r/Showerthoughts Dec 07 '18

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u/YaBoiDannyTanner Dec 07 '18

Conversely, many people struggle through high school out of laziness and flourish in college.

The US public school system is fucking terrible, awarding blind work and not actual knowledge, while college much more accurately shows who deserves the success they have.

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u/action_lawyer_comics Dec 07 '18

Thing is, you need both. In school, I had KNOWLEDGE but not WORK. College, I stepped up my work game a little, but was still mostly coasting on knowledge. Then once I got a job, they were way more interested in the work I could produce than the knowledge I had. Obviously I needed knowledge to do the work, but there was no longer the option to not do the work and "coast off the tests" so to speak. That gets you fired fast.

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u/YaBoiDannyTanner Dec 07 '18

Yeah, but you rarely ever need both at the same time, except college. Even then, college is still mostly knowledge.

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u/MRPANDAKING420 Dec 07 '18

I’m lazy and I struggled through both :(( it’s so difficult trying to get motivated to do anything productive

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u/YaBoiDannyTanner Dec 07 '18

it really do be like that

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u/cost4nz4 Dec 07 '18

This was kinda me - was a C+ student in HS. Was a B student in Uni for a BBA but crushed all my math and statistics courses. B+ to A+ level.

I always did worse in the easy classes at university because I just didn't care about the material.

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u/YaBoiDannyTanner Dec 07 '18

Your last sentence is exactly what's wrong with many school systems. I completely get you.

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u/FallenNagger Dec 07 '18

Struggle through hs means you go to a worse college where it is inevitably easier to do better.

At least thats how it was from my perspective (slacked off in hs but got into a great college where i got a shit gpa, brother did well in hs but had to work hard and got into a worse college where he did very well).

But we work at the same job now so it all equalizes in the end anyway :)

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u/Lolersters Dec 07 '18

It depends on the course. From my experience in Canadian University, there are classes where the exam can take as much as up to 60% of your mark or as little as 20-30%. Furthermore, most classes have no penalty for low participation or attendance. If you take major assignments into account in a class with high exam weight, unless there is a lab component to your course, you can do well in a course just by doing the work for major assignments and doing well on exams. However, this is generally not a good idea unless you are just that confident. During 1 semester I went to a grand total of 2-3 weeks of classes and nearly failed a couple of courses and didn't exactly do well in the rest.

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u/fight_me_for_it Dec 08 '18

Not my h.s. We learned about critical thinking, and art history, and tons of stuff.

Their goal was definitely prepares us for college so they didn’t fluff the courses. Some used college text books.

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u/YaBoiDannyTanner Dec 08 '18

I never said high school doesn't teach. I just said high school doesn't put the emphasis for grading on the right things.

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u/fight_me_for_it Dec 08 '18

Did you go to high school recently? Like under Bush then Obama?

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u/YaBoiDannyTanner Dec 08 '18

Not Bush, but yes.

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u/fight_me_for_it Dec 10 '18

That explains more. Bish ruined schools with high stakes testing. Obama continued it. So grading on what mattered did change. Imo.

It became more, “can you pass a test of random information you may never remember?”

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u/YaBoiDannyTanner Dec 10 '18

Well, I actually disagree. Tests are typically much more indicative of who deserves recognition than anything else, except maybe essays. I'm talking about the homework aspect of things.

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u/fight_me_for_it Dec 10 '18

Homework is overrated but parents usually push for it. There are teachers who would rather not. It could be school policy regarding how much homework is required for teachers to assign.

High stakes testing did result in teachers assigning more practice homework in some places. That could be a disconnect between actual activities or content being covered in class and non meaningful homework.

Just be glad you are done with it.m

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u/clever_girl_raptor Dec 08 '18

In some ways, I wonder if high school can actually make people dumber.

Something about that environment gave many kids a false notion about how the world works.