‘But I need that predicted grade for my application’

“But Ms Yein, I need a [specific number] predicted grade for my university application.”

I pause. Something is not right with this statement, but I can’t quite place it yet. This is something I hear over and over again: “I need grade X for a certain university or course.”

Part of me immediately wants to say: “You don’t really need this. You actually just need food and water, physical safety and then love and belonging, self-esteem and finally self-actualisation, per Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I don’t see a specific predicted grade in that hierarchy.”

Another part of me vouches: “Just because the university application requires it, it doesn’t mean you need it. You are not equivalent to a university application; there clearly is a mix-up of the agent in the syntax here.”

There’s also this reasoning: “Needing it to apply (for example, for UK entry requirements) versus needing a score that matches the competitive applicant to a school (for example, the middle 50 per cent profile) are two different arguments. I would say the former argument is a sounder one than the latter. Which is yours?”

And the simple but effective: “Grades are earned, not given.”

I fashion these into more professional versions and respond to the student’s appeal, depending on the case. But none of these addresses the deeper discomfort I have with the statement.

Do students need a specific predicted grade? 

As with many topics in college counselling, theoretical frameworks can help us understand the issue at hand more deeply. Here, I draw on frameworks from the disciplines of economics and marketing.

At the root of my discomfort was the overly simplified use of the word “need”. What if we bring further nuance to the student’s relationship with the predicted grade? The following frameworks can help with just that.

The basic one from economics (and financial planning) introduces the distinction between “need” and “want”.

We can then bring further nuance by introducing “desire” and “demand” from the discipline of marketing.

Need versus want

A need is a basic requirement for human survival. It encompasses essentials such as food, shelter and clothing. From the psychological point of view, there is indeed Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, as mentioned earlier. But for the sake of this argument, let’s stick to the simpler definition from economics.

A want, simply put, extends beyond basic human needs. This is where preferences influenced by social and cultural factors come into play, allowing individuals to seek specific items or brands.

According to this, then, a certain predicted grade is a want, not a need. A student can still live without their desired predicted grade – it is not a requirement for human survival, but it is a preference (although they may feel otherwise in the moment). And when a student says they need (but actually want) a certain predicted grade, they are implying that they need (but actually want) to gain admission to a competitive university.

Even considering this underlying motivation, admission to a competitive university is not a need, but a want. One can survive in life without a university degree, let alone a degree from a selective school. Granted, a degree can make a substantial difference to your salary and societal standing, especially in some regions, but one would still manage to chart a future without a degree.

What complicates this is that parents and societies often reiterate the message: students “need” a certain predicted grade or a certain university offer. But the parents and societies are also positing wants, not needs.

Applying ‘need versus want’ to practice

Reframing need versus want

You can apply this distinction when responding to a student approaching you with the “I need this for university” argument.

A sample response: “I understand that you really want this predicted grade to be able to apply or to make a competitive application. That’s a perfectly reasonable want, and let’s discuss that. But let’s not frame it so that you need a predicted grade, because need and want are two different things.”

Challenging irrational beliefs and taking the big-picture view

Let’s help our students by looking at the bigger picture. At this time, students may be fixated on the steps they see as necessary for their future success (by which they mean a high predicted grade in order to apply to the “best” university). With the pressures on them, it’s not necessarily their fault – let’s be compassionate towards them in what is an incredibly stressful situation.

However, this can be coupled with a practical and gentle reminder that success is based on other factors beyond a high predicted grade and a hypercompetitive university. Ensure that these are not empty words by pointing out alumni stories and data from previous years. Pointing to the irrational beliefs underlying these fears may be helpful, too.

Want versus desire versus demand

The distinction between desire and demand introduces further nuance. In marketing, demand is the “willingness and ability of customers to purchase a product or service”. Perhaps the next sentence is illuminating as well: “Demands then come into play when consumers actively demand certain goods or services from businesses due their strong preferences for them.”

Desire is a strong wish or a want. This article posits that it is “dreaming about having things beyond one’s immediate reach”.

Perhaps just listing the definitions themselves may be somewhat confusing. What can help is constructing sentences in which we match the words “predicted grade” with each of the verbs we’ve discussed.

Students’ relationships with predicted grades

“I need this predicted grade.”

As stated before, this cannot be applied to any student’s case, because a predicted grade is never a need.

“I want this predicted grade.”

This is true for most students. Predicted grades are not a basic essential, but something they want for their university applications.

“I demand this predicted grade.”

When a student – and sometimes their family – wants the predicted grade too strongly, it then becomes like a commodity that consumers actively demand. The issue here is that the predicted grade is not a product.

“I desire this predicted grade.”

According to the definition above, if a certain predicted grade is far beyond a student’s academic potential but they still want it, they would fall into this category.

Applying ‘demand versus desire’ to practice

Preventing demand

Stress to students that predicted grades cannot be demanded. Enshrine this in school policy, if need be. Emphasising the difference between predicted grades and commodities may be helpful – the “grades are earned, not given” logic pertains to this.

Because parents are likely to be paying a lot of money for international school tuition, they may see any resulting outcomes from the school as a commodity, too. Collaborate with your senior leadership team to communicate a clear message about the school’s responsibility for academic integrity to the parents, and the purpose of grades in a school.

Highlighting desire

It is the counsellor’s role to point out that sometimes desire is different from reality, and that some universities are meant to be beyond reach – or reach schools. It’s perfectly natural for students to harbour desires and dreams, especially because this can motivate them. But it’s subsequently unreasonable for students to expect all desires – especially lofty ones – to immediately translate to reality.

Reading about self-discrepancy theory may be helpful in parsing the gap between the two. Draw from data in class to concretely demonstrate the current academic standing of the student; ask your subject teacher and diploma programme coordinator to help make sense of the weights given to each data point.

How language frames perception

Maybe your initial reaction to this is: it’s just semantics. But semantics do matter. Language frames perception – it influences world view or cognition, especially if the repeated statements, such as “I need this for application”, become cemented in the student’s reality.

“Need” is a very loaded word that can easily lead to strong emotions. Tempering the words students and parents use can help temper their reactions.

The world of predicted grades and applications is a loaded one indeed. As college counsellors, let us be mindful of the power of words and help our students see their applications and predicted grades with a more reasoned lens, conducive to their mental health and future success.

Shout-out to Brandon Bewza for invaluable and formative conversations about predicted grades, which helped shape this article.