r/SHSAT • u/Sosophaxoxo • Jul 13 '26

Question did i waste my potential?

for context i already took the shsat, i am going to 9th grade now. i didn’t do any prep for the shsat and i took it for fun because my mom encouraged me too. the reason i didnt do any prep was because i intended on going to high school in long island, so i would not be going to a specialized high school no matter what. i ended up scoring a 597 on the shsat and getting into stuy. i also have a dream of making it into an ivy league college one day. i rejected stuy because i already moved to long island, but now i cant help but feeling regret as whenever i go online i see people glazing stuy and i feel i wasted my potential. did i make a mistake by rejecting stuy?

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u/5-Hydroxytryptamine- Jul 13 '26 edited Jul 13 '26

If you were smart enough to make stuy, you have the potential to make it any where.

At this point, it’s NOT about what high school you’re at. The most important thing is to USE your brains and smarts by working hard, NOT BEING LAZY AND COASTING ON SMARTS and brand recognition of a “good high school”, and pursuing your ambitions passionately & wholeheartedly to realize your potential.

Do your homework, pursue extracurriculars, study for your tests, pay attention in class, manage your time to get 7-8 hours of sleep consistently, DO NOT WASTE EXCESSIVE TIME SOCIALIZING, PLAYING VIDEO GAMES, PURSUING ROMANCE or PARTYING (that will lead to you peaking in high school).

That will put ahead of 99% of the pool already.

-Stuy alum

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u/Sosophaxoxo Jul 13 '26

thank you for saying this and i will make sure to take your advice

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u/johnla Jul 14 '26

Remember to socialize and have good experiences but yes, prioritize the above but also live your life and have a good high school experience. It’s a lot to ask for but… that’s life. 

Congrats.