<p>Just an idle question but I was wondering how many CCers had friends that they see often that are in the whole 'academic game', so to say?</p>
<p>I'm not really around many people like that and I think I'd choke them if I was. What is wrong with these stupid students these days? Now it's a contest; who did the most homework, whose classes are harder, who slept the least. It's like some sort of perverted geek hierarchy. Am I the only one who wants to strangle these people with their own entrails sometimes? I do my work, miss sleep, and all the **** they do, but somehow the think they'll earn my respect if they ***** about it. Or even worse, if they pretend they don't do anything for school. Liars!</p>
<p>I'm trying to get myself to stop talking about school/grades all the time..because it either 1) makes people feel annoyed at me for being angry at "what I chose to do" 2)I'm afraid they think I'm really pompous</p>
<p>everyone i talk to is more GPA motivated than I am. I wish I could find people who were motivated solely by the pursuit of knowledge, rather than the pursuit of high GPA => societal success</p>
<p>I'm more motivated by curiosity (especially at subjects you can't study conveniently at school - frex, evolutionary biology, evolutionary psychology, and how all the social + natural sciences all tie in with each other). But I'm also motivated by standardized tests since I see them as objective indicators of one's knowledge that are fair between MOST if not all learning styles (lectures are not fair in that way). (though the problem is that there aren't enough of them)</p>
<p>ehh... i sometimes wonder if i would have enjoyed another country's educational system... but the united states seems to have the most liberal one wrt self-studiers and homeschoolers, even if the universities in other countries have placement exams instead of BS ECs (originally designed to decrease the # of Jews)</p>
<p>ehh, collegeboard is in some ways just as bureaucratic and unflexible as the federal government is. in some ways it's good though, as it's what CTY bases its success on (CTY says that SATs are an even better predictor of success in CTY courses than IQ tests - which are used in school placement) [though for college, SAT IIs are more predictive]</p>
<p>\endrant</p>
<p>back when i was more narrow-minded though, I was INTENSELY motivated by grades</p>
<p>I have a bunch of different groups of friends. The ones who are GPA-motivated...well, they're the ones I'll miss the least. All of my close friends are intellectual though...huh...makes me think I shouldn't be applying to the cutthroat schools that I am applying to.</p>
<p>Most of the people I associate w/ are of the same "academic caliber" as myself, but it's more of a cooperative environment than a competetive one. We always work together at school to do homework and study for tests. This is probably because my school doesn't rank.</p>
<p>I'm probably the least motivated. Our school is very competitive. I probably have some of the less impressive stats out of my acquaintances despite a 4.2 GPA and 8 AP tests under my belt by the end of this year. (4.0 is considered the cutoff for good/bad for the "Asian gang" in our school, and non-AP classes are vehemetly avoided since they "lower your GPA". If non-AP classes are taken, they are usually taken to boost EC's, i.e. journalism or orchestra concert master, something like that.)</p>
<p>The people in my AP classes are people I've had in a class since the sixth grade, so we're kind of stuck with each other. The people I sit with at lunch are my friends, but they're in none of my classes and sometimes I can't relate to them when they talk about something that happened in class or a teacher they had. But yes, the people I have in AP classes are extremely academically motivated, but then again, so am I.</p>
<p>I don't mind talking about those sorts of things. We discuss who's in the top ten daily. It's nice to talk about someone with these things and know they're going through what I am. Though, it's kind of...what goes on in AP Bio stays in AP Bio. We don't really talk about it outside of class. Those kinds of topics stay in the AP classes we're in and when we're out of class, we don't talk much about it since other people get annoyed.</p>
<p>I don't get why people get annoyed, though. If we're not talking to them, they don't need to listen. There's a person in one of my electives that gets annoyed when people talk about homework or what's going on in a class. I don't get it. It doesn't affect her or anything and so what if people are motivated by their GPA?</p>
<p>I don't have many friends from AP classes, mainly because they are all losers who don't stray from the friends they made in middle school. And I came to this school in Sophomore year so it was too late...So all my real friends are from my prep classes. Which I'm perfectly fine with. It just gets annoying because in my AP classes, there is rarely a kid I can talk to a lot or just like chill with, or do a project with them.</p>
<p>However if I stayed at my old school, I would probably only be surrounded by AP kids so those would be all my friends.</p>
<p>I tend to hang around really smart people, but who do things because they want to learn, mostly. We're not that hardcore geek, though we do take turns panicking at our respective workload.</p>
<p>What is somewhat annoying/unusual is that at my school, kids who don't take at least two APs junior and senior year are considered slackers. It's crazy how many kids my school sends off to amazing colleges... it makes one feel untalented and unspecial at times.</p>
<p>You know that brings up something else we were talking about the other day. That it's unfair how some people take one or two AP classes and a bunch of cake classes and get into the top ten. At my school, there's a marginal difference between AP and Regular when it comes to GPA points, so it's easy to just get As in regular classes and make it into the top ten. It's horribly upsetting and I've taken a few regular classes like Biology, Chemistry, Economics, and some electives.</p>
<p>Getting an A in there is easier than anything else. You get no homework whatsoever, the teacher cuts you a loooot of slack, there are no assignments that require a lot of work, and everyone spends their time goofing off. It's horrible upsetting how easy those classes are compared to AP classes. People don't even do their work in regular classes and pass the class. It makes no sense.</p>
<p>my school has a HUGE gap between the motivated and the laid back. Personally, I don't really care who has what GPA. IF they happen to be a good friend, it shouldn't matter anyway. My boyfriend has a 2.5 or so GPA whereas I have a 5.1..People gave us alot of wierd looks when we started dating. He's still a very good person and we've been dating for about two years now.</p>
<p>Well, that's true, but no one said people with high GPAs were better. I liked this guy and everyone told me I was crazy because he was such an idiot. xD He was. He was even missing half a finger. But he was so nice to me. Then he moved away...</p>
<p>Most of my friends are as motivated as me. I think I'm just attracted to people who share my obsessions/interests. There is also the factor of conveniance. Most of my friends are also taking the same classes that I am.</p>