From my experience, some students are just naturally smarter than others and don't need to study or work as hard to get the same results. It's not fair, but that's just the way it is.

Grades are very often reflective of more than one thing. While we normally see them as a testament to intelligence, they may reflect any of the following (and probably loads more): prior knowledge skill at test taking study methods and habits natural ability interest level comfort with the assessment method the dynamcs of the moment (feeling sick/test anxiety, or having just broken up with a significant other) relationship to the teacher A complete grade should be composed of a variety of different modes of assessment to accomodate those students who may not perform well on one conventional type of test. My brother is a whiz at standardized tests, even in areas which he has no knowledge. I can barely scrape buy after hours of studying. The test doesn't test what we know, but, often, how well we can outthink the test maker.

Different people learn and absorb information in different ways. Somebody could be intelligent and be working very hard, but still attain poorly in school, simply because they were not learning in the right way. For example I need to see things in front of me, whether written, in diagram form or the real thing. If I only hear about it I can study all day and get nowhere. Another reason is that a person may be very intelligent but suffer anxiety when faced with testing methods, which wil adversely affect their scores.

Assuming they are of equal intelligence, some students stand in their own way. They get too nervous and second-guess their work instead of listening to their guts (like the seemingly less hard-working), which usually tell them the right answer. There is such a thing as thinking too much.

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Not all people are academically oriented. Intelligence is broader than what can be documented in class; but indeed it is obvious some perform better in this environment than others. I do think schools offer a limited view of intelligence. Many great geniuses of our time did not do well in school.

I agree with the previous answer, but have more to say. Although it may be considered unfair for some more talented students to have to put in less effort, the result of studying also depends on the students guidance. If the student studies hard for a math exam, for example, it is important to make sure that what he is studying for is related to the contents of the exam, because it would be absolutely useless to study the theory of relativity when doing an exam on pythagoras for example. This said, I hope that it is clear that the end results depend not only on hard work, but on specified hard work.

I believe hard working students get lower grades because they expect a certain answer subconciously. When the get an instinctive answer they think, "That can't be right" and second-guess themselves. Stress also plays into it; they lose concentration on the question trying to recall all of the studying the've done + lack of proper sleep.

Its just the way it is sometimes, i am a twin, and we have shared exactly the same education since birth, and yet our grades are always totally different, she excels in the languages because she works hard, can memorise longs list of vocab and she has a genuine interest in wanting to learn the languages. i on the other hand, rarely study, but am basically a straight A student, i tend to just remember things i have heard, direct phrases from lessons or just things i have read or heard in the media, but i struggle with one word answers sometimes, i am so much better with essays, i think i just need a while to get going!

I wasn't really a GOOD student because I didn't always do my homework (in classes where it was not mandatory) and didn't study a lot for tests. Every time I had to write a paper I waited until the night before it was due. And yet in most classes I would get an A. Part of it was because I just naturally did well on tests and because the teachers liked me. I graduated 9th in my class of 360 students and had a 4.23 grade point average. While you may feel this is unfair, it doesn't really work out to my advantage. I learned early in life to have this attitude of putting in less work and doing enough to just get the grade without really adding extra effort. Personally I would rather be a C student who works with intensity than an A student who puts in little effort. It's to everyone's benefit to do the best you can do in everything and to try your hardest all the time. It will help you out later in life.

Because most hard-working students don't know how to study, and a lot of "less-effort" students do. Ok, sure, there are differences in natural academic proclivity, intelligence levels, etc. But as a certified study-skills tutor, I can assure you that very few students actually know _how_ to study, and waste most of their time staring vacantly at textbooks, trying to digest way too much info in one sitting, and confusing themselves. They end up feeling like they worked very, very hard, but they still don't grasp the material. Students who know how to study properly can get more benefit in a fraction of the time, but look to others like they aren't working as hard. (Any student I tutored in study skills suddenly found that they grasped the material extremely quickly, had exponentially more free time, and went from Cs and Ds to Bs and As.) While the best study methods vary from person to person, generally speaking, if you are starting the night before the test, it's probably too late. If you're in a jam, though, the trick is not to read things, but to write them down (with a pen, not on your computer!). Make diagrams, drawings, and flow-charts (works for any subject, even foreign languages.) If you're in a subject where you'll need to solve problems or formula (most maths, chemistry, etc.), work problems. Go back and redo every problem you ever got wrong on your homework. If you have sample problems in your text that have answers, do those. If not, many websites offer you problems with explained answers. In humanities subjects, you mainly need to write down as much as you can about the subject. Start out by making a list of everything you think you'll need to know, without worrying about organizing. Now try outlining everything. Now write each of the headings you used on the top of a new sheet of paper. Write a paragraph or short essay (3 par. max) about that subject under the heading. Compare what you wrote with your class notes and books. Make any corrections. Now write another short essay, without looking at any of your notes. When it's done, compare it again. Make another outline. Repeat, until you feel like you know everything there is to know. If you need to memorize lists, write them down. Define them. Write them down again in a different order. Define them without looking at any of your other notes. Use each item in a sentence, etc. If you want to get great grades and never study, you have to live with the material. Some people do this naturally, without ever noticing it; these are people that often look like low-effort, high-grade students. You can become one! One way to do this is the fact-card method. After (or during) every class, take out a 3x5 notecard and jot down any major points that might come up later (formula, definitions, historical events, theories, titles of books, etc.) Do not put more than five facts on each card; do not use more than three cards per class per day. (You'll quickly get the hang of figuring out what is important to remember) That night, re-read your notecard two or three times (it takes about 10 minutes to do a whole day's worth.) The next time you go to that class, reread your notecards from the previous class beforehand. After class, read them again before making your new card. At the end of the week, re-read all your notecards for the semester. Do the same thing for any reading you might have to do. Do not repeat facts--if it's on one notecard, do not write it again. By the end of the term, you will have spent just a few hours-total!-studying, but you will have a fantastic grasp on the material. (There are many other ways, but this is an easy one that works for most people.) To prepare for an exam or test, remember that it's not enough to just read. If you've been living with the material, you should already have terrific recall, and there's really no need to spend hours studying. What you mainly want to do is find a way to focus your knowledge and prepare your mind for the test and to get rid of any test anxiety. Looking over your cards is a good start, but now try to organize things. What you need to do is write things down--this is how they'll make their way to your brain. Find a quiet place, free from distractions. Write out--with a pen, not a keyboard--an outline of the information, organizing it logically. Refer to your notes and textbooks, and fill in details. Speaking out loud, explain things to yourself, as though you were explaining it to someone who never heard of it. If there's anything you don't feel comfortable with, make a drawing, diagram, or flow-chart, or write a short paragraph about it, and compare it with your notes and textbook. Solve any sample problems, or answer any sample questions you might have, in great detail. When you go to the test, take your outline and notes with you, and look them other and re-read them until the test begins. Generally, that's all you'll need--if that much. I (and the students I tutored) usually spent about an hour-and-a-half preparing the night before. It may sound like a lot of work (written down like this) but it translates to about 30-45 minutes of daily prep--total, for all your subjects put together--and 1-2 hours pre-test. Compare that to the hour-a-night most colleges recommend, and the six-eight hours weekly, plus all-night cram sessions most students actually end up using. Hope this helps!

