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> you have to excel at pretty much everything, to even have a chance That can't possibly be true. By definition, only a small minority can excel, and as a pra
by lisper 2y ago
> you have to excel at pretty much everything, to even have a chance
That can't possibly be true. By definition, only a small minority can excel, and as a practical matter, to excel at something requires specialization and focus. So to "excel at pretty much everything" is a practical impossibility. If anyone who didn't "excel at pretty much everything" had no chance, most people would be on the street. This idea that you must excel to have a chance is necessarily a myth. And it's a pernicious and dangerous myth. It's this myth that is driving young people to burn themselves out, not anything in actual reality.
- chasd00 2y agoop probably means to have a chance getting in to a top tier university. To that I agree, a HS student is competing with the whole world to get one of the very few spots in one of the top universities. Given the pool of applicants, all of which are very high achieving kids, the competition is very wide and deep.
- lisper 2y agoThat might have been what he meant, but it's not what he said. The competition to get into top universities has always been fierce. The only thing that has changed AFAICT is the wide-spread promulgation of the idea that if you don't get in to a top-tier university that you're a failure, your life is over, you're doomed to be destitute. It's no wonder that if we tell kids that, that they will be pretty unhappy if they don't get in to a top-tier university. But the only thing we need to do to solve that problem is to stop telling kids that, especially since it isn't actually true.
- rgrieselhuber 2y agoMost of the millionaires I know certainly did not graduate from top tier schools and many didn’t even go to college.
- cma 2y agoThat's almost by definition true. Something like 8-9% of the USA's population is millionaires, lots of times just from housing and 401K appreciation. 8-9% of the population didn't graduate from top tier schools.
- rgrieselhuber 2y agoThe people I’m referring to are business owners, people who made money vs just passive investing.
- CPLX 2y agoThe other thing that changed is a couple billion more families are trying to get into the same American schools, and many of them have substantial money and resources plus determination to do it. That’s just wildly different than what it was like when I was applying in the 1990s. It’s substantive.
- blitzar 2y ago> By definition, only a small minority can excel I have interviewed multiple head pupils, valedictorian and captians of the football team and rowing crew from the same school & year on a few occasions.
- TrackerFF 2y agoAs some bellow wrote - I meant for getting accepted into a top school. It's a brutal competition, and those that get accepted are just excellent at everything they touch. Top grades, top test results, top extracurricular activities.
- D13Fd 2y agoAlso, to have a chance at what? Admission to the best colleges in the country? Highly exclusive jobs? It’s not clear what the poster is even talking about.
- TrackerFF 2y agoThat was implied, as the topic is high achieving schools. High achieving schools primarily work as "feeder" schools for the most prestigious schools. The vast majority of prestigious jobs will first and foremost hire grads from such prestigious schools.