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Ivy Leagues’ admission process rewards students who are outgoing and do a lot of different things.

You can’t tell from a high school transcript whether someone got an A because they’re brilliant and didn’t have to study at all, or whether they got an A because they studied hard.

Most of my friends who went into ivy leagues were outgoing and did tons of extracurriculars and studied hard. My friends who were naturally brilliant either stuck to the subjects they liked, and ended up getting their doctorate at a state school, or they had had their success derailed for some other reason.




> My friends who were naturally brilliant either stuck to the subjects they liked

When you know you are smart there is no reason to prove it to yourself by going to a fancy school.

Unfortunately you need to prove it to other people later, and going to the fancy school is a very simple signal.


So being smart somehow absolves you from wanting validation from others? Why?




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