Well said. I personally know someone who just recently qualified with a first in medicine. She claims that she achieved this by getting a good nights sleep ever

Well said. I personally know someone who just recently qualified with a first in medicine. She claims that she achieved this by getting a good nights sleep every night (i.e. 9 hours). She claims that this is what enabled her to qualify to do medicine also. All her classmates in college did exactly what kamaal describes (I have done it myself). They worked all the hours they could get because they were so afraid they wouldn't make it. And they passed their exams. But they didn't get a first. She said she spoke to a few of them a few times saying how ineffective this was, that medicine is hard and to build up a mental map and solid understanding you need sleep. As a well slept person she could see how ineffective they were. But it takes discipline and confidence (and maybe a bit of devil may care) not to panic and most people don't seem to be able to do this in the face of what they think are very tough odds. My own observation on programming (significantly less taxing than studying medicine - no matter how you slice it) is that you can do a few late nights but after that it becomes drastically ineffective and the people involved get more and more dunning kruger about it. In the end the whole "push" consists of almost entirely ego and bullshit and the code is appalling.