Studying and grades do not and should not have a perfect correlation. Some students start out more familiar with the subject than others; some are just fast learners. On the other hand, other students might not learn the way the class is being taught (memorizing notes or absorbing concepts from lecture, for example), and would find themselves putting in more time at home to make up for it. It's not that smart kids "get it" and dumb kids don't, or even that they can be divided up like that. There's a continuum, ranging from the guy who could pass all his tests blindfolded to the one who only stops studying to sleep and still does poorly. Neither of those exists; we're all somewhere in between. Either way has its advantages and disadvantages. Someone who coasts through most of his classes will never learn self-discipline or good study habits; that will bite him in the ass when he starts trying to learn things he doesn't already know. (It won't help him much at work, either.) Someone who knows how to study and find information will have those skills for life--but then, that won't help him recall something on the spot. So, to actually answer the question: Some classes use the skills of students who don't need to study, and they end up not having to work for a good grade. But if you're feeling slighted, fear not; you may well be better off in the long run. P.S. It's worth noting that favoritism can come into play, but it's not always avoidable. Sure, there's the worst case where a teacher picks someone he likes and gives that person good grades no matter what; but it's far more common for a teacher to afford a little more slack to someone he knows is trying. Experience has shown him that kids who slouch in the back of the class aren't as interested as the ones that look sharp and ready, and he'll open his gradebook with that in his subconscious. Knowing how to present yourself well and make a good impression is a valuable life skill too. Is it fair? Nope. But that's how it is.

A lot of students who study hard tend to miss the point of what they are trying to learn- particularly true in subjects like History and English. They mistakenly spend their time learning prescribed lists, or memorising passages from teaching notes but are basically unable to relate to or demonstrate understanding of the concepts they have "learnt" and this will show in their examination answers. Sometimes, eager to show off their knowledge, they fail to read exam questions properly- simply picking out key words and responding by writing down everything they know about a specific subject , rather than exploring what is actually being asked. Intelligent students who think about and use a certain amount of common sense and reasoning to answer questions, rather than reeling off information parrot style, display a better grasp of the subject than a student who has "studied" but not engaged with the topic. Even in Maths, copying out endless sums from a book won't serve you as well as actually understanding why the technique works and how it relates to real situations; learning reams and reams of French vocab is no good if you can't apply your sense and experience to construct a coherent sentence out of it. These days, (thankfully), education is more about understanding and using reasoning powers, than it is about merely "knowing" things. Study will help you to agin good grades, but only if you are able to use your innate intelligence to apply it.

hehe this is my case....i take the AP and Honor courses which are much harder than the regular courses so my grades are lower.....but they donttake consideration of that on the honor roll.......so i have never ranked 1st place:(

there are 2 main reasons: 1. the teacher hates the hard working student therfor grading them harder 2. the straight A student either: a)doesn't put effort in as its to easy, or they know that they dont have to put heaps of effort in to get a good grade b) the work is easy for them so it seems like their not putting effort in

I will not take forever to answer this question, but wish to simplify some of the already good answers into a more easy-to-understand version: 1. Hard-working students often spend much more time on homework and studying than the other students do, but often get so stressed and confused that they mfind the material hard. The less active students may have learned the more simple and effective study habits for short term memory, and will be better able to retain the information for a very short period of time. 2. Hard-working students may focus directly on the details or connecting the information in some type of a cyclic orientation. In other words, they may spend more time analytically processing and classifying the information as opposed to understanding the pure facts, which some underdevloped test only asses, as opposed to actual understanding. 3. As well, students may have varying natural abilities in the proccess and the (4.) background of learning. Some students can understand and comprehend more readily the target information, while others, even those who do less work, may be more understanding and have a better general grasp of the material. The backgroun in which one is capable of learning is also key, if one learns better reading instead of taking notes form a formal lecture, than the less effortful student could more easily succeed if this is the case. The environment of learning at home also is key. If a less effortful student who spends thirty minutes a day on homework assignments is in a calm environment, he will get more done (and/or learned)than a hard working student who spends one hour on homework assignments a day in a strenuous, flashpoint-verge situation.