High School, College, Success!

Challenging how schools teach success

  • About
    • About HSCS
    • Contact
  • Homework
  • SAT & PSAT
  • College Admissions
  • Stress & Anxiety
  • Reviews
  • Success
  • Innovation
  • Resources

Success Biography – Connan O’Brian’s school record was no joke

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

March 13, 2018 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

What does Conan O'Brian's academic success say about the role of educational success?

By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Conan O’Brien) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

As a former top performing student, it has really stood out to me that in my research I’ve noticed most of the anecdotes about people who achieve outstanding success usually don’t get there by the normal academic route. There’s Steve Jobs, of course, who I covered in this series of posts. Then there are several mentions of successful people in Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. The idea that college isn’t needed for success came up again in How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough.

Does this represent a bias or reality? So, I decided to start taking note when I hear of someone who is a success who was a stellar student….

Read More »

Filed Under: Success

Conan O’Brian on failure

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

March 1, 2018 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

Conan O'Brian's academic success and in his university graduation speeches, his changing perceptions on failure after his big career failure.

By Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America (Conan O’Brien) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Conan O’Brian, unlike Steve Jobs and some other hugely successful people that you often hear about, was also successful academically, So I thought it would be interesting to see what he has to say about education….

Read More »

Filed Under: Success

Does education make you a bad investor?

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

July 3, 2017 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

Does education make you bad at investing in the stock market? Does it make you a bad investor?

Does education make you bad at investing in the stock market? Does it make you a bad investor?

One of my fears is that the US education system is hurting the chances of our best and brightest of being a success.

If I encourage my kids to be great students and devote time to making good grades, will they end up being successful students, but not successful in life?

One way society measures success is in wealth. And you can earn wealth  by investing. Now some – maybe most – investing seems to be for no other purpose than to move money around and make more magically appear. That’s what has turned me off from investing in the past. But you could also make the argument that if you invest wisely, you can help the growth of businesses that make the world better.
But does education prevent you from being a good investor?

…

Read More »

Filed Under: Success

The Worth of Being the Best – Excellent Sheep Part Part 5/5

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

September 15, 2016 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

Excellent Sheep- Deresiewicz said one thing driving [all the pressure in education] is the "insatiable need to be ‘the best.’”What is the worth of being the best?In Excellent Sheep, the Miseducation of the American Elite & The Way to a Meaningful Life, Deresiewicz said there is one thing driving all the pressure in education, what he refers to as “…the insatiable need to be ‘the best.’” The idea that you don’t need to be the best also came up in World Class Learners: Educating Creative and Entrepreneurial Students by Yong Zhao, that the world no longer needs the United States to “be the best” but to be “part of the world.”

What is the worth of being the best?

This is a tricky concept for me. In many cases, the drive to be the best is what drives excellence. This can be how you achieve excellence….

Read More »

Filed Under: College, Reviews, Success Tagged With: Book Review

AP Failure and the College Admissions Arms Race – Excellent Sheep Part Part 4/5

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

September 13, 2016 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

Excellent Sheep - When you read about success, "the ability to fail" comes up time and time again. Kids need to learn how to fail. Can AP failure teach kids how to fail?

In an earlier post, I talked about how in Excellent Sheep, the Miseducation of the American Elite & The Way to a Meaningful Life, William Deresiewicz says “The purpose of life [has become] the accumulation of gold stars.” (Excellent Sheep, page 16) How does he relate that to education? How does it relate to high school? Can AP failure teach kids how to fail?…

Read More »

Filed Under: Reviews, Success Tagged With: AP, Book Review, sleep

Employment Numbers – How to choose a college major Part 3

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

April 19, 2016 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

How do you choose a college major? Questions for college career centers. The numbers for STEM science college degrees might surprise you.How do you choose a college major? Based on my own experiences and the job search experiences of several women I know, picking a major based on the classes you like isn’t a good method. And you have a good chance of ending up un- or under-employed. Unfortunately, this method of picking your major based on favorite classes is most likely to be recommended to good students, the kids who have worked the hardest. And, unfortunately, because girls are more likely to be model students, this probably happens to a greater number of women than men.

