Hello College Confidential,
I was just thinking about this as I am wrapping up my junior year. I took AP Chemistry this year for my science, and I struggled immensely with it. I went in for tutoring at least three days per week all year, but I never really understood anything. I worked harder than anyone in my class, but I’m not even sure I passed the exam.
So this got me thinking: Is everything I heard about “hard work gets you anywhere” a lie? Does hard work really just not cut it even at your better-than-average colleges, like the University of Georgia (where I hope to attend)? And what about these kids who attend Ivy League schools? Is raw intelligence more important than hard work, or are they equal–you just have to have both? What about these kids who are struggling just to keep up but still bust it every day–what becomes of them?
Just a few thoughts. I’m a bit concerned for college. Can I thrive in such a competitive environment? I understand UGA is no Ivy League, of course, but I’m also just wondering about the students who got there based on their hard work and have to deal with that type of competition.
Work can surpass talent when talent doesn’t work but when talent works, which is the case at top universities, then talent and work will always > work only. Obviously talent and work levels will vary. This is just a simplification, assuming level of work is the same for both parties.
There is so much to address here. First: a high intellect and hard work is required for some demanding courses/majors at top schools. Just one or the other will not suffice.
As schools like UGA there is also a great disparity. It will depend on the individual courses and the overall major. Even your example of Chem is one where some people would say that hard work would have been enough. You think you worked hard (and obviously did). Some people might say that you should have gotten tutored 5 or 6 days per week and for double the amount of time each day. Unfortunately there are only so many hours in a day.
If you get into UGA (or any school) it will mean that they think you have the ability to do quality work. You need to believe the same thing. Maybe there will be a course or two where you struggle to even pass. Maybe there won’t. If you find a course or major that is too hard you might have to switch to something else. Lots of kids struggle in courses they don’t like, but do very well in ones they do like. Find courses you like and it will be easier to stay focused.
Good luck
If it helps any, I plan to major in accounting.
@TV4caster You’re right, there are people who would say I should have gotten more tutoring, but the other days, I was getting tutoring for AP Stats, for pre-calc, for basically any class. Though chemistry was what I struggled with most and what I went in for tutoring most often, I couldn’t just ignore my other classes. And that’s what I’m worried about: I may be struggling really badly in one class, but I’m still struggling in other classes sometimes. I’ve gotta get tutoring for both. What happens then? I guess I just accept a lower grade for one of the classes? Sucks, but I guess that’s how it goes.
Thank you for your input. I’m hoping that I find accounting interesting. It is the only major that seems interesting to me, but I guess I won’t really know until I’m there. My mom is an accountant, and she said there were several upper-level accounting classes that she struggled with a lot, and she even failed one of them after putting in so much work. (She majored in accounting at Texas A&M.) I’m worried about this because we are very similar academically. I’d hate for my hard work to go to waste.
The short answer is no.
No matter how much I try, no matter how much I would hope it was otherwise, there are a lot of things I simply don’t have the natural ability to do. I would never, ever, ever have made it as a pro athlete in any sport. I don’t have the guts to be a cop, or the natural ability to be a musician or an artist. I would have washed out of any of those professions faster than my teachers could have learned my name.
Hard work will NOT get you anywhere you want to be. But it will get you to an awful lot of places. Combine it with some native ability, some resilience, and some perseverance, and you can do ALMOST anything you set your heart on.
@PhilipL your mom’s case is a good one. I too struggled with a couple of upper level classes in subjects that I didn’t like and which were unrelated to my specific specialty within my major. When I graduated nobody cared what I did in Thermodynamics since I wasn’t going to be doing that kind of work. I know accounting majors who have done great with their careers who struggled with a course or two at college (both upper-level and core).
@bjkmom Thanks for your honest response. I’m hoping the fact that I may be interested in what I do will help me along with my hard work. Chemistry might have been extra difficult because I did not care about it at all. I couldn’t get myself to care, no matter how hard I tried to make myself interested.
@TV4caster Hmmm…well if it’s normal, then I’ll make do. Most people struggle with some upper-level class in their major, right?
There are absolutely limits to how far hard work can take you. Aptitude and raw talent count for a lot, especially at higher levels of achievement. I don’t want to read the published novel of the person who worked the hardest, but the person who is the most talented writer. Sometimes a person can be both–talented but doggedly hard-working. But reality is, some individuals who are talented don’t have to work as hard at it.
Specific to academics, at the end of the day: not everyone has the aptitude for all subjects, and frankly they shouldn’t. It drives me batty how we expect kids to be perfect at ALL THE THINGS and make them feel bad for struggling more in some subjects than other. We all have natural proclivities–you should nurture the things you’re more readily good at and just get by on the rest. If chemistry is a struggle for you, AP might not have been the right place for you. That doesn’t make you less smart than others, just less adept at advanced chemistry. But I’m sure there are things that you’re not only good at, but you really enjoy and don’t need tutoring in to get excellent grades.
The good news about college: you can choose your major, and in many cases, schools are aware of the natural inclinations/proclivities of most people in those majors, and will adjust their graduations requirements accordingly. I majored in journalism, and God bless my school: math was optional. I have never been happier. To fulfill my math/science credit, I was able to choose earth science classes, which I actually enjoy, instead of taking any math OR hard sciences.
