<p>Im the kind of student that is smart but lazy to be blunt</p>
<p>Ive gotten all A’s in math/science courses but have gotten A’s/B’s in lit/writing crap.
HS Junior</p>
<p>GPA: 4.3</p>
<p>SAT: 800 M, 780 CR, 740 W
SAT II: 800 MATH II, 800 Chem, 800 Phys</p>
<p>Chem Olympiad: 54/60 (second highest in district, and i live in silicon valley).
AMC: passed dont remember score
AIME: pretty bad, 5 or 6</p>
<p>Im passionate about EC’s–I only do the EC’s i like–robotics/chess/math etc.</p>
<p>So the quetsion is: Is it worth my time to apply early to a place like caltech which basically requires a 4.6 like other ppl or should I just apply early to a school that is more likeliy to accept me. I really want Caltech because they seem skewed to math/science and i cant tolerate classes like lit/writing/art.</p>
<p>We tolerate B’s in humanities if you are strong enough in the sciences. It is worth applying. But you can’t be lazy about math and science or this place will eat you and spit you out.</p>
<p>at my school humanities is considered music/art.</p>
<p>is writing/lit humanities?</p>
<p>In addition; Yes I am pretty lazy with schoolwork–for example I wont do my hwk for math class because my grade is high and its a waste of my time to do hwk when I know the entire concept. </p>
<p>I use my time to do stuff thats fun for me. Like create game servers, learn about computers, help my dad at work, screw around in the chem lab, and study for chem/math olympiads, and thats why i do decently well on them. Of course I have a lot of fun too. I probably have the wrong attitude about school, but I mean if I know the material why should I do “busy work”?</p>
<p>I mean writing/history/lit by the word “humanities”.</p>
<p>If the kind of attitude you speak with in your last post comes through in your application or teacher recommendations, it is not very likely that Caltech will admit you. In a sense, you are right about high school. The work is mostly easy and smart kids don’t really need to do the homework. But if you were to be admitted and come to Tech with that kind of attitude, you would fail out quite quickly. The stuff here WILL be too hard to learn without working your hardest, and so your mindset of “I’m so smart I don’t need to work much” is a recipe for failure. Admissions knows this and is very very cautious about admitting anyone with that attitude.</p>
<p>Maybe the easiest way to put it is this: Caltech gets applications from kids who are smarter than you AND take school more seriously. They’ve got a far better chance. Maybe I’m misreading, but it seems you view your laziness as an asset or an indication of your intelligence, and you should probably get over that.</p>
<p>If you want to continue blowing off work and doing well, go to your state school and UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES come anywhere near Caltech.</p>
<p>But if you do end up getting into Caltech (a fairly big if), one thing you can be virtually assured of is that you will stop being a lazy person. :-)</p>
<p>You’ve summed up why we homeschool our children. In my town, I couldn’t count on finding a high school where a smart kid would both need to do the homework to keep a good grade AND get intellectual advancement from doing the homework. In my generation, I knew really bright kids who blew off school (dropping out, in several cases) and somewhat less bright kids who ground it out but weren’t prepared for colleges like Caltech. My childhood best friend, a man I greatly admire, is an electrical engineer who went to same lousy high school I did, with the only major difference in his program being that he didn’t move out of state to an even more backward state as I did before graduating from high school. He supplements his school education as he has all his life, by independent reading. He thought it was expedient to get straight As–as you pointed out in your post–and put up with school nonsense until he got into college. He has NEVER been a lazy person, as his dad insisted that he pursue hands-on, challenging hobbies outside school hours. (They didn’t own a TV while he was growing up.) </p>
<p>I hope the young people in my care (and I mean the kids on my math team, as well as my own children) do get the message that if school isn’t challenging enough, they just have to find lots of challenge outside school. Developing work habits early is crucial. Figuring out efficiency to avoid the busy-work of mediocre teachers taking too much time is a big problem in some school systems. I LOVE for young people to be busy, but I hope their busyness makes their brains busy as well as their pencils.</p>
<p>Maybe it would be good if high school were more stimulating, but when it isn’t, I think this is the right way to be. Treat it like a day job that you should do well and seriously, and ALSO develop your talents in what you love. It’s a good compromise between being a functional person (getting into a good college, etc.) and being a passionate person.</p>
<p>In my defense:
In elementary school I got worse letter grades than in high school. As the years go on my grades get better because im not bored to death in class as classes get harder. </p>
<p>Maybe my attitude comes through in this post, but know this:</p>
<p>I am not very smart, I dont consider myself smart. I consider myself “above average”. During the free time that I had by working little in HS, I did constructive things that will show up in my recs. During the FIRST robotics build season, I totally worked my butt off, and since my science teacher is the advisor my rec will show that. </p>
<p>And I also totally agree with you. Caltech work is crazy hard, and people smarter than me will have to work crazy long hours and may not even do that well. My laziness is not an asset of my intelligence. I merely am lazy because theres no higher grade than an A, so why should I not study for the Chem Olympiad instead of doing math that I already know? Why shouldnt I screw around in the chemistry lab learning stuff that I will later study in college rather than do math that I already know? I told you im lazy with schoolwork, but im passionate enough about math/science that the true passion for the subject material will shine on my app rather than my laziness with school.</p>
<p>I understand that you are more qualified than me on this subject, but thats my personal opinion</p>
<p>Thank you for responding to my post, I hope im not wasting your time. I would value any further advice/insight that you can give to me.</p>
<p>I will say, as a math coach, that if your school math course is not challenging (and few math courses in the United States are), then try to learn math outside of school. </p>
<p>P.S. I agree that high school students all ought to read the Paul Graham essay linked to by Ben (and a bunch of his other essays). I had my son read it when I first learned about it.</p>
<p>asdjkl – I changed my mind. Your willingness to listen suggests that you are not cocky beyond hope in the way that I am. :-D.</p>
<p>I think it’s great that you spend your free time trying to figure things that interest you out in math and science. My only piece of advice is keep that spirit and take Paul Graham’s advice – treat high school as a day job that you do well. (Let’s not kid ourselves, you’re smart enough to pull straight A’s in history and lit, why not do it so that you don’t have to think about that stuff and worry about its impact?)</p>
<p>It’s also good your passion will show through in your writing and recommendations. Just tamp down your contempt for high school when you write the application (it’s okay if there’s a little, but too much is a turn-off).</p>
<p>If you can honestly say in your application that when you come to Caltech you know you will have to give it your all (and mean it!), and if you can say that you’re looking forward to it, then I think your application has a chance.</p>
<p>Best of luck, and come back with any questions. The people here will be glad to help.</p>
<p>I know I come off as a cocky “prick”, but to be honest sometimes I am.
Im the youngest in my extended family–I have cousins who are way smarter htan me at math/sci; one goes to IIT. </p>
<p>So thanks for the comments Ben, and I think your advice will help me at Caltech/Wherever I go.</p>
before graduating from high school. He supplements his school education as he has all his life, by independent reading. He thought it was expedient to get straight As–as you pointed out in your post–and put up with school nonsense until he got into college. He has NEVER been a lazy person, as his dad insisted that he pursue hands-on, challenging hobbies outside school hours. (They didn’t own a TV while he was growing up.) </p>