7 ms·

When talking with a friend of mine about me having dropped out of college because I was too bored, he once said: "If you were that smart you would've just finis

by mtrimpe 14y ago

When talking with a friend of mine about me having dropped out of college because I was too bored, he once said: "If you were that smart you would've just finished it next to all your other stuff." I was pretty much this kid, or close to it, and to this day that statement is still one of the most valuable, harshest truths to me. So just challenge the kid to make it both work, run the company and finish high-school. If the kid is this smart he can do way better than running some VPS hosting company in the long run. edit: I'm not from the US, but biscarg's comment sounds like it would be pretty good for the kid.

recuter 14y ago
Maybe there's a point like this to be made about college but I don't understand how 3 more years of high school would benefit him - what's wrong with a GED? It just seems so much more time efficient.
- deleted 14y ago
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- hpvic03 14y ago
  I agree. And while a genius/superman may be able to do both, everyone has their limits. It may be smarter to pick one thing and focus completey on it.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  For better or worse, a GED has a stigma as being an inferior option. Just something to be aware of.
  - mindcrime 14y ago
    Sure, right up until you finish a college degree or have enough work experience that nobody asks about your HS experience. If he just went to a community college and got an Associate Degree in something, the difference between having a "real" HS diploma and having a GED vanishes in the wash. Transfer from the CC to a regular university and he's on the exact same track as before, except for possibly not going to Princeton or Harvard, and instead being at $STATE_SCHOOL. Big deal. Don't get me wrong.. for most kids, I'd suggest going ahead and sticking around HS and finishing. But it's not very long after high-school when your high-school "credentials" become totally insignificant.
  - shawndumas 14y ago
    I've conducted well over 200 interviews and I will tell you honestly it never would've crossed my mind to pass up on someone who is smart and got things done simply because they had a GED and just to give that statements some context, I've been in a position to make the initial decision on hiring at three of the last four companies I've worked for
deleted 14y ago
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deleted 14y ago
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- mcrittenden 14y ago
  > I don't remember high school being extremely rigorous Agreed, but it still requires at least 35 hours a week of sitting in class.
hkmurakami 14y ago
Some private high schools will give assignments that in totality, really do take many hours per day since they require lots of repetition and formula application, rather than say, a small number of very difficult prompts. In response, here are some "deals" that my friends cut with their teachers: Friend 1: Instead of doing ~50 easy/medium difficulty math problems per night, he would do 3 difficult ones instead from the section. Friend 2: He would not have to any homework for AP Physics class as long as he got an A on the previous exam. AP Bio Teacher: Had an official rule where any student who got a 90% or higher on the previous week's exam wouldn't have to do any of the assignments for the week (though many would do the assignments anyways to learn the material). These are some things he could look into.
- InfiniteLoopx64 14y ago
  My teachers (with exceptions) are stubborn and unwilling to make such deals. It's also not only the after school assignments that I'm upset about, but the fact that I spent 8+ hours of my day in school with no ability to get any work done.
  - mtrimpe 14y ago
    Have you considered that you might not have the social skills yet to make them willing to make such deals with you? I was in a very similar position as you and looking back what got me those breaks were the teachers that liked me, that liked what they saw in me and who wanted to support me. Everything I got, I was granted. Just like in real life.
    - danielweber 14y ago
      Lots of schooling is built around making it easier to manage groups of kids. If this guy starts getting exceptions, the teacher is afraid that the next 10 kids in the class will also want exceptions, and pretty soon it's dogs sleeping with cats.
      - InfiniteLoopx64 14y ago
Arelius 14y ago
> If the kid is this smart he can do way better than running some VPS hosting company in the long run. What's actually super interesting about the kid's comment is that while clearly written by a clever kid, he specifically never states that he is too smart for this, and that seems intentional. It seems very much that the kid recognizes that the system is flawed, and not that he is too extraordinary for the system, so in my opinion, trying to appeal to him in the: "If you were that smart you would've just finished it next to all your other stuff." sort of manner will be of no effect. Now, I don't even know if I think he should stick around through school, I likely would not have, but if that's what you want to argue to him, I'd suggest that the best way to do that is through showing him how non specialized education is helpful all through life, which I argue will be very difficult, because we have an educational system that stresses specialization over a more liberal education, and I think he recognizes that.
- InfiniteLoopx64 14y ago
  Exactly. I do not feel I am too smart for school, however, as you say, I feel that the system is flawed. And I don't want to waste my time on many things that I know will truly never help me in practical knowledge. However, there is still of course the connections and some vital information that school providers, but I don't think it's worth sitting out all the other useless information that wastes my time.
  - quasque 14y ago
    This is a curious assault on general knowledge that you display here - what precisely would you consider to be "useless information", and why? Schooling at the level you're at now is designed to be well-rounded, and I suspect you would be doing yourself a future disservice if you chose to completely reject it in favour of your current narrow interests.
    - shawndumas 14y ago
      the insipid inanity that they pass off as "knowledge" really is not worth his time. he would be much better served reading broadly; historic fiction, science/nature periodicals, the classics etc
biscarch 14y ago
biscarch* ;) "If you were that smart you would've just finished it next to all your other stuff." It's not about being that smart, it's about the best use of your time. You could be the smartest person in the world, but doing hundreds of single-variable derivatives isn't going to teach you as much as moving on to multivariate calc (if you're capable of moving on). School in the US locks you into a specific speed. If you learn more, you're punished with busywork below your current level, if you learn less, you get left behind. The quote I'd prefer to hear your friend say is "If you were that smart why didn't you test out?" or "If you were that smart why didn't you just finish everything in a couple months?" But these are impossibilities in the current system. The school system is akin to having a giant pile of rocks. Which is a better use of your time if you're capable of building a crane: A) You can either carry them one by one to where they need to go (finish hs) B) You can build a crane that moves them faster (drop out and pursue more).
papacuppa 14y ago

