My Grades Aren’t The Same Anymore… What Happened!?

I think a feeling that almost everyone I have ever met knows all too well is the feeling that everyone is better than you, and you don’t fit in where you are; almost like you’re putting on an act and pretending to be on the same level as your peers.

Unfortunately, that feeling is all too common in when you first start university.

Imposter syndrome can make you feel like you don’t belong, or that your personal abilities are not good enough compared to others around you. For me, a high-achieving student, when I began university and got my first few grades back, it felt like I was a disappointment, not living up to my true potential.

Photo by Diego Alvarado from Pixabay

At first, I was so distraught because the grades I was getting weren’t ‘as good’ or comparable to that of my high school grades. But I soon realized that it wasn’t just me who was struggling with this feeling.

After speaking with many of my peers who were also high-achievers, everyone seemed to say the same thing – that their grades now are not the same as they were in high school.

It may be a hard thing to wrap your head around (it was for me), but it’s the truth, and it’ll almost inevitably happen to everyone who starts university.

Photo by Stephanie Curry from Pixabay

The grades in university are also different than in high school. In high school, an A is anything from 86%-100%, but in university, getting an A-, A or A+ is anything from 80%-100%.

A B in high school is anything from 73%-85%, whereas in university a B-, B, and B+ ranges from 70%-79%.

C’s in high school are from 67%-72% and university C and C+ are 60%-69% and so on.

This just demonstrates how different the grade scales are in high school and university, and that if you get an A in university, that could have been a B in high school, or a C in high school could be a B in university!

My point here is that your grades will look different when you start a new school. It is bound to happen; there are different departments, different professors and different rules that you have to follow. But once you get the hang of it, you will do just fine!

As a very wise professor of mine used to say, “C’s get degrees!”