How are you in your other classes? What’s your GPA? Test scores? UGA features a wide variety of students, and as long as you’re reasonably competitive, it won’t matter that you struggled in AP Chem. It happens–sometimes we just can’t study enough to force our brain to get super good at something we’re not naturally inclined towards. Some really smart kids from my school went to UGA, as did some… less naturally gifted students. And they went to UGA, survived all four years and now have jobs, so I’m sure you’ll be fine 
That all said: keep working hard where you need to. Hard work does separate the wheat from the chaff, and at the least can be the difference between pass and fail. Or between a C and a B. You never know. But also pick your battles: be honest with what you’re good at and don’t sign up for advanced courses just for the sake of it. Be savvy at college and choose your courses wisely.
@proudterrier Thanks for your response. You’re right–I didn’t have a natural inclination toward chemistry. It didn’t make sense and it never will, but I guess that’s okay. I would just like my college credit. I want that 3 to show me that my hard work was worth something–not just a failing score and a whole year of stress and tutoring wasted.
I am generally okay in my other classes. I have a 4.0 and a 2060 superscored SAT. I’m fifth in my class of 380, but I work harder than just about everyone in my class (except for the people in front of me, who work hard AND are naturally intelligent). My teachers understand that I struggle, but they appreciate my hard work.
I will definitely keep up the hard work! Now I know not to just sign up for a class because it looks good on an application. I guess there are just some things I cannot achieve with hard work, and I hope eventually I can accept that and not be too let down when I fail.
Working hard is more effective if you also work smart, and in something that you are good enough in and is valued by others enough for them to reward you for it.
Exactly. The problem is that “hard work” is very subjective. Intelligence is quite a bit more objective. I’ve seen lots of people who thought they were working hard, but, in the big picture, they weren’t really. And I’ve seen a lot of people who actually were working hard, beating their head against a wall, either unable or unwilling to accept any guidance on how they could direct their existing efforts to better advantage.
One obvious example of this is students who think they have to get in a certain college as if there is some kind of magic that occurs there and confers success on everyone who attends.
There really isn’t.
People who have intelligence and the sense to re-evaluate their efforts on an ongoing basis will do well anywhere.
Example of working hard in futility: Spending many hours on applications and essays on college applications which are out-of-reach for either admission or affordability.
Change your study methods until you find something that works. Identify the subjects you’re naturally good at and do something in those fields.
Natural intelligence is important too. Otherwise there would be at least a few mentally ■■■■■■■■ professors out there, but there aren’t.
As for what’s more important, probably natural intelligence but hard work does help. You can’t change your natural intelligence, you can change how hard you work.
One thing to remember is that working hard doesn’t matter if you aren’t working in the right ways. A lot of people who succeed in difficult classes do so because they figure out how the material will be tested and know how to study - which is where intelligence can come into play. For example, if you study chemistry by spending hours and hours looking over just the powerpoints and textbook, but not getting outside help from the instructor or doing practice problems, it doesn’t matter how much effort you put into it, you may not do well on the exams.
Keep in mind that some people’s brains are also stronger in working in different subjects than others. For example, some people just “get” chemistry, while some don’t, and there are some people who are particularly good at writing and understanding literature. It doesn’t make the first type of person “smarter.”
Your question emphasizes individual agency over other, larger constraints: societal, structural, economic, etc., the latter of which are not within your control. The best you can do (as an individual) is the best you can do. It can be self-defeating to berate or condemn yourself for factors which lie outside of your sphere of individual influence. A short answer to your question is likely no; just working hard, applied to any individual on the planet, will not ensure survival. However for you, working well and knowledgeably within your given constraints could indeed yield positive results.
In this regard, developing not only your aptitude in your chosen fields, but also qualities such as resilience, flexibility, and an understanding of other factors which may indeed not be under your control, can assist you to make the most of what is at your disposal. The posts above describe well what is at your disposal; thankfully you have health, a large university system, and some degree of choice in your career goals. You also presumably have some measure of leisure and comfort, which also give you a leg up compared to many.
If hard work always paid off, then bricklayers would get paid more than bankers.
It took me seven times to pass the bio regents. There if you want to give up, think of me because I didn’t give up. I’m in college getting As and bs I got one C!
Thanks for the replies! So what I’m understanding now is that I just have to learn how to study (whenever I’m doing it wrong). It’s unfortunate that raw intelligence is more important than hard work, but I just have to adapt to whatever setting I’m in. I just have to see what works best for me. I do believe that some people just don’t “get” chemistry (or any other subject), and I’m probably one of those people. That’s okay though. I might have to put in more work, but as long as I meet my goal in the end, right? So hopefully I passed…
Hard work can get you into a lot of places. Can it get you anywhere? No. I’m never going to be an Olympic sprinter, and no amount of hard work is going to change that. I’ll probably never be the center for the Chicago Bulls either. Again, no amount of hard work is going to change that. It’s a matter of physical limitations in this case.
I’ve been working as a math tutor for the last two years. I’ve seen a lot of people struggle like crazy with a math class, but put in that hard work and pull through it with a good grade. However, these students are never going to be mathematicians. It simply isn’t how their brains work.