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It’s funny how around here, we get all this talk about IQ and who does or doesn’t deserve admission into this or that elite university. Turns out that the most successful people (if success is largely determined by money) were fairly pedestrian students. Not dumb, but not academic superstars by a long shot on average.
This 2017 article that first appeared on Business Insider, and it’s not long at all. It lists a few of the reasons why average students are more likely to end up at the top as opposed to the high academic achievers.
It’s funny how around here, we get all this talk about IQ and who does or doesn’t deserve admission into this or that elite university. Turns out that the most successful people (if success is largely determined by money) were fairly pedestrian students. Not dumb, but not academic superstars by a long shot on average.
This 2017 article that first appeared on Business Insider, and it’s not long at all. It lists a few of the reasons why average students are more likely to end up at the top as opposed to the high academic achievers.
There aren't a lot of millionaires, so I don't get the obsession with comparing to them. I would be more concerned with the average GPA of six figure earners. A lot of millionaires are business owners, which means you just need to be knowledgeable and a good entrepreneur.
True. The average millionaire is a small business owner in middle America, smart enough to hire a competent stockbroker. Typically a guy with a nose for business and finding customers for whatever product they have knowledge of. There is usually nothing special about their educational background.
There is a difference btw that middle American, "main street" business owner and the silicon valley and Wall Street millionaire. As the latter two tend to have more advanced educational backgrounds and probably more raw intelligence on average.
It’s funny how around here, we get all this talk about IQ and who does or doesn’t deserve admission into this or that elite university. Turns out that the most successful people (if success is largely determined by money) were fairly pedestrian students. Not dumb, but not academic superstars by a long shot on average.
This 2017 article that first appeared on Business Insider, and it’s not long at all. It lists a few of the reasons why average students are more likely to end up at the top as opposed to the high academic achievers.
How many people, regardless of GPA, go on to change the world?
Bill Gates an Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of college.
On the other hand, Bezos was class valedictorian and national merit scholar. Given his honors in college it is reasonable to assume he maintained a very high GPA.
Larry Page and Sergy Brin met while enrolled in a PHD program at Stanford, evidence they both had a serious track record of academic achievement.
Case in point in most areas where millionaires live - say, NJ, near NYC, Boston, Silicon Valley, S. Cal, etc.
A decent house mid-career is worth about 500K....if you bought it a number of years earlier and paid off some of it, you have 300K in equity right there.
If you have worked for 20+ years and your spouse for some (having kids, maybe part time work, etc) and had a IRA and savings you'd easily be up to a million plus in net worth by the time you were 50...and closer to 2 million or more by retirement.
This does not include inheritances, which MANY people benefit from. It does not include life insurance and other windfalls.
If we (65 and worked for 45 years) were worth a million we'd be in the poorhouse. Really. That would give us about 500K total in addition to a house, which would generate about 25K a year in income at 5%. Add in our SS and we'd maybe make it to 50K, which would mean living REALLY tight, not helping our kids and grandkids, driving old beaters and having a tough time paying medical deducts.
How many people, regardless of GPA, go on to change the world?
Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of college.
On the other hand, Bezos was class valedictorian and national merit scholar. Given his honors in college it is reasonable to assume he maintained a very high GPA.
Larry Page and Sergy Brin met while enrolled in a PHD program at Stanford, evidence they both had a serious track record of academic achievement.
Probably the wrong examples....
Gates and Zuck were highly educated any way you want to look at it.
But we are talking about mere millionaires, not multi-billionaires.
Jobs and Woz fit the mold a bit better - Jobs the ultimate generalist and sales person, and Woz with a 170 IQ. Neither had college degrees and both were into drugs and breaking the law in various ways (selling phone black boxes, etc.). Jobs attributes much of his success to LSD.....so that's another path to follow! It's well known that, even today, chemical enhancement is big amount engineers and innovators in Ca.
Woz went back to school after Apple and got his engineering degree....but, obviously, all his good work had been done before that.
It's fairly safe to say that in the world of Silicon Valley and High Finance, good schooling and high GPA is going to show up.
But there are MANY Millionaires who are developers, contractors, open retail chains, are sports figures and everywhere else along the line. These people probably lower the GPA average as, IMHO, they don't need much except basic instincts and hard work and perhaps a head for numbers (or whatever).
It’s funny how around here, we get all this talk about IQ and who does or doesn’t deserve admission into this or that elite university. Turns out that the most successful people (if success is largely determined by money) were fairly pedestrian students. Not dumb, but not academic superstars by a long shot on average.
This 2017 article that first appeared on Business Insider, and it’s not long at all. It lists a few of the reasons why average students are more likely to end up at the top as opposed to the high academic achievers.
While money has a lot to do with admissions it's also "who you know", the good ole boy's network.
A fairly average student with the right family name will leap over less fortunate yet better students. The only caveat is through skin color and sports scholarships. Ivy League schools do not focus on sports as much as they once did. Identity is all the rage these days.
This is why Harvard is being sued by Asian students.
From Harvard: If it were to eliminate the consideration of race, Harvard estimates that would cut the number of African-American, Hispanic and other underrepresented minorities by nearly half.
38% are going into social science and humanities, fields that are the least likely to translate into an Ivy League income.
Last edited by Originalist; 01-18-2019 at 11:34 AM..
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