A common misconception is that GPA is irrelevant. Here’s why that’s not true, especially for student-athletes.
At some point or another, we’ve all heard the phrase, “No one really cares about your GPA”. While this may end up being true for most people, student-athletes can’t afford to operate within the same mentality. Besides the fact that you must maintain a certain grade point average to remain enrolled in your high school or college, there are a few other key reasons to consider.
Student–athletes must remain academically eligible to participate in amateur athletics.
More likely than not, you’ve seen the movie Coach Carter. In the movie, Samuel L. Jackson as “Coach Carter” tries his hardest to make sure that the young men on his basketball team maintained their grades. You can think of yourselves as those players, except you will not be allowed to participate in any athletic activity if your grades do not meet the standards of your school or team.
Plainly stated, if you can’t make the grades, you can’t play the game. Your best bet is to get off to a great start your freshman year. For tips on how to start the semester off strong, check out our blog post.
A higher GPA makes student-athletes more attractive during college recruiting.
As the founder of FGP, I want to share a little bit of my story. At the time I signed my letter of intent to the University of Montevallo, I was 5’2”, a little over 100 pounds. Quick, vocal, pretty athletic. Very smart.
I have no doubt that if you reached out to my college coaches right now, they’ll tell you that two things helped me stand out even though I was always the smallest person in the gym. My basketball IQ and my grades.
I knew that I could get playing time if I consistently made the right plays and took care of the basketball. I also knew that I could receive academic scholarships in addition to any athletic money. So I graduated high school with a 3.8 GPA and continued to Montevallo on a half-athletic, half-academic scholarship. this is incredibly valuable to coaches because they can use some of your scholarship toward another player on their team. Essentially, you become a steal for coaches looking to improve their team and spread their scholarship funds wisely.
In no way are we placing those expectations on the student-athletes who are a part of Free Game Program. However, we encourage you to keep this in mind and take advantage of our affordable tutoring services.
The worst thing to try to dig out of a hole is your GPA.
You’ll need a good GPA if you ever want to go to grad school.
As crazy as it sounds, lots of people go back to school at some point. Here are a few stats from Census.gov to prove it.
“In 2000, one-third of people with at least a bachelor’s degree had completed an advanced degree. By 2018, 37 percent had done so. In 2017, on average a person with an advanced degree earned 3.7 times as much as a high school dropout.”
Masters degrees are the new bachelor’s degrees. If you ever want a shot at getting yours, you should probably do a decent job the first time around. The first thing a graduate admissions office will look at is your undergraduate GPA.
A solid GPA can help you land an entry-level job.
When people use the phrase, “GPA doesn’t matter” they are more than likely referring to life after school. However, what a lot of people forget is that once they have their degree, they’re a small fish in a big pond. Everyone has their degree.
What helps to separate you from the other candidates hunting for jobs? As a former internship coordinator and employer, I can tell you, it’s your internship experience and you guessed it, your GPA.
Lots of people assume that GPA corresponds to intelligence. A lot of times this is true. But sometimes students simply don’t apply themselves or seek the help they need. Sometimes it’s all about effort and employers looking for fresh, new blood are likely looking for those who gave the extra effort in the classroom as well.
Those are just a few ways that your GPA can affect your future. As always be sure to follow us on Instagram and Twitter @freegameprogram
Continue to be great, to be yourselves, and to #BeFree