how can you do so well in school?

[Asthaloth]

I have taken two psychology courses that both argue against IQ being a good indicator of intelligence. I am not downplaying anything, I'm just pointing out some research that has been done in this area and people should be aware of it.

And if you believe that you are smarter than me, more power to you, I never said I had any problems with that. My goal in life is not to be the smartest person around.

Sorry, no offence was intended, T'was a bad day and I should know by now to avoid people when I'm fretting.

[theonlysaneone]

I have taken two psychology courses that both argue against IQ being a good indicator of intelligence. I am not downplaying anything, I'm just pointing out some research that has been done in this area and people should be aware of it.

And if you believe that you are smarter than me, more power to you, I never said I had any problems with that. My goal in life is not to be the smartest person around.

Sorry, no offence was intended, T'was a bad day and I should know by now to avoid people when I'm fretting.

That sort of describes me in my school. There are people better than me in specific things (especially art, definitely not math), but I can't think of anyone in my school who is smarter than me across the entire spectrum. Tests and competitions I've done in the school back that up. That doesn't automatically translate into better grades though. I simply refuse to spend hours a day studying in order to increase my grade a few percentage points. After all, when you calculate GPA, a 97 is no better than a 91.

[Tymaporer]

From experience, I can agree with the people who say that, unfortunately for most, natural talent triumphs over hard work. People who just are not good at school can sometimes remain near the bottom even if they put tons of effort into it. This does not, of course, mean that these people are stupid; it just means that they aren't good at school, which is different. I happen to be one of those people who never studies at all apart from doing the homework and classwork, and just somehow absorbs everything and aces stuff. Hell, I've aced tests after having slept through most of the relevant lessons. It's just like all the other inevitable and inhumane inequalities in this world, such as rich and poor, or talent levels in any of a vast number of skills, which does include schoolwork, because just like an IQ test, it's not the only thing that defines intelligence.

(Yeah, I know "unfair" would've been a lot more fitting than "inhumane", but I liked my alliteration...)

[May]

I agree to some degree that natural talent can get you far, but hard work can too. For example, I'm naturally talented in music. I've never really, truly practiced for more than a week out of my life, because there are very few instances where I needed to. However, in economics, my senior year, I was in danger of failing halfway through the semester. I took it upon myself to go to the library for at least an hour every day and really read through my text book, define terms, outline chapters in the book, and my hard work really paid off. I ended up with an A in the course. So, hard work pays off, especially when you don't have natural talent in a given area.

[nannerz]

I agree natural ability also plays a role in how well you do in school, but the education system and its assessment methods (i.e. tests) are also not perfect indicators of success or intelligence. I believe test-taking in itself is a skill and some people are just better at it than others.

In addition, tests only measure a certain amount of knowledge and I have taken full advantage of that at times. I have a relatively good short term memory, and all that stuff people keep telling you about cramming not working just does NOT apply to me For example, one midterm I had recently taken I studied for only the day before and ended up with around 94%. Granted, it was around 8 hours of cramming I don't think it was because I'm smart, it's because after all these years of school I've learned how best to remember information quickly and in detail. Of course, this only works for the memorization courses.

Well, no one said like was fair ;( We were all born to our own circumstances and we can only try to improve what we can. Personally I'm really tired of just studying for marks =x

And no offense taken, Asthaloth, hope you're feeling better.

[Asthaloth]

I agree natural ability also plays a role in how well you do in school, but the education system and its assessment methods (i.e. tests) are also not perfect indicators of success or intelligence. I believe test-taking in itself is a skill and some people are just better at it than others.

They're rubbish.
I stress out during tests and do miserably.
Except Modular tests, which have no impact on my final grade, where upon I get brilliant scores (perfect, for maths) but the Board of education refuses to use as a springboard for my final mark after I have a nervous break down and miss a critical exam or Three.

Yeah. Derbyshire board of Education Irks me too.

[Mongrel]

I agree natural ability also plays a role in how well you do in school, but the education system and its assessment methods (i.e. tests) are also not perfect indicators of success or intelligence. I believe test-taking in itself is a skill and some people are just better at it than others.

They're rubbish.

