The purpose of this article is not to try to claim that I invented the S.M.A.R.T goal setting concept, it is to show everyone how easily applicable it is to one of most common New Year’s Resolutions or goals for young people- Getting higher grades.
Specific. Instead of setting a general goal of wanting higher grades, take an honest look at your course load and decide which courses you feel you could truly score A’s and which courses will be difficult and will result in a B. If a course is in a subject that I am not strong in then chances are I shouldn’t expect an A. By having a clear target I know what to aim for.
Measurable. Grades are extremely measurable because all you have to do is compare grades from the previous semester to the current semester. Make sure that you are able to watch the change occur.
Attainable. For me when I set a goal to attain a higher grade in a certain course I ensure that the subject is one that I have excelled at in the past. I do not enrol myself in the most difficult courses and go around claiming that I will score an A.
Realistic. The program that I am currently enrolled in really interests me so when I take Management or Economics course I honestly believe that I can score a high grade. When I take Finance or Accounting courses I am aware of the fact that these are my weaknesses so I still work hard but realize that I won’t be top of the class. There is no sense in lying to yourself by setting the bar too high/
Timely. Instead of stating you will get a higher grade in the course try setting goals for each time period. Meaning that you should try aiming for a certain target for midterm and then another target for a final grade.
This is just one example of applying the S.M.A.R.T goal setting strategy and I just wanted everyone to see how easy it is to apply this strategy if you actually sit down for a minutes to write everything down.
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The caveat is that SMART is a hammer, but the whole world is not a nail.
SMART seems to be results-oriented, but some things are process oriented. Lemme splain. I’ve been on the other side (giving out the grades) and optimizing for grades does not always optimize for knowledge (using information correctly) and it does in particular not optimize for wisdom (using knowledge correctly). Furthermore grades are not a perfect measure of understanding, particularly not real world applicability. One may say grades are well correlated with cleverness but not so correlated with intelligence. Hence in problems that have no easily definable solution (perhaps it is not known if there even is a solution) the SMAR part fails entirely and the T part is undeterminable.
what I’m trying to say here is that education is process-oriented and not results-oriented.
For fear of hijacking the post — this has nothing to do with SMART per se — I would say that grades are only important insofar if one is not going to use one’s degree for anything but getting the foot in the door (the GPA>3.X from a top tier school BS on job ads). If actual learning is important, then forget all about the grades. Work the hardest at the hard courses and skate the easy ones even if triage (linear optimization) tells you otherwise. This will impress your network (professors) more and you will learn more as well so your education will be useful later on.