General

Any grade that is not an A or above should be considered disappointing. After all, this will be any indication if your Asian parents have raised you right! In fact, it's not even about getting good grades anymore; you should be skipping grades!

See, look at my main man Ted Kaczynski! Did well in school, so well that he skipped some grades! Later studied mathematics, became a professor at Berkeley of all places!

Oh, wait a minute...

@eternalmemory: I am also from Ontario. Seeing as you already work a lot of hours, I'd suggest applying to the oil fields out west. The pay and overtime far exceeds that of Ontario pay. The cost of living is also higher, but if you're single and just want to make money, I suggest you look into it.

@aerial: I have no experience in finance or accounting's big 4 companies. So I'll take your word for it. If you really are trying to get into a top tier firm though, I take back the comment of taking it easy during the summer with a part time job. You need to get your foot into the door. Apply to jobs that deal directly with your field, and work as an intern or volunteer if you have to. It goes beyond just how a resume looks at that point. You may receive a good reference letter which will far surpass any self made resume. Chances are your sole job will be to be a ahem and get coffee etc, but that's just a starting point. I'm not saying apply for a big 4 firm now, but try smaller businesses that are more open to accepting free or cheaper help. Check to see your states policies on tax writes off for hiring students, and when applying to smaller businesses be sure to inform them of such perks, as most small businesses may not even be aware of gov incentives. I'd say good luck, but luck has nothing to do with success. Instead get off of basil, and get what you want.

@upcomingnerd: it heavily depends on your major. For things like comp sci, grades don't really matter and you can get into amazing companies by doing personal projects.

For things like finance or accounting, you pretty much kill your chance of getting into any top firms (big 4) if your GPA is below 3.5.

Entirely depends; maintaining those 4.0+ averages are great for Ivy League competing, but that is seldom what determines success. Often times those high school stars end up fading as they get further into college (not all the time, but notably often).

Less than 4.0 (which is actually what I had, specifically a 3.74) is probably fine as well, although if you dual enroll at a community college (also what I did), then you would be just as well off as the former condition. Except that you probably would be less likely to have fancy scholarships of any kind, but again, they're not everything (I honestly never cared for them).

My advice would to be focused on learning things over some grade; this whole blood-sport over valedictorian spots strikes me as pointless and ultimately contradicting to education in the first place. You learn nothing by foaming at the mouth over your first 89% on a homework assignment. So you received an 85% on that test because you decided to go off on a learning tangent about B.F. Skinner's Behaviorism; chances are you probably internalized the material better than your classmates despite being slightly worse at what essentially boils down to a trivia contest.

Edit: Do note that the above paragraph also applies to post-secondary education.

Generally I just went with whatever was considered a passing grade.

During middle school there's this music class I had NO interest in doing, and did absolutely nothing as a result. It got so bad to a point where the teacher was furious with me, and all I did was gave him a sarcastic "pfft". During the end of year he had to go to the doctor's because his blood pressure got close to breaking point. I just continued on as if nothing happened~!

Depends on what stage of your education you're at. High school and below, A's are good. College more A's than B's, no C's. Law school you better be top quartile. Medical school just pass the damn class lol.

I barely showed up at school. (I guess that explains a lot)

F's are Fabulous, according to this [url=http://www.mibba.com/Poems/Read/132828/Fs-are-Fabulous/]poem[/url].

But in all seriousness, B's are in scholarship category. Some scholarships require a 3.0 GPA or higher.

Grades do not matter, as much as understanding the material and applying it in real life applications so that the information is truly learned. You can do excellent on tests and exam and not hand in assignments, which will result in a lower grade but does that mean that you do not understand the material? Of course not. Forget about letters on a piece of paper, and focus instead on how well you can do the subject at hand. Later on in life when you go to interviews, take your portfolio with you and show your ability in details...you won't be showing them old report cards.

@ashleyattacked: Hahaha me too! My English teacher loved my writing so much he made me take his class 3 times!

B's get teaching degrees so that's why my GPA is 3.0

@ashleyattacked: you still in high school? wait till uni to experience what real work is like

to OP: It very much depends on your major. But if you are aiming for top tier jobs after graduation, you are generally gonna want at least 3.5 GPA.

C's get degrees, but you ain't finding any good co-op with a C unless you have crazy extra curriculars/connections/personal projects. Top tier firms usually have a 3.5 GPA requirement.

I've never gotten lower than an A on any test or paper I've had to do. I would be so embarassed if I had...my teachers seem to expect so much from me bc of my reputation so I feel obligated to be at the top of my class.

Straight A's or go home.

Personally I always aim for A but B's are acceptable.

well idk depends on the career your going for
personally i always aim for A

C or above.

All F's for fantastic

edit: C's get degrees.

That's up to you to decide