Some kids do homework for practice and to figure out what they need to work on. They learn from their mistakes. Then they are prepared for tests.
Kids who look up every homework answer to get 100% may not realize where they have gaps until they have to take a test.
The first kid isn’t a slacker. The second kid is diligent but possibly missing a learning opportunity.
Of course, we don’t know about the kid that you refer to nor do you. Just focus on yourself. If you think his study skills may be more effective than yours, ask him for tips rather than seeing him as a rival.
How do we know he is not using chemistry every day? He is mixing paints and customizing colors that have depth and stay on at high speeds and through all weather.
My hair colorist passed chemistry - I asked
I have several similar folks in my life. There is research out there about highly gifted and talented individuals - one thing I do know is many do not like to do homework that is too easy for them. So they do not do it.
D had two friends who aced exams and couldn’t be bothered with HW. One was brilliant, the other just thought HW was beneath him. The brilliant one got accepted to his top choice college and is thriving. The second ended up at his safety and… is thriving.
Do what works for you and don’t worry about what everyone else is doing.
This was actually the topic of one of my undergrad research papers when I was getting my teaching certification way back when. It was coined “Gifted Underachiever” at that time. I chose the topic because of my own brother, truly brilliant, but never turned in homework and didn’t do well in school UNTIL he found out what he needed to do to get into his aeronautical engineering and pilot program. Even then he only did the bare minimum to meet the threshold. Once he was in a program he was very interested in and passionate about, he excelled.
Growing up he was hyperfocused on flight and planes, but couldn’t be bothered with most everyday tasks; he couldn’t read a book unless it was a topic that interested him. He scored a near perfect score on the SAT, but felt high school was a waste of his energy. If you haven’t picked up on the symptoms, he’s ADHD. He truly felt HS was a waste of time as he thought he knew more than his teachers; in all fairness he did. This was long before “neurodivergence;” ADHD wasn’t a prevalent diagnosis and autism wasn’t a household word. Many of the students I spoke with at that time had similar feelings about high school; they were not motivated by grades, but they put their efforts into other aspects of their lives like ECs and hobbies. Here is an article from UCON; this was written after my college days, but it does give insight into the term.
Edited to add: special needs aren’t the only reasons for this phenomenon. It’s just one of many possible scenarios. I chose the article for its insight into term “gifted underachiever.”
This was my S20. He was simply not interested in getting good grades for the sake of making others happy. That, plus a nice does of ADHD, made him an underachiever.
That being said, he was abe to test well (like the OP’s classmate). He took the SAT once with almost no prep and scored a 1510, and had 5’s on most AP exams (despite getting B or even C grades in some AP classes due to failure to complete homework). He snagged a spot at a competitive top 50 national university, has a 3.4 in college (not as much daily homework helps), and will ultimately get a BS in chem. He wants to teach high school chemistry – and I actually think he will be great at it. He truly doesn’t enjoy the “rat race” and doesn’t measure success based on grades, US News rankings, or other traditional prestige factors. As a parent, all I want is for him to be happy and able to support himself.
Possibly ADHD and/lack of executive functioning skills. (if you looked at my DC’s grades in a class, they would be like A,A,A,0,0,A,0,0,0 (all the 0s being homework that was lost somewhere in their binder!)
I probably do have ADHD as well. I would always procrastinate on assignments/studying. I have goals, but I keep wasting time doing useless garbage. It’s terrible. I’m not sure if it’s depression from comparing myself to others all the time as well. I thought I solved that problem.
Harvard did landmark research 50+ years ago to identify the best predictor of success. It wasn’t IQ. It wasn’t grades, or socioeconomic status, or where you went to school.
