It is unlikely a person with a 90 IQ could get the same grade, in the same course, being measured by the same standards, as someone with an IQ of 140 simply by working a lot harder, assuming the 140 IQ person isn’t slacking. There are some concepts they simply wouldn’t be able to master or explain, even with prodigious effort. Intelligence is variable, and there are classes and careers for everyone, regardless of intellectual ability. But it’s very frustrating to those who work their tails off and don’t get that A to be told that maybe they didn’t work quite hard enough.
I question my intelligence when I got over 100% in advanced algebra 2 but got a D in regular Spanish 2! what’s up with that! (my teacher gave ridiculous quizzes and tests. I retook the class and got an A- …)
I think we all let certain perceptions color our judgement whether we like to admit it or not. A lot of people view “jocks” as not necessarily the brightest, and think that all those with top notch academics are sort of nerdy. We also tend to judge people by who they associate with. My youngest son is very social with a wide variety of types of friends, and he was a top athlete at his school. At the senior awards assembly that his school holds, I actually heard a parent comment that he “didn’t know that kid was smart” when my son got up repeatedly to accept top academic awards. While my son was always one of the top students in elementary and middle school, he transferred to a different high school that he felt was more academically challenging than our home school. He commented to me once that it felt good to be the dumbest kid in his classes. While he is a bright kid, he is definitely not the smartest kid among his peers. I have no idea what his IQ is as I don’t happen to think it is very important, but I am sure there were many students with higher IQ’s. I think it does take a certain level of intelligence to have the capacity to do well in school, but I think work ethic and drive are just as important. There are individuals with very high IQ’s who are not successful in life because they are so lacking in other areas. However, my son is very driven and competitive and doesn’t mind working hard. He is not the type to sit around and talk about grades and test scores. I think some people were surprised that he was a top ranked student because he just didn’t fit into their perceptions of what that is.
My intelligence absolutely has been doubted many times. During my freshmen year ( this past year) I maintained an A average throughout the year. However, there are other intelligent people who are more outspoken about their intellect and things like that. I also did not participate much in class (I’ll explain why in a little bit, towards the end of the year I really pushed myself to answer questions) so I didn’t exactly showcase my knowledge. However, I have flat out been told by less educated, ignorant people (I mean jerks…) that I was stupid because I stutter. So people have unfairly doubted my intelligence based off of my stuttering, which has no correlation to intelligence…
I go to a small, tight-knit school, so everybody can check each others grades through PowerSchool. So I know that I am top in my class (not bragging, it just isn’t difficult to outscore 44 kids, and 60% smoked pot that morning.) as does everyone else. Until I started hanging out with a “druggie” kid. He’s a cousin of my aunt’s boyfriend (now ex) but I felt compelled to try to be a good influence on him. We dated, but I never did anything, just tried to be supportive. Which I know is dumb-you can’t change a guy. Anyway because I was with him there were rumors started that I was becoming a little whore and I didn’t even have a 4.0 anymore. “OMG!!” Which both were the complete opposite of true. It is very frustrating.
I also agree that intelligence does not depend on grades, but on effort.
Yes!
I’m very shy in school, although I’m outgoing with people I know well. In class, everyone is AMAZED when I answer a question. It’s really hard for me sometimes, even though I know the answers often! I try to answer them once in a while, as a few teachers consider shy students “non-participative” when they have an A in the class! (Pet peeve)
I think it’s awesome that without looking at your grades/transcript, people wouldn’t be able to tell automatically that you are academically rigorous. It just means that you care about your education/academic but you are humble about it and don’t let it define you or become your entire life.