<p>I saw a thread like this a while back but I didn't want to bump it needlessly.
I'd have to say...yes and no. He seems like a really cool kid, to be honest. But I've had the opportunity to talk to him (we were the only two A's in my AP Govt class - I guess that equates to an instant bond despite our opposite-end-of-the-room seating)and he doesn't strike me as a genuinely intellectual character.
Don't get me wrong - his problem-solving skills and critical reading are really solid/through the roof. He had a pretty solid SAT/ACT score from what he's told me and he's gotten 4's/5's on all his APs (about 7 so far).
I can't shake that problem-solving skills and critical reading are all that are required to be considered "intelligent", though. To be frank, he doesn't really seem inquisitive or creative about things (a stereotypical and pathetic as that sounds). He's not a grind I think (also a 3-letter varsity athlete) but he's just kinda..there. I've met two or three people in my life who were just creative in their problem solving and genuinely interested in what they were learning.
Don't know where he's applying to college..maybe the Ivy Leagues and maybe not.
I don't know - what do you all think?</p>
<p>Lol, my valedictorian this year had only a 1700 SAT score and applied to NYU.
Last year, my valedictorian had in the 2200s and rode his way to Columbia.</p>
<p>@ OP, absolutely.</p>
<p>We have 5 vals, so there’s a bit of variation in the level. I’d also say that the sal is at val level, but she chose not to be val when she decided to take an unweighted course, Philosophy, because she really wanted to learn.
A few of the vals are sort of slackers. They take Physics B, or sometimes even AA, or they take Calc AB and then BC Honors, which is a joke of a class; I’m the student helper, so I see how incredibly easy it is to ace. But even the slackers are smart. I just have more respect for the guys I know, still in the top 5%, sho don’t mind taking some risks. That said, two of the vals are suffering, along with me, through Physics C and went straight to Calc BC from Pre-Cal, like good kids.</p>
<p>My school didn’t rank… But I imagine the best students probably had 4.0s… Generally there’s 3 or 4 people a year who have a 36/2400, and a few handful more who have a 35/2350+, so there’s lots of very smart people at my school. I imagine if my school kept track of who was valedictorian, it would be one of them.</p>
<p>Ahh, my Valedictorian is a huge overachiever who does 8 hours of homework a night and sucks up to all of the teachers. Probably not one of the 30 smartest people in my grade.</p>
<p>The valedictorian of the senior class is practically a “genius” (this is what everyone says). A very proficient test-taker and exceptionally talented in math and science. It’s amazing how much he knows - absolutely mind-boggling. The only thing that bugs me about him is really his communication skills - he always comes off as arrogant in his conversations. He was a tutor last year for AP US History and I attended a few classes just to see whether it was worth my time. It was kind of sad, he didn’t make an effort to teach us the material. He just sat there for a hour, bragging about how he had 5 on the exam and made us really crappy about our scores on the mock APs.</p>
<p>But hey, he already got accepted into Princeton and a handful of other Ivy Leagues.</p>
<p>Lol, our valedictorian has a penchant for every subject he is introduced to. Doesn’t really need to try in school and has a 2250+ with 800s in Math 2, Chem, and Physics. President/captain of a few clubs and academic teams, and plays tennis on the varsity level. I consider him part of my inner circle of friends.</p>
<p>Last year’s valedictorian was rather dry. He was kind of snobbish but he didn’t really mean to come across that way. Mad smart though, and he went to Princeton.</p>
<p>In a word, no.</p>
<p>of course, because it’s me ;)</p>
<p>eh, there’s probably one person in my grade who is a decent bit smarter than me, but he’s kind of a jerk, and he acts like he’s stupid to make other people think he’s cool.</p>
<p>Well, she’s bright enough and a kinda hard worker in her training and all but the salutatorian should really be the #1. Honestly, she cheats (I mean, we all kinda do) but she cheats off of the sal (and he’s my friend, like she is too but he and I are closer) and he would never let anyone cheat off him (won’t let anyone even borrow his notes usually) but lets her because she’s pretty and he’s kinda geeky and yeah. Sucks. He’s the hardest worker. The smartest is the #4 or 5 ranked. He’s a genius, but a slacker so not as high. If he were to really try, he’d kill us all, just a bit too lazy.</p>
