<p>Alu:
Well, I think my kid is definitely smarter in math and science than a lot of other students. But he is not smarter than others in some other fields. By his own account he would be a dud in a literature department. So English majors who encountered him in a class might not think so highly of his intellect. he did get a high score on the SAT-Verbal and the SATII-Writing, for what it’s worth. </p>
<p>Padad:<br>
Thanks for post 253. My sentiments exactly.</p>
<p>Marite, your post #261 is one of my favorite posts.</p>
<p>Alumother, Smart genes like all other genetic traits will get diluted out given long enough time. We just haven’t reached there yet.</p>
<p>multiple intelliegences anyone?</p>
<p>I have 2 kids</p>
<p>one is book smart
the other is street smart</p>
<p>they are both smart, in very different ways</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Perhaps you didn’t know that I’m a former professional actor? It was my first career before going back to school for my Ph.D.</p>
<p>What I remember about theater classes are exercises designed to improve the stage illusion. There wasn’t much room for discussion in them. Theater history, frankly, was not a very lively class at all. Acting classes would have benefited from discussion of play structure, the character’s role in that structure, etc., but it rarely happened. Instead, we spent a lot of time feeling up oranges and describing them in minute detail as a sense memory exercise.</p>
<p>In other words, I would be hard pressed to think of a theater class that required a whole lot of mental agility that actually functioned in that way.</p>
<p>High-level Shakespearean actors were quite intelligent, and my impression is that most of them did quite well in school. They were a great group with which to have a discussion on virtually any topic. Actors in on-camera work are not so … interesting … generally.</p>
<p>I would heartily agree with you if you say that some performers are quite intelligent and their understanding of performance can enhance what they bring to the classroom. But I would have to disagree if you were to say that drama kids, just by the nature of being drama kids and despite other attributes like intelligence, bring a lot to, say, an economics class.</p>
<p>wecandothis:</p>
<p>I believe in g. When someone tells me that a good athlete has great “physical intelligence,” I get very nervous. Of course there are people who are better at one thing than another. I see that as a given. But, overall, I do believe there are people who are smarter than other people.</p>
<p>“Seems like it makes everyone nuts to say that some people are smarter than other people. And that there is some way of knowing that from SATs.”</p>
<p>I am in the some people are smarter than others camp and am even pretty sure that the SAT more or less measures smarts. But smat without curiousity, drive, and education aren’t worth that much and the SAT “ruler” is nowhere near as granualr as the 4 digit number it spits out inmeasuring even intelligence.</p>
<p>I am typing this on a state of the art laptop. has a real fast processor but all I do is surf the net and type with two fingers. I could do the same thing just as fast on an old 486. My “brainiac” laptop never asks my why I don’t learn to type or spell or why I keep hitting the same 12 websites over and over again. It can beat the crap out of me in chess but totally lacks curiousity and has never asked me a single thought provoking question. I know it is a lot smarter than I am but is the dullest conversationalist I have ever encountered and while it can remember everything it has ever read it never voices an opinion.</p>
<p>My kid took the “better school” instead of the better scholarship. What does that mean??? Is it the opposite of the subject of this thread? In the end, it was the right decision for her.</p>
<p>higherlead, I don’t think too many people think SATs are perfect measures of intelligence, or perfect measures of how a student will perform in a classroom, but your last couple of posts brought 
to my face.</p>
<p>padad </p>
<p>Perhaps you should have read my posts on this topic or read them more carefully, before replying.</p>
<p>If you had done so, you would realize that I was not criticizing high SAT kids, I’m looking for them. </p>
<p>I believe the SAT is the closet approximation we have to “natural ability”. </p>
<p>But, I am willing to admit that there is a huge difference in the ability of the high SAT kid who scored such after the benefit of prep courses and drill and those who scored highly based upon natural ability.</p>
<p>My son is one of the latter and is looking for others whose natural ability is similar. </p>
<p>I stated: “So, to the extent that the SAT or other aptitude tests really measure aptitude - that is exactly the focus of our search - rather than the percentage of valedictorians.”</p>
<p>Where did you get the idea I was speaking “negatively about kids with high SAT scores”?</p>
<p>Reflectivemom wrote: He’s a junior - so he’s just developing his list now. Parents on CC have continually recommend U of Chicago - so he’ll be sure to look there. Unfortunately money will play a role in his decision - as it did with most of those kids who graduated from his highschool before him.</p>
<p>Advice from someone just through the same wringer:</p>
<p>I think your S would be able to find extremely bright and talented peers at hundreds of places. Many big state schools have honors programs. Many colleges have cadres of tremendously gifted students, even the schools that aren’t famous or highly rated.</p>
<p>The question for my D was “everything else”. Teach your son to ask himself questions like these: Is the campus where you want to spend several years? Is it important to you that the professors seem truly engaged, or are you OK with it if they just delegate to grad students? Do you learn best by yourself (big classes are fine) or best in seminar format (small classes essential). Will there be opportunities to continue doing the things you love to do? (Example: if your S is a good but not professional-prospect musician who wants to continue in school, a school with a conservatory-class music school is probably a bad fit, but so is one with no program at all.) It isn’t just about the academics and the reputation,; don’t forget you actually have to live there, and for a long time. (Four years in prison is what you get for some major felonies.) </p>
<p>Trust me, the process is scary at first, but it works out. The hard part for the parent is to keep an open mind while the kid picks the school you want them to. <grin></grin></p>
<p>dstark wrote: “I don’t think Chicago is it.”</p>
<p>Why not?</p>
<p>“But, I am willing to admit that there is a huge difference in the ability of the high SAT kid who scored such after the benefit of prep courses and drill and those who scored highly based upon natural ability.”</p>
<p>How do we know who studied for the SAT and who didn’t?</p>
<p>I think the students at Chicago are doing their homework and doing their lab work.</p>
<p>I have no idea if they studied for the SAT. Do you?</p>
<p>How do we know who studied for the SAT and who didn’t?</p>
<p>I think you assume “everyone did” these days. Not taking a prep course of some kind is really, really risky.</p>
<p>texashoosier, you’re probably right.</p>
<p>The Amherst adcom has a few words about SAT scores.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june04/merrow_6-22.html[/url]”>http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/jan-june04/merrow_6-22.html</a></p>
<p>texashoosier, are you from Indiana or do you have a kid at Indiana?</p>
<p>S did not take a prep course. He read the 10 RealSATs and did one or two practice tests. </p>
<p>Nobody asks about SAT scores in college. In fact, nobody asked about SAT scores in my S’s high school. Only adcoms and nosy parents do.</p>
<p>dstark wrote: “How do we know who studied for the SAT and who didn’t?”</p>
<p>We no longer do - and that’s the problem with continuing to regard it as an “aptitude” test. But, at least at my son’s school - no one studies for the PSAT. And, many score highly on the SAT without prep - some as middle schoolers.</p>
<p>I think it’s rather funny that most parents on CC believe it is risky to take the SAT without “prep”. We know many who have scored very highly with no prep. Those are the kids my son wants to find in college!</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>None of kids #2 through #7 (of mine) have studied for the SAT.</p>
<p>Native Hoosier, Purdue BSEE 84, live in Texas, D headed to Sewanee next fall.</p>