<p>What kind of people achieve this?
Is it the “turned down Yale for the free ride + allowance” kind of person and no one else has a shot, or maybe it’s achievable!?</p>
<p>And does it usually go to “easy” majors - ie. Liberal Arts over Engineering
(hope that doesn’t offend any Liberal Arts majors…)</p>
<p><em>Just Curious</em></p>
<p>Unlike high school, where valictorian goes to a really smart guy or girl who had a little knowledge of the system and was a bit ambitious, being validictorian in university I imagine requires a slave-like dedication to finding the easiest possible classes, obsessing over assignments, and knowing the ins-and-outs of the system. I’d imagine someone who got this had a major agenda in mind from the get go: a very very selective med-school or law-school (although these in no way require even a 3.9 or 3.7 if you’re impressive enough in other areas.) Maybe this person wanted a specific fellowship or research grant. Or maybe they were just highly motivated. I think the valedictorian at my university a few years ago was a science major, but I forget. The reason being, the entire point of the guys college career was to look impressive and ambitious. I think he tackled a lot. Was he smart? Probably. Smartest? Eh… probably not, though I don’t know the guy. I don’t know if I could have a beer with the guy or if we share the same priorities though, haha.</p>
<p>Ah thanks:)
I don’t think hand picking easy classes and playing the system would be worth it.
I’ll just try my best and that’ll be good enough for me ;-)</p>
<p>Your GPA only helps you so much. It’s probably not worth the effort to slave away for a 4.0 and be “top”, when likely you could be having a lot more fun during the prime of your life, and still end up with the same job or grad school.</p>
<p>Myrmidon is correct…</p>
<p>One student graduated with a 4.0 in my class. He was a Physics and Math double major, and also had enough credits for a 3rd major (I was told), but my school only allows two. He was also published in physics, and twice in math. He’s going to grad school for physics.</p>
<p>I agree with Myrmidon that it’s not worth it. I’d rather get a 3.7 and be happy then slave away for a 4.0 (and I pre-Grad school as well). </p>
<p>I was really impressed by my high school valedictorian. He had a 4.0 and skipped 3 years in Science and 2 in Math (was taking classes at Columbia by senior year). He played 2 or 3 Varsity sports and was captain of the teams. He was president of the NHS and several other clubs. And yet, he wasn’t nerdy at all - he was attractive, fun, easygoing and everyone liked him. He went to parties and drank and had pretty girlfriends. He would dance with the fat ugly girls who were always alone at parties and he always helped people out. He got into MIT Harvard and Princeton and picked Pton for Engineering because it has the most focus on undergrad education and thought MIT wasn’t diverse enough academically (too much focus on science)…I’m just blown away by people like this…how do they do all this? lol.</p>
<p>IMO it’s not worth it in college.</p>
<p>I’d imagine a lot of times, it will be those Math/Science geniuses, who have math/science come super easy to them.</p>
<p>I am actually going to be one of seven valedictorians in my engineering class at Washington University in St. Louis, and I do not think that the stereotype of the antisocial student who only slaves away studying all day and tailors all of his classes to be as easy as possible so that he can get the highest GPA possible is true at all. I had what I think was a great social life, I have been heavily involved in student organizations (including being the President of a very active organization that puts on yearly events which attract hundreds of students campus wide), and even branched out enough to study abroad for a semester. There was no way for me to just choose the “easy classes” because I was required to take all of the same difficult engineering courses that everyone else in my major was. Not only that, but within my electives, I specifically chose courses (such as advanced politics and language courses) that were writing intensive and that I was by no means guaranteed an A in. Grades were very important for me, but I balanced it with everything else. </p>
<p>Of the other six valedictorians that I know anything about, I think they have had a similarly healthy balance between school and the rest of their lives. Sure, we cared about school, and did our homework, and studied for exams, etc., but we also did other stuff. I, personally, didn’t spend significantly more time studying than others who didn’t end up being valedictorian. If there is any “secret,” I think that it is that I learned how to study smart and efficiently, and that I had a natural knack for engineering/math from the beginning. So guys, it’s not impossible.</p>
<p>I think the majority of valedictorians are probably people like the guy stargazerlilies described; people who are just good at everything and don’t really need to put in so much more extra effort to achieve things.</p>
<p>It also depends on your major. If you’re doing something like econ, which requires the slightest bit of common sense, mixed with the ability to do some pretty basic math, you can get a lot of solid As. This kind of applies to the math/science world, although some things are a lot more complicated and abstract than econ is at the undergraduate level.</p>
<p>Humanities tend to have higher grades on average, although I expect that they would have a higher variance, as far as getting an A in everything. It’s not common that you can get an A with every professor based on your thoughts, writing styles,…etc. When grading is subjective, variance is probably a lot higher as well.</p>
<p>I was the kid who turned down top schools for a free ride/allowance scholarship at a lower-tier school, and lol, but I just didn’t care about being valedictorian. At first I did, but that faded after first semester. And later I realized that being V in college matters none at all. Because if you are spending all that time trying to get straight As, you’re probably not spending enough time interning, working, volunteering, networking, you know what I mean?</p>
<p>The valedictorian of my class – shoot, I don’t even remember who it was. But she didn’t have a 4.0. She was just a normal senior like the rest of us who happened to have the highest GPA. I don’t think she was trying or anything. (Actually, the one girl in my class who I knew was trying wasn’t even in the top 10.) The valedictorian of our neighboring school had to retake classes in order to be valedictorian. He retook classes he earned Bs in to get As. She was a liberal arts major, he was a business major. The val (indeed, anyone in the top 10 seniors) was never a science major.</p>
<p>In any case, your GPA rarely matters. If you want to go to law school or medical school, it’s important to get the highest GPA you can get. If you want to go to graduate school, a high GPA is important but if you can crack a 3.5 you’ll be fine (and even if you don’t – I had a 3.4 and I’m getting my Ph.D at Columbia). Anything else, as long as you have 3.0+ you’re gravy – what matters more are your experiences. Where you interned over the summer, who you know.</p>
<p>…I didn’t even know there were valedictorians in college. I knew about summa cum laude and magna cum laude, but I didn’t know that they still did that! It seems kind of silly to me to have one, quite honestly. Everyone is on such a different track. It’s not like high school.</p>
<p>Isn’t it hard to determine who becomes valedictorian? With all the different majors and their different difficukty levels?</p>