Are Harvard students really smarter than everyone else?
832157
I would say one third of the students are smart. This is how admission to IV League schools is divided: Those with 4.0 GPA and perfect SAT scores, those that had relatives that went there, and those whose parents are going to make a big financial contribution to the school (they really like those because those schools are private).
480848
First off, I went to Harvard.\nSecond off, I want to respond to the first asnwer on here, who talks about how the "Ivy leage was founded upon traditions of excellend, yada yada yada"\n\nlet me make this clear:\nTHE IVY LEAGUE IS NOTHING MORE THAN AN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE\nThat's all it is.\n"Ivy Leage" does not really mean anything about academics.\n\nIt just happens that all the Ivy League schools are very good.\nBut they are not equal.\nHarvard, Yale, and Princeton are consistently among the top 5 Unversities in the country.\nColumbia, Brown, Princeton, and UPenn are usually in the top 20 or so.\nCornell is not considered as strong.\nThere are several private universities which are better than some of the Ivies, and several State schools which are better than some of the Ivies.\n\nI don't mean to be obtuse about this, but I think the "Ivy League" has kind of a false reputation. People need to realize that all it really means is that those 8 schools compete against each other in sports, and that together, they are not the pinnacle of higher education. People should look at individual schools.\n\nNow, to actually answer your question about workload.\nI didn't actually feel that the workload at Harvard was that particularly difficult. And having spoken to my friends at several othe universities, including big state schools, I really don't think Harvard is any more difficult than they are.\nIn fact, I think some state schools are probably HARDER than Harvard. That's because at Harvard its VERY hard to flunk out. Pretty much the lowest possible grade you can get is a C. No one at Harvard gets Ds or Fs. Why is this? Is it because Harvard students are just naturally smart? Maybe... But many Harvard students, once they reach Harvard, develop bad study habits...just like students anywhere else. Many of them turn in sub-par work. A bad Harvard essay that gets a C could easily get a D or an F at a state school. That's because harvard wants to keep its retention rates and graduation rates high, and because most people are paying lots of money to be there.\nState schools dont care if they flunk people out, because their mission is to education the young people of the state, and there are always lots more who would be happy to take the place of those who flunk out.\n\nThat said, there's a lot of variability. Arizona State is probably easier than Berkeley. \n\nBut professors are professors, and no matter where they teach, they generally expect high quality work of students, or else they hand out poor grades.\n\nSo, in conclusion:\nI think the difference in difficulty between Ivies and state schools is neglible.\n\nRemember, too, that there is a huge range in difficulty between different departments within the same university.\nScience and engineering tends to be harder in grading than humanities. Thats a fact, whether you're talking about Harvard OR Arizona State.
1154841
my brother's friend who is going to harvard But yea God is the smartest....\n\nJesus is my homie.
500937
Yes, of course...some gifted people go to different schools than regular people do, or they skip grades.  If you stop using the knowledge, then you'll lose it.  It's better to keep on learning.
350641
I think it has less to do with an academic lifestlye and more to do with a natural predisposition.\n\nMy IQ is >140, but sometimes I can be dumb as a stick! I think that our brains are just wired differently. We relate to the world differently, and things that are perfectly logical to us sometimes make no sense to anyone else. \n\nPlease don't think I'm an elitist, because I am most definitely not. But to me common sense refers to the perceived common knowledge or understanding of the average population, who comprise the majority. Because we are a minority group, our understanding of the world is uncommon and sometimes considered a flaw rather than just a difference.\n\nOf course, these are the kinds of people you will find in career academic and highly specialized professions because of their intelligence, but their apparent lack of common sense didn't "happen to them" as the result of a sheltered existence. It is just who they are.
796990
It's above average.  You're not a genius, but you're definitely not stupid either.  If you work hard in school and study, you can be a doctor or lawyer or scientist or anything you want to be.
571232
Do you think that the truly intelligent people are the ones that are not satisfied with the level of learning they have achieved, and are constantly trying to find ways to learn more?  And don't spend their time talking about how much smarter they are than everyone else?  : )
226592
Harvard and Stanford are probably on the top of that list
107679
they might not be too smart
225369
many people with advanced education think that people in areas like new guinea are smarter and more intelligent then most white people in the world, and that they are more intelligent overall\n\nim reading currently the book guns germs and steel by jarod diamond
1170084
Yeah, hes saying we don't know half as much as we think we do. or in his case a millionth of 1%. Even if we are generally smarter then average, there is still so much that person doesn't know. Every person knows a lot about hteir lives, and other people around the globe know about their neck of the woods and so on. The limit to knowledge in the world is inmeasurable. I think I made that word up....but it sounds good.
965714
I don't think you can logically apply a "smartest" label to any one race. Some individuals are more intelligent than others.\n\nJapan places a much higher value on academic achievement from an early age, than most other developed countries  \nIt doesn't make them smarter, just creates an environment where natural intelligence is nourished and intellectual growth is  rewarded.
761171
Are you "considered" smarter: yes.  \n\nAre you really smarter:  depends.  What do you define as being smarter.  If "smart" is given to mean some higher capacity for mental achievement, then perhaps college has nothing to do with that.  Then again maybe it does, since college will challenge you to learn, this may exercise the brain and lead to the development of new and stronger neural pathways.  On the other hand, the brain cell damage caused by imbibing certain potent potables (which is a  prerequisite for some 4-year degrees) may result in no net gain in "smarts".  \n\nIf you define smarter as relating to how much knowledge a person has acquired (and I do not), then once again, maybe.  College definitely provides you with the opportunity to acquire a lot of knowledge.  But so too, does a public library which is free!  However, unless you are enormously self-disciplined, college will puch you harder to acquire that knowledge.  \n\nUltimately, I do not agree with that latter definition.  It presumes:  "I know many things, therefore I am smarter."  That reasoning is grossly inappropriate for most applications.  What is much more important is learning to learn.  "Smart" in my books is better described by the capacity to digest/interpret data, and therefore capacity to learn.  \n\nYou be the judge as to whether college will aid you in that endeavor.  But as stated in the outset, at a minimum you will be considered smarter, because the colloquial definition of "smarter" implies "wiser".  From the realist point of view, how "wise" can a person be if they ignore all empirical evidence suggesting that they should go to college?
864162
Yes I do.  How do I know?  Because of the way they speak and the things they speak of.\n\nBecause they can understand anything you tell them or ask them.  Who are they?  One was my own dad.  He was not an 'educated' person, but he had a very high position in a world wide business.  He invented some things that are still in use.\n\nOthers are people I have met and people I know right now.  High intelligence doesn't have anything to do with degrees or books or certificates.  It is either developed or ignored.\nBut it is always there, no matter what - or what is 'done' or not done  about it.
589975
I'm a guy. Girls in general do better in their studies than guys. That is not an exaggeration. Saying that girls are far more superior in intelligence is. Girls are not more superior in their studies; guys are just more lazy in theirs.
432983
Nope, its not just there.  I live in Massachusetts and out here, the rich (sometimes smarties, too!) kids go to Harvard, M.I.T., UMass Amherst (BOOHOO) or WPI.
83633
I think people of all levels of intelligence respond here. "Intelligence" actually comes in many forms - it's really just a measure of how well you can learn something and not a property of only the kids who got the best grades in school.