Colleges and universities should do a better job educating the students about what kinds of majors lead to which jobs….

Read More »

Filed Under: College major, Success

College Majors – How to choose a college major Part 2

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

April 14, 2016 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

Is a STEM degree in science a good choice for a college major? What jobs can you get if your college major is in science? How to choose a college major.In my last post, I summarized the experiences of several of my friends who chose their college major largely by the classes they enjoyed in school. I won’t go into all the reasons I ended up there, but my college major was in Chemistry.

Over the course of my summer internships, I realized didn’t really want to go into research. I don’t think I ever really thought I wanted to go into research, but research was where I was able to find summer internships. (And I worked really hard to find my summer internships. It wasn’t easy.)

As I neared the end of the completion of my degree, I spent hours in my universities “career office” …

Read More »

Filed Under: College major, Success

You’re majoring in what? – How to choose a college major Part 1

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

April 12, 2016 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

You’re majoring in what? It's not just English majors. Did you know you can’t get a decent job with a chemistry degree? A biology degree? A math degree?You’re majoring in what? And what are you planning to do with that college major?

You’re probably thinking that I’d be asking that of an English major. At least, that’s the way the classic joke goes. Everyone knows you can’t get a job with an English degree. “Everyone” knows that English isn’t a “practical” college major.

But did you know you can’t get a decent job with a college chemistry degree? A biology degree? A math degree?…

Read More »

Filed Under: College major, Success

Success biography – Scalia, stellar student

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

April 7, 2016 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

In my reading I’ve noticed a lot of anecdotes about people who achieve outstanding success, and they usually don’t get there by the normal academic route. There’s Steve Jobs, of course, who I covered in this series of posts. Then there are several mentions of successful people in Outliers, by Malcolm Gladwell. The idea that college isn’t needed for success came up again in How Children Succeed, by Paul Tough.

As a former top performing student, I wonder how much to encourage my kids to stay top performing. (That’s where my kids are now.) Because I’m starting to think that being a stellar student actually teaches out (or un-learns) some skills you need. I’m still collecting data. So, I’m also going to start taking note when I hear of someone who is a success who was a stellar student….

Read More »

Filed Under: Success

Steve Jobs vs Becoming Steve Jobs biographies – my own observations, Part 7/7

This post may contain affiliate links and receive a small commission for purchases.

April 5, 2016 by ES Ivy Leave a Comment

Steve Jobs biographies - my own observationsBoth of the Steve Jobs biographies I read, Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader by Brent Schlender and Rick Tetzeli, were written by people who knew Steve Jobs personally. But there are a couple of small points that I think they overlooked….

Read More »

Filed Under: Reviews, Success Tagged With: Book Review, Steve Jobs

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • Next Page »

Find E.S. Ivy Around the Web

  • View E.S.IvyAuthor’s profile on Facebook
  • View ESIvy’s profile on Twitter
  • View mombehindthecurtain’s profile on Instagram
  • View esivy’s profile on Pinterest

Recent Posts

  • Success Biography – Connan O’Brian’s school record was no joke
  • How important is completing all your homework?
  • What students can learn from too much homework
  • Conan O’Brian on failure
  • How much do AP classes really benefit you in college?

Top Posts & Pages

  • National Merit Semifinalist 2018 Cutoff Qualifying PSAT Scores
  • National Merit Scholarship Confirming SAT Score
  • Characteristics of Steve Jobs that made him successful - Part 4/7
  • How to choose a college or university - free resources
  • How to choose a college that's right for you

Categories

  • Announcements
  • College
  • College Admissions
  • College major
  • Education
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Homework
  • Innovation
  • Other
  • Popular Culture influence
  • Reading Skills
  • Reviews
  • SAT & PSAT
  • Stress & Anxiety
  • Success

Affiliate Disclaimer

Please note that some of the links on this site are referral links which means I may get a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on them. You pay exactly the same price as you would if you made the purchase directly. I only link to books and services I personally recommend and also it allows me to show you images relevant to posts. Thank you for your support in this way!

Here's the specific wording Amazon tells me to use on my site: highschoolcollegesuccess.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Copyright © 2018 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress