# Pretty Girls Get Better Grades, Study Says. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 14, 2016, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178 "2016-01-14T23:48:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/21 "2016-01-16T05:44:33Z")
> [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](#): > > True. Which means, of course, that you can be as ugly as sin and get dumped on all your life, and cancer will still be along to kick you in the nuts. I like you and your Sunny Disposition! šŸ˜ƒ _Always look on the Bright Side of Lifeā€¦_ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/22 "2016-01-16T05:57:24Z")
> [@Greg\_Charles](#): > > Unless every test you took in every subject was purely multiple choice, there would have to have been a subjective component to grading, right? Surely you wrote essays and lab reports, did oral presentations, participated in class discussions ā€¦ or at least showed your work? > > I donā€™t know for sure though. Iā€™ve been pretty deep into nowhere, but never quite made it to the arse end. Back when I was in school, multiple choice was something we laughed at, everything was written. Our grades werenā€™t based on class behavior, there was a separate scale (ā€œattitudeā€) for that. You could have a 10 in the numeric value and an E in 'tude, if you were a pain in the ass but good at the material, or an 4/A if you were attentive and participative but didnā€™t get it. But if itā€™s chemistry or math, either itā€™s right or itā€™s not. The subjective component is in partial grades, if you got the problem 100% right thereā€™s no subjectivity. And so long as that subjective component is based on an objectively-measurable item or a known classified scale, itā€™s not subjective any more. I have heard of teachers who rated each question binarily but thankfully never had one; one of mine would rate you based on what % of the responseā€™s lines were right, so that the same mistake (say, not changing the sign correctly) at the beginning of the problem would mean a lower grade than at the end. Every other science teacher rated based on ā€œseriousness of the errorā€: that change of sign would be considered a ā€œminor inattentionā€ in Chemistry or Physics, more serious in Math, but get the gas formula or the water constant wrong and that Chemistry problem is a 0. We hated Ms %'s approach, but strictly speaking it was more objective. Note that neither approach took into account who the student was. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/23 "2016-01-16T06:12:04Z")
I likewise would like to see it broken down between subjects that are more or less objective. And how the study fares on stuff like standardized tests, where the grader has no idea who the student is. And, BTW, Nava. I know the benefits of multiple choice first hand. I got the highest grade in my calculus class final test in part because I didnā€™t actually stop to solve problems that were long. I tested each of the answers. The calculators in question made this easy, since they could do numeric derivatives. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/24 "2016-01-16T10:51:24Z")
I doubt that I would have been considered a pretty girl since I never fussed with my hair or wore makeup or made and effort to know what was in style. But I had one experience that struck me as favoritism of a sort. I was majoring in Aero Engineering in the mid-70s, one of very few women in that track. In one of the lower level Aero classes within the first week or so, I answered a question correctly during a class exchange. For whatever reason, right then and there, the prof decided I was a freekinā€™ genius! For the rest of the semester, he never called on me again, but whenever he posed a particularly tough question and no one in the class seemed to be able to get it, heā€™d give me a look that said ā€œI know you know this, so I wonā€™t bother even askingā€ and heā€™d go on the explain it. Of course, testing will tell - Iā€™m pretty sure I just got a low B (I know I didnā€™t ace it) but because of that one little nugget I knew early on, I had a reputation with him. In fact, a year later when he was a sub for another of my profs, he still remembered me and treated me the same way. In retrospect, perhaps most of it was that he recognized the ethnicity of my last name which, based on his accent, we shared. In fact, heā€™s the only non-family member to pronounce it correctly! So maybe if Iā€™d been a guy of the same name, the experience might have been the same. Which is a long way around the barn to say that grading and teacher favoritism are often weird and hard to figure outā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/25 "2016-01-16T14:18:59Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > ā€¦but also that ā€œpresentationā€ (prettiness of the work presented) was more important than prettiness of the worker. Iā€™ve had students get jobs with major Chicago ad agencies and design firms, partly because they can present their ideas well. The firms grab them because they need to present well to their clients. But Iā€™m glad to report weā€™ve had some, well, Not Conventionally Attractive kids get those jobs. But as a teacher, I have to constantly watch out that I donā€™t cut more slack for a ā€˜cuteā€™ student, or spend more energy helping them at the expense of other students. As I often ask a fellow teacher ā€œAm I being fair? Tell me if Iā€™m being a _cutist_ in this caseā€¦ā€ _(see, itā€™s like sexist or racistā€¦ pretty cute, huh?)_ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/26 "2016-01-16T16:06:56Z")
Yeah but this involved teachers who couldnā€™t explain what they meant by ā€œgood presentationā€ and extreme cases such as Ms. PeesCologne being given 100% on a poster on WWII which contained three pictures, the caption World War II, and lots of bluebells because ā€œoh, I just couldnā€™t think what to say! It is so horrible!ā€ Thereā€™s a difference between ā€œbeing able to wrap your ideas wellā€ and ā€œitā€™s all wrapā€. Years later I was finally able to decipher how to use different colors for different target groups. My posters would have gotten better grades if I hadnā€™t been allergic to pastel colors šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/27 "2016-01-16T23:10:38Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > (itā€™s not completely implausible: presumably looks and intelligence are both a result of good health) See, this is why SDMB women are so brilliant. Itā€™s because theyā€™re also all gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![Dajn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@Dajn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dajn)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/28 "2016-01-17T09:08:26Z")
For reasons I will never remember, I had a calculus and a physics course my senior year that only a select few from my grade were offered. All the hot girls were in both classes. I fought a hard on constantly. I remember having to waist band it a few times because the bell went off and I wasnā€™t ready for it. ---
**Author:** ![Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ac8455/32.png) [@Your\_Great\_Darsh\_Face](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Your_Great_Darsh_Face)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/29 "2016-01-17T09:54:45Z")
> [@Doctor\_Jackson](#): > > Actually, testicular cancer is fairly rare among ugly girls. From what I know of the disease, when cancer comes along to kick you in the nuts, nuts will be provided if you donā€™t have your own. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/30 "2016-01-17T10:00:44Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I was all set to say ā€œwell, maybe pretty girls are smarter than ugly onesā€, but it looks like they controlled for that (itā€™s not completely implausible: presumably looks and intelligence are both a result of good health). I do recall reading of studies showing that thereā€™s a detectable correlation between good looks and being somewhat more intelligent than average. Itā€™s likely not just good health but good development in the womb; part of looking good is symmetry and other signs of better-than-average development. ---
**Author:** ![jerry\_smissingfinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e56c9b/32.png) [@jerry\_smissingfinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jerry_smissingfinger)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/31 "2016-01-17T23:03:31Z")
Who needs good grades when your hawt? I dated a hottie for a few months and she was a terrible driver. Got out of many tickets and even got a few road pirates phone numbers. Pretty people make me sick ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/32 "2016-01-17T23:35:54Z")
> [@Dajn](#): > > For reasons I will never remember, I had a calculus and a physics course my senior year that only a select few from my grade were offered. All the hot girls were in both classes. I fought a hard on constantly. I remember having to waist band it a few times because the bell went off and I wasnā€™t ready for it. Yeahā€¦but the time I took thermodynamics my guy hid like a frightened turtleā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/33 "2016-01-19T04:27:17Z")
> [@Dajn](#): > > For reasons I will never remember, I had a calculus and a physics course my senior year that only a select few from my grade were offered. All the hot girls were in both classes. I fought a hard on constantly. I remember having to waist band it a few times because the bell went off and I wasnā€™t ready for it. I find this interesting. That didnā€™t happen in my school, at all. I did notice that, contrary to the stereotype, the best athletes also tended to be pretty good students in general. They got straight As, and they were smart enough to actually earn it. And I noticed that the other attractive students tended to have their schoolwork together, and at least got As and Bs. But they mostly werenā€™t AP caliber. Sure, there were some that started on the AP track, but they generally fell off as the classes thinned down over the years. Some may have been smart enough for the classes (like one of the best writers and editors in the school who regularly placed in the top 3 in state pageants ), but they took the guaranteed A over the extra work. And math class had its own extra disincentive. You needed only four math credits, and the AP track got you the first math credit in eighth grade. So, by senior year, math was completely optional. So our class went from around 30 students (split into two different hours) my junior year to maybe 7 in my senior year. There was only one girl at allā€“a transfer student and my good friend who was also the top Latina in the stateā€“and thus had a full ride scholarship to the state school of her choice. (And, yeah, she was (and still is) cute, but not hottest in the class. At least, not until she became a belly dancer and fire eater. Sheā€™s a lot happier now, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Dajn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@Dajn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dajn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/34 "2016-01-19T09:46:18Z")
