<p>I see a lot of people doing hours of SAT review, giving advice on essays, etc.</p>
<p>My older son totally screws off, does his homework while on myspace, aim, watching espn, and listening to rhapsody. Gets 2100 SAT with no prep, 4.3 gpa with some, but not excessive studying, and gets accepted ED to UVA after doing his essay online the night before the application was due. He had us read it and we changed one or two words. </p>
<p>I am not bragging, believe me. I just wonder what he could do if he was motivated? He irritates me because he constantly gets rewarded for procrastinating.</p>
<p>Your son proves my theory that nothing really matters in large-scale (UVA is a good example) college admissions except GPA and test scores. </p>
<p>I don't want to insult your sons intelligence, because I also got a 2120 on the SAT, but a 4.3 GPA with no work? To me, a 4.3 GPA should go to someone who gets a 2400 on the SAT, or, if he or she is not a good test taker, someone who is pretty committed and naturally genius level. It is so obvious that your son attends a school where grade inflation runs rampant, and don't feel bad, because most high schools these days inflate grades. I worked my butt off during high school (which actually reserves A's for the 3 or 4 people who DESERVE THEM) and achieved a 3.7. That is with about 3 hours of work, without ESPN on and instant messaging! </p>
<p>Actually, this is getting me all bothered, so I think I'll start a new topic on how annoying grade inflation is for those of us who attend schools where REAL WORK is required.</p>
<p>It will be interesting seeing how he does at UVA because I imagine that it will be more difficult for him than high school since presumably he'll be surrounded by peers who are as bright as he is. I doubt that he'll be able to get a 4.0 while doing his assignments at UVA at the last min.</p>
<p>As for his experience with the essay: I don't think that essays count that much with most colleges. This particularly is true with public institutions, which pick students mainly based on their stats. The colleges that do use essays a great deal in selection tend to be colleges like HPYS which are flooded with high stat applicants, and have the luxury of admitting students based on what's needed to create a well rounded class.</p>
<p>Agree JeepMOM. Why work harder when he does fine with little effort? He may hit the wall at some point in college and find he does need to work or he may cruise through undergrad and find his challenge later on. My son's roommate last year was much like your son and he was able to do okay due to his extreme intelligence--but certainly not the all A's he received in high school.</p>
<p>While you can't usually not study at all and get great grades in everything, it is definitely possible for a smart person to do well, without grade inflation, with limited studying and natural strengths. For example, if you have a very good memory, you might do better on a history test after reading the chapter once than someone who simply doesn't have a good memory and studied for hours. I'm good at math, and barely studied for my tests and got As in my precalc honors class, whereas other kids made study guides and did every possible practice problem and got Cs. Meanwhile, I studied a lot in my history class and could not get high grades on those tests. Like it or not, both work ethic and talent affect grades.</p>
<p>Yes, its all about talent instead of studying sometimes. I can just listen to lectures from teachers and never study or read the book and get As in class with severe grade deflation and 5s on the AP exams for particular subjects. I have done it with US Hist, Euro Hist, Both Gov't and Both Economics.</p>
<p>Some people are just naturally talented at some things and do very well even when slacking, while other subjects the same person is just bad at. For me that was English and Spanish, I had to try a lot to do well, especially with grade deflation in English.</p>
<p>I don't believe his school has grade inflation. He didn't make a lot of A's in AP courses, in fact, he barely got a C in physics, but got a 3 on the AP physics exam, 5 on statistics. </p>
<p>He is smart, but lazy. I just hope he wakes before it's too late, because he is going into the engineering school. We have heard that while the arts and sciences school gives nothing lower than a B, the engineering school there does not have grade inflation. They notified him that no calculators are allowed in any math classes in the engineering school. </p>
<p>UVA is not as hard to get into for in-state boys, so that helped him a lot. Plus the engineering school has a much higher acceptance rate than the other schools(I believe somewhere around 40%). So that may be a way in for some of you out of staters.</p>
<p>"Why work harder when he does fine with little effort?"</p>
<p>That is sooo right. I have pretty much the same problem you son has, Namtrag. I was Salutorian of my class without ever "studying" for anything other than Vocab tests, and got a ton of great honors in my EC competitions without putting in that much effort. </p>
<p>Sometimes I wonder what I <em>could</em> have done if I studied for everything and tried harder in my activities...but always figure what would have been the point when I always did so well? I really don't think it would have mattered, actually...I'd still be at my beloved LA Tech even if I had perfect everything. </p>
<p>Anyway, hopefully he realizes that college won't be as easy and will step up his work ethic. I know that'll be my biggest challenge (especially in BME...which is by far the hardest major at my school). Good luck to him!</p>