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My brief advice: don’t try to race through undergrad using the extra credits. Take enough time to explore and digest higher difficulty coursework while maintain

My brief advice: don’t try to race through undergrad using the extra credits. Take enough time to explore and digest higher difficulty coursework while maintaining high GPA, goal should be to land in a top grad school. Also, take time for personal learning and development in undergrad. (This means things that don’t result in receiving a grade. Go study abroad or something.) Your kid sounds smart but unmotivated. Finding that motivation is up to them. Edit: also don’t get cocky. Nothing you wrote sounds particularly impressive to me.

AnimalMuppet 8y ago
Learning that stuff is somewhat impressive. It's not spectacular, but it's not chopped liver. > Also, take time for personal learning and development in undergrad. In particular, learn how to deal with people - especially people who aren't like you. Technical stuff can be easy. Dealing well with people is hard.
- mswen 8y ago
  He is more on the introverted side but he has done some of the people leadership stuff as a team captain and he has developed some pretty close friends the past couple years. Do you have any specific suggestions about activities to broaden or deepen his people skills?
  - AnimalMuppet 8y ago
    Given how many decades it took me to get better at people skills, no, he does not want my suggestions on how to get better at it... The one thing I might say is that it starts with realizing that people actually matter. Being right matters, knowing the tech matters, but people really matter as well.
    - veddox 8y ago
      > The one thing I might say is that it starts with realizing that people actually matter. A big, big plus to that! That's the major lesson I had to learn these past two years. Smart people can achieve clever things. Smart people who also care about the people around them can achieve great things.
mswen 8y ago
I hope I am not cocky. I assume that at some point soon he will hit topics that really challenge him. From my reading and interactions here on HN I kind of assume that this level of intellectual accomplishment is pretty common even though in a broader population setting it is more rare. Also I have tried to instill in him that academics is just one phase of life. Great grades doesn't necessarily mean a great and meaningful life after academics is done.

AnimalMuppet 8y ago

Learning that stuff is somewhat impressive. It's not spectacular, but it's not chopped liver. > Also, take time for personal learning and development in undergrad. In particular, learn how to deal with people - especially people who aren't like you. Technical stuff can be easy. Dealing well with people is hard.

mswen 8y ago
He is more on the introverted side but he has done some of the people leadership stuff as a team captain and he has developed some pretty close friends the past couple years. Do you have any specific suggestions about activities to broaden or deepen his people skills?
- AnimalMuppet 8y ago
  Given how many decades it took me to get better at people skills, no, he does not want my suggestions on how to get better at it... The one thing I might say is that it starts with realizing that people actually matter. Being right matters, knowing the tech matters, but people really matter as well.
  - veddox 8y ago
    > The one thing I might say is that it starts with realizing that people actually matter. A big, big plus to that! That's the major lesson I had to learn these past two years. Smart people can achieve clever things. Smart people who also care about the people around them can achieve great things.

mswen 8y ago

I hope I am not cocky. I assume that at some point soon he will hit topics that really challenge him. From my reading and interactions here on HN I kind of assume that this level of intellectual accomplishment is pretty common even though in a broader population setting it is more rare. Also I have tried to instill in him that academics is just one phase of life. Great grades doesn't necessarily mean a great and meaningful life after academics is done.