AP Seminar: Does Intelligence Lead To Success?

1583 Words7 Pages

McCluney, Zaria

Mrs. Behrend

AP Seminar

1 December, 2015

Does Intelligence Lead to Success ?

Intelligence is a much discussed topic and has many schools and institutions re-examining their methods of teaching as well as the application and selection processes that they implement in colleges. Intelligence is a factor in success but what really matters is a person’stheir drive to succeed. (Opateye, Johnson Ayodele 3) When examining the acceptance system, just having good grades (A’s and B’s) is not enough to get you into a college anymore. Colleges are looking for well rounded students, interested in school life, society, athletics as well as school clubs. Michael Alexander, a professor at the …show more content…

By implementing AP classes and other college level courses, they can siphon out the the higher level thinkers and allow them to take classes that will earn them college credits and help them succeed. But do you really need intelligence to succeed in life? Most people would lead you to believe that, that is the case. Without intelligence your chances of getting a higher paying jobs is slim to none. Nowadays, if you do not have a high school diploma or your GED, the most you can do is work at some fast food restaurant. Intelligence is a necessary part of success because it allows you to uncover new pathways as well as giving you better problem solving skills. And while this may be the case, having a high IQ is not all that’s needed to succeed in …show more content…

After all, some of the most successful people in all kinds of fields such as science, business, and entertainment are extremely bright. In today’s society we often assume that those with extremely high IQs are naturally more successful, though there is an equally compelling stereotype that people with very high IQs are sometimes less likely to prosper in social life; that these highly intelligent individuals have poor social skills and that they might struggle in social setting (Cherry, Kendra. "Does Having a High IQ Lead to Success in Life?" About.com Health. N.p., 26 May 2015. Web. 09 Dec. 2015.) Sherlock Holmes - who is a fictional book character in a detective series by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle- is a prime example. He is extremely intelligent and as such is not much of a people person. He comes off as cold and calculative, and is often described as idiosyncratic. Is that what we have to sacrifice in our race for