by mtrimpe 14y ago

recuter 14y ago

Maybe there's a point like this to be made about college but I don't understand how 3 more years of high school would benefit him - what's wrong with a GED? It just seems so much more time efficient.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
hpvic03 14y ago
I agree. And while a genius/superman may be able to do both, everyone has their limits. It may be smarter to pick one thing and focus completey on it.
MartinCron 14y ago
For better or worse, a GED has a stigma as being an inferior option. Just something to be aware of.
- mindcrime 14y ago
  Sure, right up until you finish a college degree or have enough work experience that nobody asks about your HS experience. If he just went to a community college and got an Associate Degree in something, the difference between having a "real" HS diploma and having a GED vanishes in the wash. Transfer from the CC to a regular university and he's on the exact same track as before, except for possibly not going to Princeton or Harvard, and instead being at $STATE_SCHOOL. Big deal. Don't get me wrong.. for most kids, I'd suggest going ahead and sticking around HS and finishing. But it's not very long after high-school when your high-school "credentials" become totally insignificant.
- shawndumas 14y ago
  I've conducted well over 200 interviews and I will tell you honestly it never would've crossed my mind to pass up on someone who is smart and got things done simply because they had a GED and just to give that statements some context, I've been in a position to make the initial decision on hiring at three of the last four companies I've worked for

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

mcrittenden 14y ago
> I don't remember high school being extremely rigorous Agreed, but it still requires at least 35 hours a week of sitting in class.

hkmurakami 14y ago

Some private high schools will give assignments that in totality, really do take many hours per day since they require lots of repetition and formula application, rather than say, a small number of very difficult prompts. In response, here are some "deals" that my friends cut with their teachers: Friend 1: Instead of doing ~50 easy/medium difficulty math problems per night, he would do 3 difficult ones instead from the section. Friend 2: He would not have to any homework for AP Physics class as long as he got an A on the previous exam. AP Bio Teacher: Had an official rule where any student who got a 90% or higher on the previous week's exam wouldn't have to do any of the assignments for the week (though many would do the assignments anyways to learn the material). These are some things he could look into.

InfiniteLoopx64 14y ago
My teachers (with exceptions) are stubborn and unwilling to make such deals. It's also not only the after school assignments that I'm upset about, but the fact that I spent 8+ hours of my day in school with no ability to get any work done.
- mtrimpe 14y ago
  Have you considered that you might not have the social skills yet to make them willing to make such deals with you? I was in a very similar position as you and looking back what got me those breaks were the teachers that liked me, that liked what they saw in me and who wanted to support me. Everything I got, I was granted. Just like in real life.
  - danielweber 14y ago
    Lots of schooling is built around making it easier to manage groups of kids. If this guy starts getting exceptions, the teacher is afraid that the next 10 kids in the class will also want exceptions, and pretty soon it's dogs sleeping with cats.
    - InfiniteLoopx64 14y ago

Arelius 14y ago

> If the kid is this smart he can do way better than running some VPS hosting company in the long run. What's actually super interesting about the kid's comment is that while clearly written by a clever kid, he specifically never states that he is too smart for this, and that seems intentional. It seems very much that the kid recognizes that the system is flawed, and not that he is too extraordinary for the system, so in my opinion, trying to appeal to him in the: "If you were that smart you would've just finished it next to all your other stuff." sort of manner will be of no effect. Now, I don't even know if I think he should stick around through school, I likely would not have, but if that's what you want to argue to him, I'd suggest that the best way to do that is through showing him how non specialized education is helpful all through life, which I argue will be very difficult, because we have an educational system that stresses specialization over a more liberal education, and I think he recognizes that.

InfiniteLoopx64 14y ago
Exactly. I do not feel I am too smart for school, however, as you say, I feel that the system is flawed. And I don't want to waste my time on many things that I know will truly never help me in practical knowledge. However, there is still of course the connections and some vital information that school providers, but I don't think it's worth sitting out all the other useless information that wastes my time.
- quasque 14y ago
  This is a curious assault on general knowledge that you display here - what precisely would you consider to be "useless information", and why? Schooling at the level you're at now is designed to be well-rounded, and I suspect you would be doing yourself a future disservice if you chose to completely reject it in favour of your current narrow interests.
  - shawndumas 14y ago
    the insipid inanity that they pass off as "knowledge" really is not worth his time. he would be much better served reading broadly; historic fiction, science/nature periodicals, the classics etc

biscarch 14y ago

biscarch* ;) "If you were that smart you would've just finished it next to all your other stuff." It's not about being that smart, it's about the best use of your time. You could be the smartest person in the world, but doing hundreds of single-variable derivatives isn't going to teach you as much as moving on to multivariate calc (if you're capable of moving on). School in the US locks you into a specific speed. If you learn more, you're punished with busywork below your current level, if you learn less, you get left behind. The quote I'd prefer to hear your friend say is "If you were that smart why didn't you test out?" or "If you were that smart why didn't you just finish everything in a couple months?" But these are impossibilities in the current system. The school system is akin to having a giant pile of rocks. Which is a better use of your time if you're capable of building a crane: A) You can either carry them one by one to where they need to go (finish hs) B) You can build a crane that moves them faster (drop out and pursue more).

papacuppa 14y ago