--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I also spoke about the kid who can’t be…" description: "\"“I also spoke about the kid who can’t be bothered to get A’s in every class in high school because they’re actually more interested in following their ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de7/william-deresiewicz-15471_high-school_i-also-spoke-about-the-kid-who-can-t-be_1456019.jpg" --- # I also spoke about the kid who can’t be bothered to get… ![“I also spoke about the kid who can’t be bothered to get A’s in every class in high school because they’re actually more interested in following their curiosity, so here’s another rule of thumb. U.S. News supplies the percentage of freshmen at each college who finished in the highest 10 percent of…” quote by William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de7/william-deresiewicz-15471_high-school_i-also-spoke-about-the-kid-who-can-t-be_1456019.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de7/william-deresiewicz-15471_high-school_i-also-spoke-about-the-kid-who-can-t-be_1456019.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de7/william-deresiewicz-15471_high-school_i-also-spoke-about-the-kid-who-can-t-be_1456019.jpg) > ““I also spoke about the kid who can’t be bothered to get A’s in every class in high school because they’re actually more interested in following their curiosity, so here’s another rule of thumb. U.S. News supplies the percentage of freshmen at each college who finished in the highest 10 percent of their high school class. Among the top twenty universities, the number is usually above 90 percent, a threshold that is also reached at several of the top colleges. I’d be wary of schools like that (though I would make an exception for public universities, which draw from disadvantaged high schools from across their respective states). Not every ten-percenter is an excellent sheep, but a sufficient number are for you to think very carefully before deciding to surround yourself with them.”” [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The author warns that elite academic credentials don't always indicate true intellectual curiosity, urging careful evaluation of peers **In simple terms:** High grades at top schools don’t guarantee genuine curiosity Key Takeaway Look beyond rankings to assess genuine curiosity and fit Themes education critical thinking social dynamics Mood thoughtful cautious Type analytical advisory When to use this quote - college admissions - peer groups - career planning Key Concepts meritocracy selection bias Questions to Reflect On - What criteria truly indicate curiosity? - How do you balance prestige with personal growth? A Different Perspective Prestige can mask lack of curiosity ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Freshmen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/freshmen/) [High school](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-school/) ## Related quotes > [“Now he was the freshmen in college while she was stuck in highschool being the sophomore. She was left behind hearing about him, watching…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-heller/now-he-was-the-freshmen-in-college-while-she-was-stuck-in-highschool/) [Elizabeth Heller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-heller/) > [It takes time to get the whole package. Freshmen can't be seniors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-leyland/it-takes-time-to-get-the-whole-package-freshmen-can-t-be-seniors/) [Jim Leyland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-leyland/) > [Me as a Freshmen 12 Freshmen Takeover(;](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-as-a-freshmen-12-freshmen-takeover/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I came out of the private sector, a life that I enjoyed. I sleep in a bed every night with a woman I went…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-southerland/i-came-out-of-the-private-sector-a-life-that-i-enjoyed-i-sleep-in-a/) [Steve Southerland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-southerland/) > [High School really did go by as fast as they say. Like wasn't I just a freshmen?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/high-school-really-did-go-by-as-fast-as-they-say-like-wasn-t-i-just-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Universities are full of Knowledge; the freshmen bring a little in, the seniors take none away, and the knowledge there accumulates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abbott-lawrence-lowell/universities-are-full-of-knowledge-the-freshmen-bring-a-little-in-the/) [Abbott Lawrence Lowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abbott-lawrence-lowell/) > [We've recorded over our voices once and double the harmonies, make them thick. The Four Freshmen do that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-johnston/we-ve-recorded-over-our-voices-once-and-double-the-harmonies-make/) [Bruce Johnston](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-johnston/) > [Fans of these freshmen is about to get iffy while this youngin that you doubted is about to get busy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/drake/fans-of-these-freshmen-is-about-to-get-iffy-while-this-youngin-that/) [Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/drake/) > [“I've been checking you out since we were freshmen." " Why? ?" "Do you even have to ask?" I laugh as a string of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassie-mae/i-ve-been-checking-you-out-since-we-were-freshmen-why-do-you-even/) [Cassie Mae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassie-mae/) > [Ask Jeeves! Who ever used that thing? College freshmen to find out who Goethe was - that's it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-kirn/ask-jeeves-who-ever-used-that-thing-college-freshmen-to-find-out-who/) [Walter Kirn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-kirn/) > [Play me down my lover like we're under cover. Like we're in our freshmen year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neon-trees/play-me-down-my-lover-like-we-re-under-cover-like-we-re-in-our/) [Neon Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neon-trees/) > [“Universities are full of knowledge; the freshmen bring a little in and the seniors take none away, and knowledge accumulates.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/universities-are-full-of-knowledge-the-freshmen-bring-a-little-in-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Freshmen spend in unfathomable sitting on their beds – heads against the wall or propped pillows, semistudying or not, listening to music, catching a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-suskind/freshmen-spend-in-unfathomable-sitting-on-their-beds-heads-against/) [Ron Suskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-suskind/) > [The best thing about freshmen is that they become sophomores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/al-mcguire/the-best-thing-about-freshmen-is-that-they-become-sophomores/) [Al McGuire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/al-mcguire/) > [“Last year I kissed this freshman girl at a pool party and she wouldn’t get off my nuts for six months. Which is why…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-barnholdt/last-year-i-kissed-this-freshman-girl-at-a-pool-party-and-she-wouldn/) [Lauren Barnholdt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-barnholdt/) ## More by William Deresiewicz > [Life, if you live it right, keeps surprising you, and the thing that keeps surprising you the most…is yourself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/life-if-you-live-it-right-keeps-surprising-you-and-the-thing-that/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [ “\[Jane\] Austen was not a novelist for nothing: she knew that our stories are what make us human, and that listening to someone else's… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/jane-austen-was-not-a-novelist-for-nothing-she-knew-that-our-stories/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“No real excellence, personal or social, artistic, philosophical, scientific, or moral, can arise without solitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/no-real-excellence-personal-or-social-artistic-philosophical/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [If you're oblivious to other people, chances are pretty good that you're going to hurt them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/if-you-re-oblivious-to-other-people-chances-are-pretty-good-that-you/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [Don't play it safe. Resist the seductions of the cowardly values our society has come to prize so highly: comfort, convenience, security, predictability, control.