Is 12th's marks important? Does it matter only to get a college?
When I was in 11th, I used to think that it's just for getting a college and if I do a professional degree like CA, everything resets and I can be a CA Sahab my entire life. But if you ask me now?
TLDR, yes, it is important. VERY IMPORTANT.
Where does it become the most important? If you are targeting a great college for UG or MBA, tier 1 finance or consulting role, you will almost always be judged on the basis of your 12th marks but whether that becomes a deal breaker or not completely depends on the other parts of your profile. Besides, it lifts your respect in the society at another level (done that, been there, feels awesome. Trust me, people ask you your 12th results even in 2026).
I used to think that if I do CA, passing the exam is the most important thing and nobody would care about my 12th marks once I become the CA Sahab but what I ignored was whether I already knew what I would do in my life in 11th. Turns out I knew very little about myself, let alone the industry. Luckily, I had a decent score.
A good 12th marks gives you options in your future. Having options is important, which you may or may not understand now, being a mid or high schooler who calls their girlfriend or boyfriend "wifey" and "hubby". You really don't know what you want from your life at 22 (talking about me), let alone at a younger age.
Different 12th marks tell different stories:
A 95+ is considered elite
A 90+ is very good
With an 80+, you are still in the game
With a 70+, you need a serious explanation and another spike in your profile
Anything below 60 — you need to work really hard to stand out, as unlike science students, commerce students cannot give the excuse of JEE or NEET for a lower 12th. Science students have a socially accepted reason for a bad 12th. You don't. So don't give yourself one. (And I’m talking about from the perspective of a great career in Finance, not typical commerce and accounting jobs which have the highest risk of getting replaced by AI)
So, 12th marks don't make or break anything, but having good marks is a very good thing to have — as frankly, 12th commerce is actually (you may not believe it) easy if you pay attention.
Pro tip for getting a 95+ (only for the people who stayed till the end)- Make your basics super clear. If you are in 11th and you can afford it, take a CA Foundation class from any good faculty as if you're appearing for it. Even if you are not, they'll teach you 2 subjects in depth — Accounts and Economics — in a very short time. If you cannot afford it, YouTube is a paradise. And if you are in 12th, skip this plan entirely. Assuming you have a reasonable understanding, DO THE TEST PAPERS and PYQs from the first month. They are the holy grail for any board exam because of one structural reason — the Government WANTS YOU TO PASS. If results drop, people pull the collar of the education minister (ahem, Dharmendra Pradhan, iykyk). They copy questions from the past or at least keep the structure similar.
But don’t just limit yourself with the syllabus as the syllabus of entire 11-12th is very small and you must utilise the extra time to learn finance concepts, markets, businesses or just learn a new skill like Excel (your bread and butter), PPT (Industry standard level), AI tools, Python etc. We will discuss these things in future as well, but it’s always better to start early.
Date- 08.07.2024