or have a chance of getting into. If you are leaning more towards finding a job immediately after graduation, I would say experience and networking is probably more important than achieving high grades (although you want to at least pass your courses). Certain graduate programs also have cutoffs and are quite competitive, so it is important to keep your grades up. All in all, having good grades will never hurt you, but will instead open up doors for you in the future.

Scholarships, motivation, and personal satisfaction (grades are a rough indicator of determination and success, but its not the be-all-and-end-all)

Originally Posted by exuberant888

It all depends on what you want to do after graduation. If you are thinking of pursuing Professional School (Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy etc.) grades are very important, and will often dictate which schools you can apply to/or have a chance of getting into. If you are leaning more towards finding a job immediately after graduation, I would say experience and networking is probably more important than achieving high grades (although you want to at least pass your courses). Certain graduate programs also have cutoffs and are quite competitive, so it is important to keep your grades up. All in all, having good grades will never hurt you, but will instead open up doors for you in the future.

This is what I was going to say.
Grades are important for grad schools (Masters, PhD), professional schools (medical school, law school) and internships.
But if you just plan on completing your 3 or 4 year degree and getting a job, it probably only matters that you have the degree.

It all depends on what you want to do when you graduate. BUT you usually don't know for sure what you want your career to be when you're only in first year, so it doesn't hurt to try your best.

In first and second year, I just wanted to graduate and get a job. In third and fourth year, I wanted to go to grad school. Unfortunately, I didn't have the marks. So I ended up going to college instead (and I wish I did this in the first place!) You never know what path you're going to be on in 3-4 years, so try your best for good grades but don't freak out about it.

Scholarships. They can do wonders for your bank account.

Graduate school is helpful, especially for certian programs (ie. Economics) where applying what you've learned at the undergraduate level is impossible without additional schooling.

This isn't the case in every program.

In other programs, grades are useful for internships and placements.

As for jobs, before companies just wanted to see your degree and they were cool. But now, more and more often, companies are asking for actually transcripts to see if you actually did well or just "passed by" and actually have no idea what you're doing.

Grades are important... but not as important as highschool i don't think. High school I kept my grades high to get into university, but once I got to university I realized that as long as a I get a 60 i'm good... not much motivation there.

grades are important to find/land u that job (better ones). most of the stuff u learn in uni is "useless" since it is only designed to train ur mind to think in a certain mindset. the company will usually train you how to do ur job unless they are skills that are prereq (example, being pro at excel)

Originally Posted by nomchock

grades are important for grad school and your very first job outside of school.

other then that, do you think anyone would care that you got 51% in woman's studies when you're a mid-thirties engineer?

Maybe not, but it's something noteworthy for, say...a wedding toast.