An A- is an A

Notre Dame students are uptight. Sure, they like to have fun Thursday through Saturday. But when it comes to schoolwork, they are tightly wound. Like, really tight. 

Yes, I understand I am a Notre Dame student. But for the purposes of this column I’m going to primarily refer to Notre Dame students in the third person because I have found myself to be in a small minority when it comes to my perception of grades on this campus.

That perception? An A- is an “A,” and a B is a good grade. 

Now before I get into the weeds of this argument, let me make a disclaimer for those planning on attending graduate school: Your grades do matter a little bit. Although, if your entire future depends on whether or not you get into Harvard Law or Medical School then I recommend you touch grass.

To lay out my argument, it’s simple. An A- has an “A” in it; therefore, it is an A. If you have all A minuses, then you have straight A’s.

An A letter grade represents “excellence,” while a B is good. It’s often the average if not above. And a C is a passing grade, which is all you need.

Before you can even say it, I hate participation trophies more than the next guy. An A- is not a Mickey Mouse A. Most of the time you can’t just show up and get an A-. 

If I had a nickel for every time someone at this school got mad at me for calling a 91% an “A” or I heard someone say they need to study more because they’re close to getting an “A” in a class when their current grade is an A-, I’d be able to buy at least one item at the Dollar Tree on South Bend Ave. 

There are arguments to be made regarding grade inflation, career utility and conformity for why A’s are actually a bad sign, but those are for a different column.

What does stressing about the difference between an “A” and “A-” accomplish? Maybe it gets you a better investment banking internship. Have fun with that.

Do 0.333 GPA points really matter that much? As long as you don’t get objectively bad grades, you will probably be fine as a Notre Dame graduate. Yeah, I know this probably sounds entitled. But the alumni network is pretty great and hopefully that factored into our decisions to come here. 

At Notre Dame, we’re in a bubble of dedicated, Type A personalities. This is a good thing. Working hard is one of the most important traits an individual can have. But pick your battles. 

Do you really feel fulfillment in getting a 93% on your economics test instead of a 92%? If you don’t forget about that test within 48 hours, pick up a hobby or something. 

Studying and working hard are valuable traits, don’t get me wrong. But roughly the next 40 years of our life will probably consist of a lot of hard work. Whether it’s a professional career or raising a family, it’s a good idea to work hard at those things. However, we’re young and college should be fun. We don’t have that much time left to live in a community that consists almost exclusively of people our age with relatively few responsibilities. Have fun.

We should channel our stress and focus on things that bring us fulfillment. Hopefully your major brings you that fulfillment. But take pride in the content, not the grade. There is no way some paper brings you so much joy that you should spend hours, if not days fretting on how you can get an “A” instead of an A-. “I wrote a cool paper arguing yada yada yada…” sounds a lot less conceited than “I wrote a paper that got me an A!”

If you get a 92% on your chemistry test instead of a 94% I guarantee you will turn out alright. I guarantee it. And if your life falls apart because of it, then write me an angry email. It’s below.

Again, grades are somewhat important — if they’re very bad — I’ll concede that. It’s not a good idea to fail your classes. But if you do mess up, overcoming adversity is an incredibly useful skill in every single facet of life.

Take a deep breath and go on a run or read a good book or go bowling or something. Just have fun, for the love of God. Enjoy the ride.