<p>I don’t know anyone who got SAT scores over 2300 or ACT scores of 34 or better who studied very much. When I first came to CC, I thought people were insane for doing things like the Xiggi method. Prepping for a week is what I consider intense.</p>
<p>^^Too bad you have nothing special about you. You could’ve been a CC legend.</p>
<p>gosh, 10 scholar U make me feel so insecure…</p>
<p>I guess I sort of do. I certainly don’t study/do much homework now as a senior, so I get to go out often when I get the chance.</p>
<p>This thread turned out to be very interesting. I will admit I’m a little surprised.</p>
<p>I don’t think I’m very smart or as smart as i could be if i tried harder but I have all A’s except for in one class where i forgot my homework once and it counted as a test grade(this happened last thursday). My grade dropped from a 97 to a 90 in one day. My social life is boomin’. I think being in the band is a major contribution to that. There are around a hundred and some people in the marching band and being in it helped me meet a lot of people. Saturdays I go out with friends to movies, go to a band competition, have choir practice, or i chill at home and txt.</p>
<p>The people who get 36/2400 are likely intelligent because of their genetic makeup, not their work ethic. It’s people who are heavily involved in ECs and have a social life who impress me. The high-scoring set are the type who need very little studying to do well, and so studying doesn’t consume a large amount of their time.</p>
<p>I personally fall somewhere between the hard worker and the naturally intelligent. I work, but honestly, I procrastinate my homework all weekend, usually starting my homework Sunday around 8 pm. I have a social life, though it’s tricky to negotiate it around debate tournaments, and a solid group of friends who parties and hangs out every weekend, as well as a long-term boyfriend. It’s definitely manageable, as long as your group is accepting of your ambitions when you have to skip out on a party for debate or do a lab.</p>
<p>One of my friends parties every weekend and is 5th in his class and a 2370. I also have a strong GPA (4.53 out of 5.4/14th rank/Lots of EC’s/etc.) and I still manage to hang out with friends on the weekend and go to school events. I usually leave stuff till Sunday, but it works.</p>
<p>I had a 3.52 unweighted, not sure what it would be weighted because my HS was kind of crazy, but I got a 33 on the ACT and a 2290 on the SAT. So pretty smart? Obviously not a super out there genius. But I partied relatively hard in HS. So it’s possible.</p>
<p>Social life? Never heard of it.</p>
<p>Many of the people who end up with 2300+ on the SAT do not actually prepare more than others, rather were either strong Standardized Test Takers to begin with or already very knowledgeable in the tested subject areas. That being said, high test scores do not necessarily prove to be detrimental to having a “social life”. Personally, I would say I’m a pretty strong student with the mentioned SAT scores and a 4.0 GPA but I also find plenty of time to socialize.</p>
<p>I’m a genius with a photographic memory, I don’t care much about academia and its system though, except for the few things in it that interest me. I’ve got a social life, not a normal suburban one, I live in the city. I don’t do hw at home, I have 3 APs and don’t get any homework in them in the first place except once every 3 weeks or so (AP Gov/Econ are taught with real life applications and discussions in class). Any hw I get for lit or psych I just crank out in my most hated class, Calc BC while talking with my friend in the back (got a B+ in that class).</p>
<p>I have decent scores on standardized tests, I do much better if they were at 7/8pm instead since it won’t be as cold and I am not in the least bit awake until 2pm.</p>
<p>Studying and having a social life is easy enough… it really is the extra-curriculars. (14 AP with straight A’s, 2320 SAT here)</p>
<p>People are often surprised that I’m “smart.” I’m definitely not the typical nerd at all. I go out every weekend, hang out with friends, and party hard.
Unlike many CCers, I see high school as a time to have fun. You’re only a teenager once, why waste it with your nose buried in a book. Carpe diem.</p>
<p>(oh, I’m a junior at a super competitive college prep school, most rigorous curriculum, predicted 35 ACT/2300 SAT)</p>
<p>^ excellent philosophy. Seize the day!</p>
<p>Nerd = social life + smarts
Dork = neither
Normal = Social Life
Geek = smarts
Socialite = Social Lifex2 </p>
<p>This list is NOT an interpretation of the quality of your smarts or the quality of your social life, as it is difficult for one person to generalize that. Rather, it is a measure of how much importance you put on each category. For example, a “nerd” would place half his energy towards social life and half towards smarts. A socialite, like a normal, puts all his energy to social life. However, a socialite has 2x as much energy as a normal to begin with. However, a normal could, theoretically, have a social life to the caliber of a socialite IF he is able to utilize his energy properly.</p>
<p>Some will argue geek > nerd, I disagree. Regardless, I am not calling anyone a nerd/geek/dork, just defining it… </p>
<p>I consider myself to be a nerd, with the list I made. I mean it just has to do with how you balance your time. I go out every weekend, a lot. I also have the most rigorous schedule in my grade (of many high achievers) and have very high test scores. </p>
<p>None of this will matter in 20 years, btw. The geeks and nerds will dominate the scene. The nerds will dominate the scene of the next google/microsoft/cisco and the geeks will own wall street. A portion of the socialites will become stars in the media industry (a very small portion) but the rest will unify with the normals to make up the middle class work force working under the geeks and the nerds. The dorks, unless they get an understanding of priority, will make up the lower echelons of the middle class rank, along with the normals and certain socialites.</p>
<p>Damn. Since when did we all become recategorized and relabeled?</p>
<p>hopter: I like that philosophy. </p>
<p>This is very interesting though. I started this thread out of complete curiosity and received many different opinions. I agree though, that you can’t really categorize someone as a certain “geek/nerd” whatever, seeming as everyone’s perception is different. I’m a well-liked cheerleader, who does multiple sports, president of the clubs our school has etc. No, I don’t have a 36 ACT, but I’ve managed to receive good grades while enjoying high school and going out every weekend. My definition of someone with a social life is most likely different than another persons.</p>
<p>Two words: Chris Knight</p>
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<p>What he said. I want to go to an Ivy but I have a social life. Movies, friends, Taco Bell, messing around in the little kids playground. Also I don’t do drugs and I still fit in.</p>