[quote=ā€œBigT, post:33, topic:743178ā€] I find this interesting. That didnā€™t happen in my school, at all. I did notice that, contrary to the stereotype, the best athletes also tended to be pretty good students in general. They got straight As, and they were smart enough to actually earn it. And I noticed that the other attractive students tended to have their schoolwork together, and at least got As and Bs. But they mostly werenā€™t AP caliber. Sure, there were some that started on the AP track, but they generally fell off as the classes thinned down over the years. Some may have been smart enough for the classes (like one of the best writers and editors in the school who regularly placed in the top 3 in state pageants ), but they took the guaranteed A over the extra work. And math class had its own extra disincentive. You needed only four math credits, and the AP track got you the first math credit in eighth grade. So, by senior year, math was completely optional. So our class went from around 30 students (split into two different hours) my junior year to maybe 7 in my senior year. There was only one girl at allā€“a transfer student and my good friend who was also the top Latina in the stateā€“and thus had a full ride scholarship to the state school of her choice. (And, yeah, she was (and still is) cute, but not hottest in the class. At least, not until she became a belly dancer and fire eater. Sheā€™s a ---
**Author:** ![Dajn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c2a13f/32.png) [@Dajn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dajn)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/35 "2016-01-19T09:50:11Z")
I apologize. Sometimes I go to far. But we all know that girl could suck a dick like no one else. Women like that are the best. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/36 "2016-01-19T12:48:32Z")
I doubt it helps with the lesbian teachers. Might even hurt them some depending upon where they fall. There was that movie ā€œ[American Beauty](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Beauty_%281999_film%29)ā€ where the 16 year old girl talks about how she noticed at around age 13 men, even older ones, were starting to stare and she knew she had a kind of special power over men. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/37 "2016-01-19T20:45:50Z")
> [@Dajn](#): > > I apologize. Sometimes I go to far. But we all know that girl could suck a dick like no one else. Women like that are the best. Letā€™s try not to make posts like this in the future (that are as sexist and misogynist as it). Itā€™s against the rules here. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/38 "2016-01-20T05:36:57Z")
Their was a study once where a bunch of early elementary age school teachers looked at pictures of kids and they had to decide just on looks who was smarter. They picked the more attractive kids. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/39 "2016-01-20T13:48:49Z")
From my brief time as a teacher, I can honestly say I never gave anyone preferential treatment in grading or anything else, and never felt any pressure to do so. I gave a failing grade to the starting center on the basketball team, and nobody ever hinted that Iā€™d made a mistake (for the record, the center was a smart, nice but lazy student- NOT a dumb jock with a sense of entitlement). That said, the ā€œcool kidsā€ DID tend to earn good grades in my classes. NOT because I cut them any slack, but because most of them were middle to upper middle class, had well educated parents, and were generally good students. Contrary to the ā€œmean girlsā€ stereotype, the popular kids are generally smart and mostly nice. Thereā€™s a REASON theyā€™re popular! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178/40 "2016-01-20T23:24:10Z")
> [@jerry\_smissingfinger](#): > > I dated a hottie for a few months and she was a terrible driver. Got out of many tickets and even got a few road pirates phone numbers. I recall reading a quote from a highway patrolwoman once who said she found it really amusing to stop a car, and find a driver who was some pretty young woman primping herself and obviously intending to flirt her way out of a ticket - who then collapses in on herself when she realizes that itā€™s a patrol_woman_ who has stopped her. And then suddenly becomes real quiet and cooperative. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pretty-girls-get-better-grades-study-says/743178.md?page=3)