<p>While there certainly are some people who did well in high school and later floundered in college, sometimes I think there are people who whiled away in high school and who performed a lot better in college. Do you have any examples?</p>
<p>Max. He could care less in high school, except for a class or two that really caught his interest.</p>
<p>He soared in college – top of his department – and of course, at spy school.</p>
<p>Sure. I’m certain it’s pretty common, actually. As we know, brains aren’t even fully mature until about 25 yoa. </p>
<p>One of my nieces was an completely average HS student, and after her parents got divorces was even less interested in studying. Lots of partying…in college she found her niche, reinvented herself and graduated with highest honors, all while working full-time, her choice. She was quickly snapped up for a job in her major and now owns her own car and home, and isn’t even 30 yet. That’s something for the area where she lives in this economy, and not coming from a wealthy family.</p>
<p>A kid I went to high school with was widely known as a stoner who wasn’t in a single advanced class. Got into a top school despite this, went on to a Ph.D in an ever higher school and in the last alumni update, had various patents in his name…</p>
<p>One of my sons was the “bored in high school” type, and his grades were less than stellar. He went to community college because he just couldn’t be bothered doing anything else. It was in community college that he had a real change in attitude about school, and he really turned his life around. After he got his AA, he started toward his BA. He is still in school, although part-time now, while he works at a great job that he loves part-time (and full-time over the summer). He will be graduating in May 2014 as a happy educated employed young man. I couldn’t ask for more!</p>
<p>Me! I thought I was stupid in high school so I never really thought to try. I don’t think I ever studied for a test once. I did okay in most classes, but I failed math every year and got more than my fair share of Cs for sure. I took one AP class and it was a real eye opener for me, an environment where it was simply ASSUMED that everyone would do well. I’ve always tended to match my environment, so to speak… that has meant good things for me and bad.</p>
<p>It’s not unusual. In college kids study in a major…that hopefully they like. Most people will “do better” doing something they like than something they dislike. So far 2 of my 3 fall into that categoy…they loved college. Like their major. Liked their classes. Had better GPAs than in high school where they took the “prescribed” college prep currculum repleat with classes they “disliked.”</p>
<p>Yes, My younger son. Just graduated magna cum laude in engineering .</p>
<p>My husband. He was not even in the top 10% of his high school class, and his SAT scores could generously be described as mediocre. But he was among the top ten graduates of his flagship state university (not top ten percent, top ten!) four years later and went on to get a PhD from a graduate program that was ranked among the best in the country in his field.</p>
<p>Oops. I thought this was a thread about undergarments. Moving on…</p>
<p>Which one happens more often, a high school star student that washes out in college or a high school underachiever that bloomed in college?</p>
<p>“there are people who whiled away in high school and who performed a lot better in college” - Sure it happens. But the odds probably depend a lot upon the rigor of the hs and college academics.</p>
<p>Of course many hs slacker don’t get the opportunity to go immediately to college. I hear a lot of stories of them returning to CC years later with more maturity and motivation… and doing very well.</p>
<p>So what kind of bloomers happen more often: late bloomers or “on-time bloomers” (i.e. the HS slackers who exploded in college while attending it immediately after high school)?</p>
<p>My older daughter was a B/B+ student in high school but did much better in college. She was happier there, also. Freshman year she panicked over a writing class that she had to take, but in her senior year she chose to take a 400 level Jane Austen class as an elective (math education major).</p>
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<p>College graduation rates can give a clue on the first question, though you’ll have to define “star student” and then look at college graduation rates at schools where the students match that definition. Of course, non-graduation may be for non-academic reasons, like no longer being able to afford the cost.</p>
<p>The other part of your question is harder to determine. A lot of students go to community college, but only some are aiming to transfer to a four year school. So one would have to find numbers on those attending aiming to transfer and the percentage who succeed in transferring. Of course, not all who start in community college are high school slackers or underachievers; again, financial considerations may be behind that route.</p>
<p>Personally, I happen to be a huge fan of community colleges. The mission there is to teach or to train. The focus is on the students. Students can go to CC and take a little time to figure out what they want to do. Students who may not have reached academic maturity in high school can work and get an AA or AS, and these days, most states have strong articulation agreements.</p>
<p>On top of this, increasingly, there are cohort programs, at least in the 2 states I am now familiar with, for gifted academic students who are financially savvy and want to save while doing their Geneds. </p>
<p>There is a huge glut of PhDs in this country, this day, and you can count on highly educated, teaching centered instruction. I think the CC is one thing we are still doing right in higher ed.</p>
<p>That said, as to the original question, life is long. People take different paths. Some people who are great at school are horrible in the work world, while some who hate school are great employees and advance quickly.</p>
<p>Either way, I’m behind anyone who is intelligently attempting to forward their life.</p>
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<p>Can you provide links to these programs?</p>
<p>They are generally available in the advising area of the college website. If you are interested in finding this in your area, I’d just call the school.</p>
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<p>How could such a person ever succeed and how could you possibly been attracted to someone who clearly was on the verge of being developing disabled? </p>
<p>Only on CC.</p>
<p>I believe Marian’s point was not that those who are not in the top 10% are less worthy but rather that her hubby went from not being in the 10% of his high school class to graduating as one of the top ten individuals in his class, putting him at what? the top 1%.</p>
<p>That’s a pretty impressive leap.</p>
<p>I thought this thread was going to be about underwear!</p>
<p>There are many examples of people for who “it clicked” in college. That’s part of the reason for going even if you didn’t think that you were initially the academic type.</p>