Misconception #36: Grades reflect intelligence

Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.

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It’s widely believed that you have to be intelligent to get straight A’s. It’s also widely believed that people who lack intelligence are likely to fail. There are a lot of factors that go into grades, and we should not assume that there is a direct relationship.

My personal experiences contradict this belief. In my earlier school years, I was upset every time I received a grade as low as a B. I was consistently the top student in math. Eventually, I realized that I couldn’t think for myself. I was not even remotely intelligent. I tried to address this problem, and my grades dropped.

We can also look through history. I think that it’s safe to say that guys like Thomas Edison were far more intelligent than your average A student, and he was a failure in school. It appears that success in school actually has an inverse relationship with intelligence.

Like I said, it’s not a direct relationship. While I have met numerous “good” students who seemed a bit lacking mentally even when compared to most failures, there are other factors. Regardless, I will never accept grades as proof that someone is intelligent.