<p>This is my first post here because I finally see a conversation I can relate to. I'm definitely, a smart slacker. I get all As, but im not in all APs. I never spend time on homework and never study for tests, but I get away with it. I mean this is highschool, I'd rather spend my time with friends, watching TV, or relaxing than doing hours of busy work. I think smart slackers are the coolest kids, I want to go to a college with that type. People with good personalities and natural intelligence will go farther than someone who is boring and just works ridiculously hard, having no fun. It's inevitable.</p>
<p>why lucky you cantstandmenow? i'm 18, you're illegal..lol ;)</p>
<p>david218 i love your post, you've said exactly what i've been trying to say the whole time... thanks for posting the best post in this thread so far... :)</p>
<p>yeah, but i think people who are naturally smart AND work harder will go farther than people who are just naturally smart</p>
<p>of course, chilling out and having fun is what senior year is about</p>
<p>I believe the cream always rises to the top, even if you don't work hard, if you are smart enough to get into an IVY, you will be more successful than most people of average ability.</p>
<p>i think the over-achievers really succeed in life. a potential is nothing without being worked on. if you're born with a crazy talent, but never pursue that talent, what's good of it?</p>
<p>well, overachievers get into the best colleges, whereas intelligent people will succeed wherever</p>
<p>thatsd what i think</p>
<p>Thanks mike! It is amazing to be in a thread with sane people. To thoughtprocess: I agree with you in a sense. I can't help but sometimes feel like a slacker when I could easily do well in all APs if I decided to put forth the same effort as everyone else, but in terms of tangible career/life opportunities...I don't think my study habits in highschool will effect anything. If you're an employer are you goign to hire someone with personality or credentials? Of course, it is better to have both, I feel that there is still room to grow in that regard. I think where you go to school doesn't have a direct effect on much other than your first job/internship or ego. I almost slack off just to differentiate from the people who ask,"With these stats, what is the most prestigous school I can get into?" I gather that you aren't like this, but I'm just saying this to other people. I think that this thread could have therepeautic value for some of the people on this site. Thank you mike for starting it!</p>
<p>Even if you're a slacker, you have to do some kind of work to be successful (financially in particular, your goals may vary). I can understand not caring about school for the sake of school but if you slack at everything you're going to be screwed. Basically, I always knew I wanted to be surrounded by smart people, which meant going to a top university, which meant doing well in high school. I'm a terrible procrastinator but I've done the minimum required to get all A's and I massacred my standardized tests (not to mention that I do a lot of music and other stuff) so I'll probably end up where I want to be.</p>
<p>If you guys aren't too far gone to read and think, here's an essay you should check out: <a href="http://www.paulgraham.com/hs.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.paulgraham.com/hs.html</a>. It's called What You'll Wish You'd Known and the guy that wrote it really is a smart guy (and a hacker), based on this and other essays of his.</p>
<p>Oh yea I totally agree. It's just that I won't work for hours on anything that I deem superfluous, and I think many people waste their time. Being surrounded by smart/interesting people is a necessity for me to maintain sanity, so I hope I haven't jeopardized that. It depends how much "most rigorous" courseload matters. I don't want to go to any school becasue of prestige, but I want to be able to get into the best school for me. And yea, slacking is a bad life philosophy (at least most people would feel so), but I think in highschool, people who take honors instead of AP and get As aren't so bad.</p>
<p>I want to make it clear that I'm not hating on slacking, I do it all the time... just make what you're doing is consistent with where you want to end up.</p>
<p>Yeah I know. I would jstu say that slacking in HIGHSCHOOL is more accpetable because you can still pick it up in college if you want and go to the same graduate school as all of those overachievers. That was a good link by the way on your previous post.</p>
<p>I totally agree.</p>
<p>as with anything, slacking can be taken to an extreme, but i think most people who echo mine and davids opinion dont take it too far. i'm in a couple AP classes and the rest are honors, i ended up last year (jr year) w/ like a 3.4 gpa, and i'm perfectly satisfied with that because it doesn't accurately represent the amount of work i've done... because i've done such little work to get that grade that i can't complain. all slackers should slack in moderation, not going so far as failing classes and such, but i believe if you're truly not interested in something, or think it's pointless to your progression in life, just do enough to get by. </p>
<p>-thanks for makin the thread so popular... i knew i'd caught something when i started it... :)</p>
<p>ie - dont slack at what you love, you're real interests can be explored in college and grad school, like david said... it just depends on what path you want to take to get where you're going...</p>
<p>I couldn't agree with you more. I think we have great outlooks on life and it will take us far (us being kids who get good grades, dont work TOO hard, and instead pursue their passions). You're pretty damn cool Mike.</p>
<p>thanks david. where u from? age?
18 va here.</p>
<p>I'm 17 from ma, nice to meet you!</p>
<p>awww man.... :( the (bleeding) heart of america.... liberal capital usa.... i'm sure you're still a nice guy though. :)</p>
<p>haha i know, theres definitely an intense liberal majority here. I often find myself playing the conservative in class discussions just to liven things up a bit. Right now we havea a good 2 feet of snow, but the Patriots are AFC champions, so its alright.</p>
<p>i must admit i was rootin for the steelers... i can't believe they blew it so bad... i'm definitely pulling for Philly in the super bowl though.</p>