The people, or the tests?

[Asthaloth]

Given the rest of my sleep deprived rant about tests, I'd say them.

[theonlysaneone]

I'm sort of the opposite of Setekh/Asthaloth/whatever you prefer to be called. I do really well on tests but I have the worst study and work habits ever. I do all of it, but I usually wait until 3 A.M. the night before. I have straight As solely because I am so good at taking tests. It's not just knowledge of the material (although it plays a large part), but twelve years of the American education system has completely conditioned me on how to ace a multiple choice test and how to write an essay for one. Given four choices, I can sometimes pick the right one without even reading the question because of the way these tests are written.

I also do nothing but play video games during Calculus BC and Economics. Not that my teachers really teach us anything anyway.

[Ammer]

Well, unlike all you apparent genuises here, I've never really gotten straight A's across the board. Perhaps an A here or there (I did get a few in Grade 12), but I feel it's lack of motivation over studying. I got average grades until Grade 12 and that's only because Universities were going to base my acceptance on my Grade 12 grades. Even in Grade 12, I didn't do amazingly well (Well, first semester I did average, and second semester really boosted me up).

I honestly think what's absent in high school is fear of failure. Of course I didn't want to fail tests or anything of the sort, but I felt that I'd always have chances to make up for it. Whereas in University and in Grade 12, you feel as if that chance is not there at all.

That's just my opinion on it; I'd say good marks are attainable if you actually have the motivation to achieve them.

And as for the IQ test, I agree with others stating that it has low content validity. It lacks measures in the creative area's of our brain which plays a factor in intelligence. It's just not a very reliable test to base your intelligence on.

[Rissa]

The people at my school only do well because all of the other people at my school do well. Most of us take IB and AP classes and therefore are ridiculously competitive. Everyone here tries to be well balanced to the point of perfection-- except they have to be more perfect than everyone else. No one says it, and most people probably don't realize it, but it's in our subconcious, I think, once we enter that school. They poison the water or brainwash us or something so that we will kill ourselves over trying to get such good grades and do so well in extracurriculars and everything so that we can be better than everyone else, when it is actually ridiculously unrealistic and downright stupid to do so.

Basically, the people who can put the most stress on themselves without cracking completely do the best. Here, anyway.

I really hate it. O.o

[Igg]

I honestly think what's absent in high school is fear of failure. Of course I didn't want to fail tests or anything of the sort, but I felt that I'd always have chances to make up for it. Whereas in University and in Grade 12, you feel as if that chance is not there at all.

That's just my opinion on it; I'd say good marks are attainable if you actually have the motivation to achieve them.

Now I'm at Uni, I am basically the same work and motivation-wise as I was at school; just with added fear of failure and the stress and misery that comes with that.

SCORE!

*is not made for academia*

[Ginger Harp Seal Pup]

I was never very good in school and I regret it. I couldn't concentrate as 1. I was severely bullied and every time I TRIED to focus on work I had that to intend with instead and 2. I have Asperger Syndrome which makes me wonder off into a world of my own so I can't concentrate, either.

However, next year I'm retaking GCSE English Language and am also going to do a course in Graphic Design. The good thing about education is that there is no age limit. My teachers all said that if you fail your GCSE's, that's it. Dead end jobs for the rest of your life and no way to improve yourself academically. I know now that it was just their way of trying to make you focus on your final exams.

[Cyanna]

I thought IQ tests were meant to measure your capacity to learn rather than what you already know.

I always thought it was fairly common for a child to have the highest IQ in the class and NOT have the highest grades. But that's really only based on personal experience. My sister doesn't know it, but she is one of those children (the teacher couldn't help telling my mom). I think I was another...I don't know if I had the highest score but it wasn't proportionate to my place in the class. I was always a little above average but I was no genius and still struggled now and then.

[3lla]

well Im not too sure what IQ tests are really all about(seeing as I have never actually taken a proper one), but I personally believe the difference between a genius(someone who excels in all subjects and form) and a specialist(someone who excels in one or a few subjects or form), is really all to do with a persons mentality, and whether or not they are willing to learn aswell as they're learning capacity and their own natural talent.