<p>I concure with Mishiru. I think it does depend on the person. If your brain is willing to function all night and the next day, then why not?
I have pulled all nighters, and still made A's on all my tests.</p>
<p>they are more common at Harvard</p>
<p>Maybe this is a general trend, it seems like there are lots of exceptions though. My mind-boggling roommate is more energetic and alert than ever after an all-nighter and prefers to not sleep before tests. I, on the other hand, tend to pass out at about 12:30 regardless of what I have the next day.</p>
<p>i think the purpose of the study itself is flawed. what a GPA can say about a student encompasses way too many different things! and the reasons why we pull all nighters vary... like the GPA, what pulling all nighters can say about a student are endless. if i'm an engineering major at a difficult school, and i'm busy all day with student organizations and internships, then i'm bound to pull a lot of all nighters.. and probably have to sacrifice a bit of my GPA.</p>
<p>the study should have compared students' ability to perform on a test they had to pull an all nighter with, compared to kids who got a good nights rest.. or judge the quality of a paper written over time to one written overnight.. stuff like that. of course, i'm sure psychology/neuroscience has shown the answer numerous times.</p>
<p>haha i don't think the findings are anything to write home about.</p>
<p>it's like saying kids who eat a lot tend to be overweight!</p>
<p>duh.</p>
<p>but if i'm a body builder who eats a lot of protein and carbs 5 times a day and have lots of lean muscle mass, am i overweight because of my eating habits? and i may be overweight, but that's coz i'm packing lots of muscle. it's just like the engineer who might have a 3.0 instead of a 4.0 GPA but has an incredible resume and will probably be more successful after college compared to a basketweaving major with a 4.0.</p>
<p>In other news, students who take harder classes are more likely to pull all nighters. Harder classes = lower GPA. This study proves nothing.</p>
<p>Dude people, it depends on the ENVIRONMENT</p>
<p>if the workload isn't THAT severe, then the normally diligent people will avoid all nighters as they would plan their work ahead of time, so the all-nighters would be pulled primarily by those who waste their time (partying or playing computer games).</p>
<p>But if the workload IS severe, then there are fewer differences (in all-nighters) between the normally diligent people and the less diligent people. Take Caltech for an example, where much anecdotal evidence establishes that hard workers oftentimes have to pull all-nighters in order to survive. The less diligent people might have to adapt or get weeded out though (or suffer lower grades). Where the workload is more difficult, then intelligence starts mattering more as well (especially high up, where differences in the 99th percentile really start to show - the 99th percentile contains people who are future top mathematicians AND people who can barely survive a theoretical math course). </p>
<p>also take into account that some people naturally need more sleep than others and that some people naturally do better under less sleep/all-nighters than others - we still don't know much about the differences that exist between such people.</p>
<p>Never pulled an all-nighter. Don't plan on it. The idea of doing one is enough to motivate me to get my work done before the need arises.</p>
<p>I really think that the benefit/loss of an all-nighter depends on the individual. I pulled five all-nighters for a tough writing class I had last semester, and not because I wasted my time all along. My professor gave really, really difficult prompts and allowed us only a week to write the first drafts. Though I usually didn't start writing my papers until the night before they were due, I spent the entire week outlining, drafting, and questioning my professor. Magically, everything would all come together the night before, and I would sit from 10 pm to 6 am straight writing my papers. Were these all-nighters necessary? Maybe not. Somehow, I found I wrote my best under this kind of pressure, and I ended up doing really well in the course (an A), despite several nights of lost sleep.</p>
<p>wow. im just like that too, i hate staying up all night working on coursework, but that kind of pressure makes me do it, if that makes any sense..
i wish i wasnt like that =/ leaving things and working on them the last minute!</p>
<p>hey, don't go dissing basket weaving now...
for serious, though, art is hard too. </p>
<p>and yes!! some people do need more sleep. i CAN'T pull all nighters. narcoleptics rally!</p>
<p>I pulled many all nighters in my first year. I mean, it was such a change! At times I was even proud of them (how dumb can I be!). But, my personal experience is I don't function well with sleep deprivation. I have pulled all nighters to finish lab reports, designs, studying for exams etc. But...managing my time better always outperformed an all nighters. From second year on..I never pulled an all nighters and did do pretty well in one of the toughest faculties (Chem Engineering)..</p>
<p>But, that's just how I function. Sleep is also important for good health though :)</p>
<p>Maya</p>
<p>I have to disagree one on here who says correllation is not causation. Studies show lack of sleep causes someone to do worse. Period. </p>
<p>And yes, while you may NEED to pull more all-nighters at Cal-Tech because of the work load, wouldn't you do better if you were SO diligent and SO organized that you never did? This of course isn't realistic, but it's true.</p>
<p>For me all-nighters aren't to get a good grade...they're to barely complete the assignment</p>
<p>^^^^exactly</p>
<p>wow that is interesting come to thing about it. i never got a grade above 75 when i pulled an all nighter</p>
<p>I completely disagree with those who say that all-nighters are a sure sign of procrastination. For example, I work 60 hours/week in a job unrelated to school and have numerous off-campus responsibilities in the community. At some point, school-work needs to get done... if you're only free between 11:00 PM and 8:00 AM, that's when you do your work.</p>
<p>I imagine you'd fall under the "exception to the rule" category.</p>
<p>i'm pulling an all nighter now for finals... =/</p>
<p>me too! Writing an 8-page paper due today at 4. Have yet to get started on a 10-page one due tomorrow at 11:59pm. After that, there's another 10-pager due Friday, and that's it for me.</p>