<p>What is realistic for said person?</p>
<p>It's said that most people are fairly good at pairing themselves up with colleges. But what about, say, credit loads? Most people ultimately adapt to them, that's true. But have you seen cases where someone tried a goal, thought that he could achieve it despite failures, and yet still continue to fail?</p>
<p>The goal could be something like taking lots of grad lvl courses (hypothetical scenario)</p>
<p>Yes, I have noticed this, in others as well as in myself.</p>
<p>This discrepancy between a person's goals and his abilities generally stems from one of two things.</p>
<p>1) Ignorance. The person is simply unaware of his own potential (or lack of it) and is beating his head against a wall. I feel that somebody should step in and let these people know that their expectations are unrealistic. Of course, this advice should come from someone qualified who's in a position of authority. I feel that it would be doing the person a favor to at least make them aware of the reality of the situation. That way, they can evaluate their goals and decide if they want to re-prioritize.</p>
<p>2) Passion. This one is the hardest to deal with. People can invest themselves so completely in their dreams that they just CANNOT let go of the hope that they MIGHT succeed. Generally, these people are well aware that their dreams may be unrealistic, but they keep believing that if they just try hard enough, they will succeed. Now, there have been cases (very rare) where the person did succeed despite a lack of talent/natural ability. However, the likelihood of failure is far higher. These people generally believe that talent is 90% work. I used to be this way. Since then, I've come to realize that hard work will only take you so far. </p>
<p>It's really in your best interest to choose something that you are naturally good at. (Of course, this does not apply if you have no intention of becoming VERY good at what you do and are willing to settle for just mediocre.)</p>
<p>yeah this applies to me. i've worked in a lab this summer doing research trying to get a good publication out, and you realize eventually u hit a ceiling where everyone is just much better, not in terms of effort, but productivity.</p>
<p>that said, i think that person should still try to push him/herself as far as possible, but be aware of the red flags that fly out when you've hit the ceiling. usually, it's denial, and no matter how much you work, others will go farther because they work just as hard, but are also more productive.</p>
<p>sometimes, i'd like to spend a day in a nobel prize winning prof's mind and see how he/she functions.</p>
<p>I think anyone can do well if they try, but you yourself have to be smart in managing and foreseeing possible bad outcomes and figure out ways to prevent them. Like not being stupid and taking a million hard classes at once to get them overwith. Instead, just take them a step at a time.</p>
<p>There is no such thing as "natural ability."</p>
<p>All there is is preparation, forethought, and dedication.</p>
<p>How can you say that there is no such thing as natural ability? Do you think that any random person could write music like Mozart/Beethoven? Can anybody reason like Einstein or Newton? Some of these people were showing signs of genius from a very young age. Can anybody become a great sport star? Some people are just more coordinated, smarter, more talented than others. It makes no sense to say that natural ability does not exist.</p>
<p>After a certain point, preparation, forethought and dedication don’t cut it anymore. </p>
<p>Zizi</p>
<p>Those are extreme cases.</p>
<p>Everybody has their niche. It just so happened that Einstein/Newton had theirs in a different area than Mozart/Beethoven etc etc whatever.</p>
<p>As long as you have passion about what you are good at then you succeed.</p>
<p>
[quote]
There is no such thing as "natural ability."</p>
<p>All there is is preparation, forethought, and dedication.