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/don-t-play-it-safe-resist-the-seductions-of-the-cowardly-values-our/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“there’s a bigger social reward for being able to talk about books than for actually reading them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/there-s-a-bigger-social-reward-for-being-able-to-talk-about-books/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [We proceed by doubt, by trial and error, by resisting the impulse to lunge after certainty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/we-proceed-by-doubt-by-trial-and-error-by-resisting-the-impulse-to/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“...Novels--which, after all, are training grounds for responding to the world, imaginative sanctuaries in which to hone and test our ethical judgments and choices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/novels-which-after-all-are-training-grounds-for-responding-to-the/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [People’s stories are the most personal thing they have, and paying attention to those stories is just about the most important thing you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/people-s-stories-are-the-most-personal-thing-they-have-and-paying/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“Life is more than a job; jobs are more than a paycheck; and a country is more than its wealth. Education is more than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/life-is-more-than-a-job-jobs-are-more-than-a-paycheck-and-a-country/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“By the time they finish high school—after years of learning how to please their teachers and coaches, not to mention schmoozing with their parents’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/by-the-time-they-finish-high-school-after-years-of-learning-how-to/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“Getting A’s no longer means that everything’s okay, assuming that it ever did. “We have students, who, no matter what else is going on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/getting-a-s-no-longer-means-that-everything-s-okay-assuming-that-it/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“Both kinds of parenting, finally, are forms of overidentification. The helicopter parent turns the child into an instrument of her will. The overindulgent parent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/both-kinds-of-parenting-finally-are-forms-of-overidentification-the/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“A friend who teaches at a top university once asked her class to memorize thirty lines of the eighteenth-century poet Alexander Pope. Every single…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/a-friend-who-teaches-at-a-top-university-once-asked-her-class-to/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) > [“We have a crisis of leadership in America because our overwhelming power and wealth, earned under earlier generations of leaders, made us complacent, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-deresiewicz/we-have-a-crisis-of-leadership-in-america-because-our-overwhelming/) [William Deresiewicz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) [Explore all 42 William Deresiewicz quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-deresiewicz/) ## More Education quotes > [I put myself in the student's place and remember the frustrations, doubts, determination, and desires I felt when I was going through the initial…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-martinez/i-put-myself-in-the-student-s-place-and-remember-the-frustrations/) Ted Martinez > [“In school you are taught to obey and not to think straight for your own good. 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But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [There's no authoritarian structure at Reed College, but the education is conservative. So what you have is a lot of students who are very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-miller/there-s-no-authoritarian-structure-at-reed-college-but-the-education/) [Donald Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-miller/) > [“What's the best thing about being in college? Good teachers. They inspire you, they entertain you, and you end up learning a ton even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-sparks/what-s-the-best-thing-about-being-in-college-good-teachers-they/) [Nicholas Sparks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-sparks/) > [“If one has not a head of steel it will burst; if he has not within it a brain of liquid quicksilver, he will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ioannes-amos-commenius/if-one-has-not-a-head-of-steel-it-will-burst-if-he-has-not-within-it/) Ioannes Amos Commenius > [“let us not teach / what we have learned badly / and not profited by”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-d-hilda-doolittle/let-us-not-teach-what-we-have-learned-badly-and-not-profited-by/) H.D. (Hilda Doolittle > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [According to Plato, we don't learn anything. Our soul has lived so many lives that we know everything. Teachers and education can only remind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/according-to-plato-we-don-t-learn-anything-our-soul-has-lived-so-many/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [“I only began to enjoy studying after I got through the educational system and became a so-called member of society. If something interested me,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-only-began-to-enjoy-studying-after-i-got-through-the-educational/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [How wonderful it would be, I thought, if only we could practice the teachings of the Buddha as he really taught them from his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/how-wonderful-it-would-be-i-thought-if-only-we-could-practice-the/) [Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dzogchen-ponlop-rinpoche/) > [English teachers tend to put more thought in the books than the author did](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/english-teachers-tend-to-put-more-thought-in-the-books-than-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When will society, like a mother, take care of all her children?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/when-will-society-like-a-mother-take-care-of-all-her-children/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) [Browse all 37,666 Education quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I also spoke about the kid who can’t be bothered to get A’s in every class in high school because they’re actually more interested in following their curiosity, so here’s another rule of thumb. U.S. News supplies the percentage of freshmen at each college who finished in the highest 10 percent of their high school class. Among the top twenty universities, the number is usually above 90 percent, a threshold that is also reached at several of the top colleges. I’d be wary of schools like that (though I would make an exception for public universities, which draw from disadvantaged high schools from across their respective states). 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