Successful people who did poorly or average in high school?

[Protagonistic]

I had a 2.8 GPA my first two years of high school (was going through quite a lot). My final two years of high school I maintained a 4.0 GPA, graduated with a 3.4 GPA.

When college admissions came I was really low on self esteem, got rejected from schools a lot of my friends made it into. Currently I am going to a local university, slacked off my first semester and got a 2.9 but I am changing my habits and plan to do much better the coming semesters. Had goals of a 4.0 coming in but I made some errors and now I am confident I can do better.

I read somewhere that success is long term in many ways. Kids do good in junior high, then in high school, they go on to good universities, they do good there, and eventually they end up doing good in life. The ones who do bad or average in high school end up being average joes who don't really make that much, that thought really bothers me sometimes....

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[911 Turbo]

I had a 2.8 GPA my first two years of high school (was going through quite a lot). My final two years of high school I maintained a 4.0 GPA, graduated with a 3.4 GPA.

When college admissions came I was really low on self esteem, got rejected from schools a lot of my friends made it into. Currently I am going to a local university, slacked off my first semester and got a 2.9 but I am changing my habits and plan to do much better the coming semesters. Had goals of a 4.0 coming in but I made some errors and now I am confident I can do better.

I read somewhere that success is long term in many ways. Kids do good in junior high, then in high school, they go on to good universities, they do good there, and eventually they end up doing good in life. The ones who do bad or average in high school end up being average joes who don't really make that much, that thought really bothers me sometimes....

The reasons why people do well in high school are:

a) they are naturally gifted and can pick up challenging concepts without a problem
b) they work really hard to achieve something and make something out of themselves in high school

And I'm pretty sure these are the same reasons people excel in college as well. You mention that you are bothered by the fact that you did average in high school, and as a consequence you will do average in college. But it sounds like you're thinking of your future as set in stone, and it's not. If you work harder and focus on school, instead of blaming your failures on the "oh it was bound to happen" excuse, i think you can be successful as well. The people who "end up doing good in life" have worked very hard for it.

 

[Protagonistic]

thanx

 

[Phil Dunphy]

Cannon wasn't always so motivated. He graduated from high school with a 1.8 grade point average, went to college to participate in sports and went to medical school at Wright State University because he didn't particularly want to sell furniture with his dad. Now he is board certified in internal medicine, emergency medicine, cardiology and interventional cardiology.
Cannon moved to Northern Michigan two years ago from Saginaw, where he was the president of the Michigan Cardiovascular Institute.

http://www.cvrcnm.com/news-for-the-heart-9/

 

[Humanz]

3.2 ish in a good high school, 2 years of basically doing nothing besides sports 3.0>gpa. 3rd and 4th year stepped it up but only enough to raise it to a 3.2. Took 9 AP courses, however, and passed all but 2. 34 ACT.
Accepted into UCSB (ACT I think did it..) UCR granted auto-acceptance because of some UC rule? Checked both out, UCR was better in terms of financial aid award and proximity to home.
First year at UCR as an Entomology major, pre-med: 3.795 cGPA, sGPA 3.6
Second year at UCR (current): 3.815cGPA, 3.71-ish sGPA

Huge amount of research already+fellowships, lots of clinical experience already, just in 2nd year.

College is all tests and application of knowledge. Better environment for me.

 

[Protagonistic]

3.2 ish in a good high school, 2 years of basically doing nothing besides sports 3.0>gpa. 3rd and 4th year stepped it up but only enough to raise it to a 3.2. Took 9 AP courses, however, and passed all but 2. 34 ACT.
Accepted into UCSB (ACT I think did it..) UCR granted auto-acceptance because of some UC rule? Checked both out, UCR was better in terms of financial aid award and proximity to home.
First year at UCR as an Entomology major, pre-med: 3.795 cGPA, sGPA 3.6
Second year at UCR (current): 3.815cGPA, 3.71-ish sGPA

Huge amount of research already+fellowships, lots of clinical experience already, just in 2nd year.

College is all tests and application of knowledge. Better environment for me.

I see what you are trying to say, good job, what sports did you play?

 

[Lil Mick]

I was definitely the school truant when I was in high school, as well as the school's troubled athlete. I rarely did homework (pointless to prove twenty times over that you already know something), and, during my actually-attended classes, I was usually causing enough trouble to be kicked out of class. That being said, I usually had the highest grades on my exams and papers...

When I got to college, I repeated this pattern and learned that showing up for classes can be helpful (and showing up sober is even better). My grades freshman year were pretty abyssimal, as I missed exams and rarely turned in the homework that counted for more than it did during high school. My upper division classes and grad classes the next year made a huge difference, as I was learning new material and actually applying what I knew, rather than just regurgitating facts.

Medical school, unfortunately, involves a lot of monotony in class and very few opportunities to pursue your questions or to apply your knowledge in novel ways. If this has been frustrating to you as well, I'd advise looking into a career in straight research or seeing if you could accelerate through some of high school and college so that you don't have to repeat material that you already know... Just my two cents thus far