Which High School Students Are Most Likely to Graduate From College?

[Valmy]

Well, if you graduate from a crappy high school that really didn't do anything to educate you, and then you can't cut it at college, an argument can be made that you didn't have a real opportunity to succeed at college. 

High school grades are key: High school grades are the single best gauge of how well a student will do in college, no matter how "easy" or "tough" the high school's grading system is. "High school grades measure a student's ability to 'get it done' in a more powerful way than do SAT scores. . . . They reveal qualities of motivation and perseverance--as well as the presence of good study habits and time management skills--that tell us a great deal about the chances that a student will complete a college program," Bowen writes.

But the nature of the high school doesn't make much difference: The size, location, and racial mix of a student's high school don't appear to influence his or her ability earn a college degree, the study finds. Students who attend wealthier high schools do seem to enjoy a slight edge in enrolling in college. And elite high schools appear to help the very best students succeed at the most selective public universities. Interestingly, an analysis of eighth-grade reading and math test scores in North Carolina found that they were far more significant predictors of college enrollment than most other factors, including high school characteristics and student race. (The authors didn't research the correlation between eighth-grade test scores and college graduation, however.) That doesn't mean students or teachers should cram for eighth-grade tests, though, says coauthor McPherson. "The high scores identify students who study hard, pay attention, and do their best. It's these qualities that parents and teachers should aim to develop. And if they succeed in doing that, then those students are likely to do better in their eighth-grade tests and in later life," McPherson says.

I see nothing in that article that suggests that that is the factor.  Rather that things like hard work and study habits are the predictors.

[Jaron]

I worked with a "gifted" class earlier this year.

Dumbshits, 95% of them. Yeah, they have the intelligence and can grasp stuff better at an earlier age than the majority of their peers but they are completely dysfunctional.

I...

I got a B+?

*hyperventilate*

There was one kid though I hated, but only because I was jealous of him. He was like a star athlete (but of tennis, not a real sport), popular at the school, especially with the girls, too smart for anything the school could throw at him (instead of classwork in history, he just wrote term papers on each unit and pretty good ones at that for a 15 year old), and he played the violin very well. I was looking at my own high school experience like WTF.

At the end of the year though he ended up being accepted into some nerd school in New England, Exeter or something like that.

[garbon]

Yeah, they have the intelligence and can grasp stuff better at an earlier age than the majority of their peers but they are completely dysfunctional.

I...

I got a B+?

*hyperventilate*

We can't all set low standards for ourselves, like you do.