[/quote]
That's bull.</p>
<p>Zizi is right. Those things will only get you so far. Not everyone can be whatever they want.</p>
<p>I'd like to point you in the direction of a billion ex-premeds I know who were excellent planners, had great foresight, never procrastinated, studied all the time, and had more dedication than most people I've met and still couldn't make the grades.</p>
<p>You lie. They mustn't have studied enough or devoured the material like they should have.</p>
<p>Oh come on, how old are you? Don't tell me you haven't seen the difference in peoples' natural intelligences and abilities by now (ie by the time you reach college).</p>
<p>Just like, due to genes, not everyone can be a star athlete, neither can everyone be extremely smart nor excel in any area they choose.</p>
<p>edit: I'm an exception though, I'm so amazing I can do whatever I want. [/giant ego]</p>
<p>I don't think natural ability exists when it comes to studying.</p>
<p>DeluxeHardballer-</p>
<p>Those are extreme cases.</p>
<p>Yes, I picked extreme cases on purpose. Thats how you figure out patterns. Then you can apply those patterns to cases that are less obvious. </p>
<p>The fact that some people are geniuses and some are mentally retarded (in the clinical sense - no offense intended) suggests that there is a whole broad spectrum of abilities in between. </p>
<p>It depends where you fall on the spectrum. If youre slightly less intelligent than someone else, then you can make up for that lack of natural intelligence through hard work and dedication. However, there are some people who, no matter how hard they try, will never be able to achieve a certain goal. </p>
<p>I suspect that you are being facetious and are posting unreasonable opinions to incite debate. The difference in natural abilities is painfully obvious. Have you never noticed that some people are VERY coordinated from a young age, while others fall over everything? Obviously, these people do not have the same athletic ability. </p>
<p>Anyways, I will not belabor the point. I think you see what Im getting at. </p>
<p>Zizi</p>
<p>I only think of how it applies to school. So long as you are mentally capable, you can master the subject you find most appealing.</p>
<p>In reality, we probably all have them, whether we think too much of ourselves, or too little.</p>
<p>However, I have a friend who I thought of immediately when I read the title and figured out what you were talking about. This guy barely, and I mean barely made it out of High School, he is going to a community college and basically has the mentality that he is going to transfer to Berkeley Engineering. Now, as much as I would like to see it happen for him, it won't, simply because he does not have that type of work ethic or dedication.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, there are some people who cant master high level physics or advanced maths. Maybe if they have a good memory they can memorize facts, but the big ideas will never really connect for them. I think that we can agree that memorizing alone wont get you an A in a college level course. You have to be able to apply ideas.</p>
<p>However, I do agree that a person of ABOVE average intelligence in a particular area will probably be able to get an A in a difficult course with enough work. But again, it will be easier for some than for others.</p>
<p>Zizi</p>
<p>I heard that women aren't able to visualize things in their heads as well as men. My math teacher discussed this in high school. Just a few days ago my friend's developmental psych professor made note of it as well.</p>
<p>Dedication and interest are much, much more important than natural ability. Saying that someone has an innate advantage over someone makes me ****ed off (in terms of school).</p>
<p>Some people have innate advantages over others (in terms of school). But remember there are two sides to the coin; they probably have innate disadvantages in certain areas as well.</p>
<p>edit: again, I'm the exception. I have no disadvantages [/Narcissus]</p>
<p>Innate ability and work ethic are not mutually exclusive. Being industrious has as much to do with genetics as intelligence.</p>
<p>Everyone has their upper limit. If you're referring to getting A's in school (like Deluxe), then I think anyone with above average intelligence should have an upper limit above that. If you're talking about winning a Nobel Prize, then it's only 1 in a million people.</p>
<p>I think it has a lot of do with exposure. If someone takes difficult courses in high school, they will have an easier time succeeding in college than a student that took easy classes in high school. </p>
<p>This can sometimes be confused with innate ability, which I do not believe there is enough discrepancy to make a note of it. I know a lot of people who say "He/She's smart" when in reality, there are just more prepared to take some of the same classes. </p>
<p>O and about the people who think they can be awesome when they can't: Pre-meds. There are way too many pre-meds at my school and SOOOOO many are just gonna get weeded.</p>
<p>This thread is the best one I've seen in a long time.</p>
<p>Meteorain brings up a good point. I was in IB in high school. Compared to IB, college is the greatest. I had to eat dirt for four years; I know suffering and misery. Compared to IB, anything is fun.</p>
<p>Now that I know what I want, I am devoted to my goals.</p>