<p>Yeah, once you hit a certain degree of intelligence it really is up to hard work and dedication as to where it’ll take you. Actually, I take that back. The val of my class is a she (but the guy I was talking about is #4). The girl is in my math class and is a bit of a brownnoser. Not the smartest by far. Unless she’s curing cancer, I can guarantee (with the 2 APs she’s taken - honors are weighted the same in my district and she went overkill with 4x4 scheduling) she won’t get into Princeton…what with all the absolutely fantastic people I see on this board getting turned down in a heartbeat…</p>
<p>Another girl ranked just above the guy I mentioned is <em>EXTREMELY</em> teacher’s pet material and works her ass off…we still got the same score on the ACT which was decent, but nothing spectacular. Going to the same school too.</p>
<p>Yes, but 4-15 shouldn’t be were they are, they just try really hard and study and have no social lives. My friend is 45/295 and he has taken the hardest schedule possible and is going to Lehigh next year and he is probably one of the smartest and this one kid is probably the 3rd smartest kid but he is 23/295 because he has no common sense and turns everything in late.</p>
<p>We have several valedictorians at my school but the two I know are both very smart. Don’t know if one has an edge over the other.</p>
<p>We have 20 valedictorians, which is a joke in itself. Most of them are smart, but a lot of them have also gotten a boost through cheating/paying their way through school (tutors for EVERY subject, etc). </p>
<p>I really think there are more intelligent people though despite their GPAs…</p>
<p>No, definitely not, but she works really hard and is still very intelligent, and at least deserves top 10. There’s cheating rumors associated with at least 5 of the top 10 though, her included.</p>
<p>At least she’s not a study-all-night in the closet robot, though. The valedictorian last year was definitely the most intelligent, but at graduation his speech put the crowd to sleep…</p>
<p>Our valedictorian is the smartest one in our class. Yes, he’s been tutored and pimped up to be the smartest through endless studying, tutoring and nurturing by his parents, who I am guessing let him just study rather than focus on the menial duties of the day (making lunch, chores, job, etc.). He’s somewhat awkward socially (but not too bad) and really isn’t the obvious outgoing one in class. But still, he has great natural talent that no one who has met up can deny. However, he did get rejected by Stanford REA and is awaiting MIT tomorrow!</p>
<p>As for the rest of the top 10, there aren’t really too many natural smart ones. Most that are dropped out of the top 10 because the ones who are in it ended up studying hardcore or cheating (and I mean obvious, blatant cheating, not just let me ask about the test), which of course, ****es me off, but we’ll see how they do in college with no work ethic…</p>
<p>no he/she just has better grades, their are other kids at my school with better SATs , alot of kids at my school just have good grades, when it came to the sat most had decent scores and some had worse, put it like this if schools ranked by what you did on the sat their would be a whole new playing field</p>
<p>alot of the top 10 kids arent that smart, they just made good grades. i should have been top 10, but thats a long story. but most of the top 10 at my school just do their work but arent really all that smart</p>
<p>My school doesn’t rank, but I have a pretty good idea of who our valedictorian currently is. She is certainly not the most intelligent – I mean, she certainly possesses critical thinking skills, but the only way she got ahead of everyone else was through incessant studying. I’m completely serious: most of her statuses on Facebook mention either studying or homework. But there’s something else about her that really bothers me: she’s an only child, and I could tell that almost immediately. She comes across as spoiled and arrogant, and as for the service clubs she supposedly founded, her mother’s really the one doing all the work. So she actually takes all the credit for stuff her mom does.</p>
<p>Her dream school is Stanford. Due to the fact that none of the work she claims to do is actually done by her, she will lack the experience and personal anecdotes to make her essays portray her “real self”. I have a hunch she’ll be rejected.</p>
<p>nope, our two most intelligent people are tied for second, slightly behind the first person, who is valedictorian because he actually took less classes (all took 5 aps this year, but one took 6th off and hte other two took an elective)</p>