What is a Good Grade in High School?

Getting good grades is something that every parent has told their child to do. It’s also something that nobody ever fully tells you what it means. What exactly counts as a good grade? Who is the judge of what a good grade is and what a bad grade is?

In this article, we’ll be discussing what exactly a good grade is and giving you some tips and tricks on how to achieve those good grades. If you are curious about what a good grade is or how to get good grades, then read on!

Do Good Grades in High School Matter?

Good grades do carry a good amount of weight in high school. While the grades you get in high school are essential for getting into college and for getting scholarships to go to college, they don’t carry a lot of importance after you start college. It is worth spending time working towards good grades, but it is not worth destroying your whole life over.

Getting good grades in high school matters more for the experience of working towards those grades than for the actual grade itself. Although this can seem like a confusing concept, it really isn’t the grade that will matter in the long run, but it is instead the lessons you learned from getting the grades. High school is a time to learn how to study and is not the time to tear yourself apart over one grade that is not what you want it to be.

What is Considered a Good Grade in High School?

This article aims to discuss the most common grading system used across the US. If your school uses a different grading system, the grades themselves might be different, but the tips and tricks that we’ll be discussing later will still apply.

With that being said, it is worth discussing the US grading system. The most common system used in the US is a percentage-based system where different letters represent different percentages. For example, getting an A means that you received between a 90% and a 99% in the class. The letters range from A being the best all the way down to F being failing or not passing. The letters do skip E, though, so it skips from D straight down to F.

Although a C is technically an average grade, B is above average, and A is exceptional, most students will only consider A’s and some B’s to be good grades. Colleges will look most highly upon someone who receives A grades primarily, but what matters more to a college than the grade itself is the overall trajectory of your grades throughout high school.

For example, if you start out high school by mainly getting C’s, but by senior year is getting straight A’s, colleges will see this as growth over time. Growth over time and consistency are both super significant to colleges, so while you might say that A’s and B’s are good grades, it’s really all about the context of those grades.

What are the Benefits of Having Good Grades in High School?

Your grades in high school are what will ultimately help you get into college. While grades are by no means the only thing that colleges look at, it is a significant aspect of their decision. Grades also contribute to your grade point average, or GPA, which many colleges also look at. Getting good grades will help you maintain a good GPA.

Another often overlooked benefit of getting good grades in high school is that by studying and working for those grades, you will be learning good study skills that will help you out in college. Knowing how to study is a fantastic skill that can take many college students a long time to develop. If you come into college having already learned how to study and what works for you, you will have a leg-up on your fellow students.

5 Tips for Getting Good Grades in High School

Each student is unique, and people study in various ways. That being said, there are so many things you can do to help make sure that you get good grades throughout high school, but these are some of our favorite tips and tricks to help you get the best grades that you can. Just remember that if these tips don’t help you out, that you are not out of luck. There are so many more tips and tricks out there that might work better for you.

1. Take notes by hand in class.

Studies have found that you are much more likely to retain the information that you take notes on if you take those notes by hand. Typing your notes out on a computer just doesn’t cement the information into your brain in the same way that writing by hand does.

Another major benefit of taking notes by hand is that it minimizes any potential distractions that could prevent you from paying attention during class. You are tempting yourself with so many distractions by even having your computer open. The best way to stay focused and take helpful notes throughout class is to take notes by hand the old-fashioned way, with a pen and paper.

2. Do your homework

Doing your homework might seem simple, but the points you get from homework assignments add up and ultimately help ensure you have a good grade. Even if your assignments aren’t worth that much of your total grade in a given class, a zero on a homework assignment will tank your overall grade in that class.

Staying on top of your homework is a super simple way to help maintain a good grade. It is also a great habit to get into that will help you maintain those grades throughout high school and college.

3. Review material after class, not right before a test

Spending a small amount of time every day reviewing what you covered in class that day is a great way to start moving that information from your brain’s short-term storage and into its long-term storage. Reviewing the material every day will help you recall the information faster and more accurately when it comes time to take a test.

The easiest way to do this is to go home and reread all the notes that you took that day in school. If you have a particularly challenging class, you can even get a second notebook for that class and copy your notes from your school notebook to your second notebook after every class. Rewriting your notes is a great way to go over the information again.

4. Be engaged with class.

Although this can seem too straightforward to even bother mentioning, being fully engaged and present with a class can go a long way towards receiving a good grade. By staying engaged, you are much less likely to miss some little piece of information that your teacher might throw out off-handedly.

By being engaged in class, you will also ask and answer questions. Being engaged in class shows your teacher that you are engaged and often means that they will be more forgiving if you end up needing an extension on something or need some extra help. Getting on your teacher’s good side can never hurt.

5. Don’t be afraid to ask for help.

Learning how to ask for help is a valuable skill that will help you throughout your life, even outside of school. Your teachers and parents want you to succeed, so just ask if you need some extra help or something isn’t making sense.

Most teachers are more than willing to meet with you after school for five or ten minutes if you are confused about something they said during class. It is much more beneficial to get your questions answered by the person who will be writing and grading your tests, as opposed to a random person on the internet.

Wrapping Things Up: What is a Good Grade in High School?

While getting a good grade in high school can seem like the most important thing at the moment, it is crucial to understand why good grades matter and how colleges will look at your grades. Once you know that consistency and growth over time matter more to most colleges than your actual grades, it puts less pressure on you to achieve straight A’s.

Studying effectively to receive the best grades that you can is all that anyone can ever ask of you, so make sure you try your best throughout school. It doesn’t matter if a good grade for you is an A or a B. Each person’s grades are a personal journey.

If you enjoyed this post, check out our other high school study tips here.

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