<p>Are there any other people in this boat (typical low gpa high iq)? I feel like I am the only person on the planet who feels like this. </p>
<p>All this talk on here about getting into the tip top best school with flawless-as-a-diamond grades and cookie-cutter extracurriculars makes me feel like we are just competing in this giant rat race that will never end.</p>
<p>If I am sincerely curious about learning something for my own intellectual development, I'll go to the bookstore or download on the internet..it is so much faster than spending 4 years in school jumping hoops for professors and doing meaningless homework.</p>
<p>It's like the real reason we go to college is for sociological reasons (upholding a status quo) and nothing to do with the pursuit of knowledge. I'll be honest the only reason I am looking forward to college is for the dating scene. Does anyone else feel this way?</p>
<p>There is a lot of BS in the world, and yes, part of going to college is to get a stamp of recognition. One certainly does not need 4 years of high school and 4 years of college, beginning with elementary school education, to do something meaningful.</p>
<p>The point of those years is to, in a streamlined way, force people to try things out and see what they want to learn and mature. It is to get them to see if they can commit to specializing in a certain area for a while, and stick with contributing to it. This is really an important step. Most assuredly, one can download things and learn things on one’s own time, but sitting in an environment where there are tons of people around you alerts you to what’s out there in a specific area of study and gets you thinking the right way.</p>
<p>Now granted, I am stating what people <em>should</em> be doing with their college time, not what everyone does - certainly many people waste a ton of money getting a social life they could have found elsewhere and not making the most of their educations.</p>
<p>But don’t underestimate how much quicker you learn what you want to do when there are talks by scholars going on in all corners of an area on various subjects. As for actually picking up a given subject, sure, reading a book is quickest, but the classes - if non-BS - make you iron your skills (which goes beyond giving knowledge) and certify what you have shown yourself able to do. This is self-enriching as well as useful to society when it tries to give you a place to work.</p>
<p>A large part of motivation comes from people around you doing things like what you’re doing, and talking to them about it - that’s just how things work, which is why this safe zone of 4 yrs of high school and 4 yrs of college was probably created. People fiddle with that system if they get impatient or, in other cases, if they want to spend more time, but it’s a fairly good staple.</p>
<p>You know, if you don’t fill out any of the applications there’s no way you can go to college, right? Society can pressure you all you like, but since you’re an adult you can always say no. Society pressures people to get married and have kids too but if you just shack up with the first person you see and start popping out kids then you have no one else to blame but yourself since it was your decision. It’s the same thing with college. There are many options out there that don’t involve or require college; society does a poor job of informing people about them but as an adult you have to make decisions on your own and figure stuff out since you can’t rely on answers just magically appearing.</p>
<p>If you have a very high IQ with other gifts, the cost of going to college should be very little in financial terms and effort. If you are truly intellectually interested college would be the place to go to gain wiser not just from a book since a book can only do so much, but from conversations with people or getting involved with research.</p>
<p>It’s harder than you make it sound. College is the next logical step given my socio-economical status and age. Why take another path when one is clearly laid out for you? I want to get a good (paying) job, and society says a bachelors degree is required to obtain one.</p>
<p>But in all seriousness, professors tend to have “real world” experience and don’t just spout book knowledge at you for the most part. You can learn techniques, ways of approaching problems, etc. from them that you can’t learn from reading books for 4 years.</p>
<p>Four years in college won’t kill you, boy!
