mmalabanan
- A recent study found that top students rarely achieve big-time success after finishing college.
- Erik Barker believes that valedictorians usually conform with the system and become generalists, which doesn’t equip them to really change or impress the world.
Graduating on top of your class doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll conquer the world in the future.
A recent study carried out by a researcher from Boston University revealed that valedictorians and salutatorians rarely achieve big-time success after graduating from college. While it may seem easy for them to gain academic recognition, they don’t often get to be rich and famous later on in life.
Karen Arnold, the researcher from Boston University, discovered that students who graduate top of their high-school do achieve the traditional markers of success. Almost everyone of them graduated from college with the average GPA of 3.6. Majority of them get to earn a graduate degree, while nearly half of them have top-tier professional jobs.
However, only a few of them get to really change or impress the world.
Barking Up the Wrong Tree, a book written by Eric Barker, narrates the possible reasons as to why these school achievers rarely become wildly successful.
In his first theory, Barker explained that top students usually conform with system and consistently do what they are told by the system.
“Essentially, we are rewarding conformity and the willingness to go along with the system,” Arnold told Barker.
Conforming with the system works in school. But playing by rules doesn’t necessarily mean it will be advantageous for you when you step out of school. Oftentimes, successful people break these rules and come up with an out-of-the-box solution.
Meanwhile, his second theory mentions that schools often hone top students to become generalists. They become good in almost any subject but they fail to be an expert in one. In the real world, a person must have passion and expertise in order to be successful.
“Valedictorians often go on to be the people who support the system — they become a part of the system — but they don’t change the system or overthrow the system,” Barker told Business Insider.
