perceived stress followed by test anxiety and low academic competence significantly differed among the low and high GPA achievers. Moreover, perceived stress and test anxiety were found to have significant negative correlation with academic performance of students and course load was major source of stress affecting academic performance. In summary, perceived stress was an important factor to discriminate among the students with low vs. high academic performance. So, university administration, faculty and parents should focus on effective psychoanalytical services along with stress management programs that could be useful for achieving academic success