You could think it this way:
To achieve something, one must overcome many obstacles->
If I want to achieve something, I have to overcome obstacles->
In order to overcome obstacles, I have to have good qualities: persistence, fortitude, etc.->
with persistence&fortitude, I bravely face challenges and sufferings ahead->
Going to college is, currently, a kind of ‘suffering’ for me, and can not be shirked; therefore I must conqueror it->
so you are off to college!</p>
<p>Your entire perception of college is skewed. College is not all about partying, hooking up and drinking - that’s the way it’s portrayed in popular culture. It’s really nothing like that at all unless you actively seek out that kind of lifestyle. </p>
<p>After your freshman intro courses, there is hardly any homework. Like the poster before said, the information you get from a book is completely different from the information you gain from talking with professors and doing research. I go to a pretty crappy state school, but all the professors I’ve had graduated from the top universities in the world. You will never have another opportunity in your life to participate in original research, engage people who are masters of their fields, and generally explore literally whatever topic you want by taking a class taught by an expert. </p>
<p>Do you really think reading a book will better serve you on your “pursuit of knowledge” than working on original research with someone who graduated with a PhD from Harvard? Did it ever occur to you that “society” pressures you into college because it is the logical choice to receive specialized training in a subject before entering the workforce?</p>
<p>You don’t HAVE to go to college - the military is a good alternative, especially if you are good with math and science. You don’t have to go into combat, look into some of the mechanical jobs in the navy - they will train you.</p>
<p>Figure out what you want to do in your life, then make the decision of whether or not to go to college.</p>
<p>The military is a great option, especially for a young single dude. Travel all over the world, learn some cool stuff - make great buddies.</p>
<p>Or pick up a trade. I have buddies who are electricians and make more great money, the one works independently and earns just under $100,000 per year.</p>
<p>There are lots of different routes, you just need to figure out what is best for you.</p>
<p>However, when it comes to college - It’s better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it.</p>
<p>Don’t freak out over school and all the pretentious people on this board. Pick a school you like and have fun. Keep your GPA over 3.0 so you can get into grad work if you want someday.</p>
<p>Pick a major that you can live with and is employable.</p>
<p>Your entire perception of college is skewed. College is not all about partying, hooking up and drinking - that’s the way it’s portrayed in popular culture. It’s really nothing like that at all unless you actively seek out that kind of lifestyle. ~Alienoid</p>
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<p>Ehh, it was like that for me.</p>
<p>I went to a party school though. I think for most normal kids that’s what college is about.</p>
<p>Yes, that’s very true and that’s terrible. There definitely needs to be something done to change people’s attitudes about that. No, that’s not an excuse to putter around and feel sorry for yourself for a decade. </p>
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<p>I agree that it’s harder than I made it sound, and I’m sorry for coming across as glib earlier. But I still stand by what I said. Society lays out a path for you but ultimately, as an adult, you have the right and the obligation to make that decision for yourself. There are high-paying jobs that [do</a> not require a degree](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/01/19/cb.20.big.salary.jobs/index.html]do”>20 big-salary jobs, no degree required - CNN.com) and contain opportunities for career advancement and a potentially a six-figure income if you stay with it for a given length of time. </p>
<p>It’s terrible that people who don’t want to go to college are pressured to attend anyway. College is often seen as a rite of passage, but it is not and should not be treated as mandatory job training in all fields. As an adult, you have to make hard decisions sometimes. You are the one who will have to deal with the consequences of your decisions and if you try to pass this responsibility off to “society” or some other amorphous blob you’ll find that no one else is going to buy that excuse.</p>
<p>I guess it depends on the school you go to. There is a small party scene here but it can be easily avoided if you’re more concerned about the educational aspects of college rather than the social ones, as OP seems to be.</p>
<p>Go to college because you feel like you’re truly going to get something out of it. Go to college if you have specific goals that require that kind of education. Never go just because people tell you to. That’s lame and, trust me, people just don’t care that much. Except maybe your family…but honestly, the world’s not against you.</p>
<p>Society isn’t forcing you to go to college. The problem that you’re facing is that you’re blindly conforming to norms without considering the alternatives. You can be successful without a college degree, but it’s harder without it as society punishes those whom deviate from the norm. If you’re really as smart as you say you are, then do what you think is right. Stay out of college, study what interests you on your own and then prove your intelligence to employers, people in your network or start your own business and make your own money.</p>
<p>TBH my college is absolutely beautiful- it has warm weather, affordable and luxurious apartments, a gorgeous campus, tons of girls, excellent facilities, and supposedly excellent caring professors, </p>
<p>so while I said it in the title I don’t think I will not go to college. I think I am just philosophical and want to know the underlying reason of why I am going, and at the moment I don’t really have a definite reason.</p>
<p>No, it doesn’t. But I would hope you can read between the lines. Society makes it significantly more difficult for those who don’t go to college, in my opinion, arbitrarily.</p>
<p>You would be the only one forcing yourself to go(or not to go) to College.</p>
<p>My first impression of College was basically a cesspool of human filth. After five years in it, my opinion really hasn’t changed and yet I still want to attend graduate school.</p>
<p>Your IQ doesn’t mean anything. People achieve things in live because of motivation/dedication not because they score five points higher on a meaningless test.</p>
<p>I was just kidding about iq that was for whistleblower just in case he read the thread. My gpa is terrible but I say there is an inverse correlation between gpa and intelligence to make myself feel better.</p>
<p>Axion, do you know how high a gpa you need to get into a phd program? I think mainly I want to go to a european university before the united states implodes.</p>