<p>This semester, I took a Microeconomics class that is SOOOOO hard to me and the rest of my classmates. However, there is this one girl who always grasps the material. I later found out that the girl has a 4.0 at Washington University, and she scored a perfect 36 on the ACT and a near perfect 1590 on the SAT. </p>
<p>Also, when she took the ACT in 7th grade, she had a 28. What I want to know is why is she so smart? What do people like that do to have such great intellectual horsepower?</p>
<p>I would love to increase my brainpower. Does anyone have any tips?</p>
<p>"
I would love to increase my brainpower. Does anyone have any tips?"</p>
<p>Learn to medidate, eat more fruites, almonds, stop watching TV (it is known to grow brain fungus), and be proactive read bit ahead and concentrate.</p>
<p>Before you are conceived, make sure your uber-brilliant future mother weds an uber brilliant man, make sure your mother takes care of herself prenatally, and make sure you have a very stimulating environment from birth through school entrance! It’s really as simple as that! ;)</p>
<p>A German girl started learning English 2 years ago in Grade 4. She came to the library before summer break with her father for 2 years running and checked out around 50 books…for the vacation, children’s books of 100+ words. She had one book or another going throughout the school year starting with Junie B. Jones and recently she is going through all the Newbery winners. This year I was checking writing scores (essays that are sent to the states to be scored) and hers was “over the moon.” She is beginning her third year of instructional English and she is mastering the written language through books.</p>
<p>Whatever your “natural” genetic endowment for brains, you can definitely increase your intellectual abilities by reading broadly and intensively and engaging in conversation with bright, curious people of all ages. I also find listening to NPR stimulating and informative. Nevertheless, just as there are superior athletes who are born with more endurance and better coordination, some peope are born with superior brain power and are luckier with their parental/environmental advantages. Pursue knowledge actively and strive to do your best with the abilities you have.</p>
<p>Read a good newspaper cover to cover every day. Read a wide variety of books - aim for 50 a year. The year I subscribed to The New Yorker I learned more about stuff I would never have bothered to learn about on my own that I ever did before or since.</p>
<p>Mommy of DS ate a lot of fish, but not fried fish or breaded. Also a lot of fresh, ripe fruits and vegs (we had a fruit farm, and large garden. Not necessarily organinc) . The kid is pretty smart.</p>
<p>No offense, but you’re kind of old to actually increase your potential. Reading is good at any age, though. I’m sure you know what’s considered “good reading.”</p>
<p>Classics (The Adolescent was really good, War and Peace, Daddy Long Legs, Slaughterhouse Five, 1984, Brave New World, etc.)</p>
<p>The reality is that raw and innate intellectual firepower, the kind required for example to simultaneously score an ACT 36, SAT 1590 (old scale), and obtain a perfect GPA - is largely intractable. </p>
<p>You can however improve yourself at the margin by engaging in a huge amount of reading and study etc and for those who have not applied themselves up to that point, the changes can be dramatic after a period of years of study.</p>
<p>Note that political correctness requires us to pretend that all people basically are equally intelligent, and if they are not -it is simply a matter of obtaining more education.</p>
<p>Age has nothing to do with it. According to research, diseases such as Alzheimer’s can be slowed by maintaining a healthy weight, exercising, and controlling high blood pressure and cholesterol, eating low-fat diet and foods rich in omega-3s, and life-long mental exercise and learning (although brain cells typically die as we age, research shows that mental and social activities promote new connections between cells). I would think that all of this would also apply to improving one’s brain power at any point in their life.</p>
<p>Oh and mental exercise can be things beyond just reading books. I love doing Sudoku puzzles and the speed I can do them at now has increased tremendously compared to a year ago.</p>
<p>If you’re old enough to be on CC, then you’re probably too old to really change your potential. At this point, you can fulfill whatever potential you have, but it’s not going to change very much over the course of your life.</p>
<p>I have never met a person of above average intelligence who is incapable of mastering a subject if a proper foundation has been provided, one to one teaching is available when necessary, and there is a willingness to work very hard.
The 800 SAT group has mastered that material, usually in the home, by reading and being engaged intellectually from an early age. Do not despair. Obtain help and you too will master microeconomics.</p>