This Creative Commons photo was provided by Cara, a Flikr user.

A number cannot define a person’s worth. We are more than a test grade and sometimes society seems to forget that.

“Your college GPA is a combination of several factors but isn’t really the best indicator of how you’ll perform in the working world,” Becky Johns of PR Daily said in an article. “We all know that person with perfect grades who struggles socially or that person who couldn’t care less about school, but seems to have no trouble making great things happen in their life. Book smarts and street smarts are very different things.”

College comes with a lot of opportunities outside of an academic setting. Students that are involved in numerous extracurricular activities and internships run the risk of having lower grade point averages due to their other commitments. Fraternity and Sorority Life has grade requirements that its members must meet in order for them to uphold good standing.

To make the assumption that people are less intelligent because they have a lower GPA is unfair.

Numbers defined us when we were applying for college. On a college application, we were represented by test scores and cumulative GPA, and in some cases, there was no personal essay or opportunity to list extra curricular activities we were involved in.

I didn’t have an outstanding grade point average from my college prep high school, but I was extremely involved in activities outside of the classroom and worked as well. During the application process, I was upset by the fact that some universities did not give me the chance to share my involvement. I took away more from the activities and real world experiences than I did from most of the classroom work. While overextending myself outside of the classroom did make it harder for me to keep my grades up, I would not change a single thing looking back on my past.

I’m not saying GPAs aren’t important, or that maintaining good grades doesn’t matter in college. After all, academics are the main reason why you’re there.

A college GPA is usually most important for students wishing to continue on to graduate school after college.

Susan Adams of forbes.com says that some employers do, in fact, care about your grade history. The companies that would expect to see a GPA on a resume would be larger companies rather than smaller ones. (forbes.com).

However, employers may take your college GPA into account if you choose to pursue a career in the field of your major directly out of college. If you maintain a strong GPA, it might just be the thing that gives you the edge against other candidates.

According to an article on campusexplorer.com, “If you plan on entering the job market immediately after graduation, it is advisable to list your GPA on your resume – that is assuming it is a respectable number. Employers may take into consideration a student’s GPA as they are weeding through stacks of resumes.”

An article on youturn.com argues that previous experience in a work setting is almost necessary for a student to acquire a job right out of college. Blank resumes are more of a red flag than a low GPA.

So, what is more important: a high GPA or real world experience?

One is not more important than the other, in my mind. However, I think that it is important that we do not look at one as more useful or beneficial than the other.