Why is everyone on TSR so "intelligent"?

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also remember that people who use TSR are generally at least above-average students. students who struggle to get their GCSEs aren't going to be using TSR, and if they are, they won't make their failures known.

Reply 41

username1208193

Lots of people aren't that educated on TSR to be honest. I feel the more popular ones are more likeable!

Reply 42

math42

As for why there are so many people with good grades, people who are committed to school/uni work will generally join on here.. As for the next points, well if you say that it's something other than laziness that causes people to get worse grades than you, it implies that you think you're just inherently smarter, at least in the academic sense, than them. It's a lose-lose situation. Personally I never saw myself as "smarter" than a fair few of my friends apart from the fact that I got better grades, so I figured that a lot of them mustn't be working in the right way, or to the right extent, for me to doing better than them academically. In some cases this is true, in others, yes, some people don't take to academic stuff as well as others. But there are many forms of intelligence and I know I am sorely lacking in many of these.

Reply 43

Des_Lumières

Original post by romansholiday

Lmao, so everyone on TSR seems to get straight A*s at GCSE, and anything below this is just "lazy".

You're supposed to be educated and open minded, yet you are somewhat narrow minded about the grades that people less academic than yourself get at GCSE. Saying that someone is "lazy" if they don't get straight A*s is so pathetic.

It makes me question the authenticity of the grades that people seem to achieve on this site, seeing as the "average" are straight Cs, but the average on TSR is somewhere around 8 A*s and As lmao.

It's the same with A Level. Everyone one seems to get AAA or AAB and anything below that is literally shunned upon, even though in reality these are absolutely amazing grades!

Has anyone noticed this when reading some threads on TSR?

I think you're encountering what's known as a large, interest driven and anonymised sample group. Of course the'll be the porky-pie-tellers!

Reply 44

username1560589

Not everyone has straight A*s at GCSE. I only have one. I think a lot of how well you do at GCSE depends on which school you go to. A-levels too to a lesser degree, but you have better options of places to study.

As for intelligence and A-levels, I bring up the averages which may help to explain your perceptions.

Reply 45

ckfeister

Original post by ACJHealy

Nobody wants average...that's the point.

In the school I went to, C was ABOVE average but only had 19% pass rates. Some people want to pass and get it over with. Once again, ignorance.

Reply 46

thatinglesa

Original post by ckfeister

In the school I went to, C was ABOVE average but only had 19% pass rates. Some people want to pass and get it over with. Once again, ignorance.

Yeah I agree with this. My school had an insanely low pass rate and the vast majority of students just didn't want to be there - they didn't care whether or not they got the top grades, they just wanted to get through their exams and that be that. I can't see many of them joining up here because school just doesn't interest them enough to want to spend their time talking about it.

I was an anomaly because I came out of it with A*s, which I used to get bullied for all the time. I didn't come on here to boast about that; I joined TSR because I wanted to find people who understood what it was like to actually want to learn instead of people who would make fun of me for wanting to work hard.

I think that probably has a lot to do with why quite a lot of people here seem to have really high grades - they're the people who are willing to spend huge amounts of time trying to better themselves and that's why they're on a student forum - to find people with similar aspirations, and people at better schools are more likely to be encouraged to actively join sites like this.

But at the same time, I think a lot of it also has to do with the kind of reputation that TSR has for being full of really smart people - if you don't feel like you match up to what you think is expected of you, you're not going to be as willing to share it.

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 47

thatinglesa

Yeah I agree with this. My school had an insanely low pass rate and the vast majority of students just didn't want to be there - they didn't care whether or not they got the top grades, they just wanted to get through their exams and that be that. I can't see many of them joining up here because school just doesn't interest them enough to want to spend their time talking about it.

I was an anomaly because I came out of it with A*s, which I used to get bullied for all the time. I didn't come on here to boast about that; I joined TSR because I wanted to find people who understood what it was like to actually want to learn instead of people who would make fun of me for wanting to work hard.

I think that probably has a lot to do with why quite a lot of people here seem to have really high grades - they're the people who are willing to spend huge amounts of time trying to better themselves and that's why they're on a student forum - to find people with similar aspirations. (And people at better schools are more likely to be encouraged to actively join sites like this.

But at the same time, I think a lot of it also has to do with the kind of reputation that TSR has for being full of really smart people - if you don't feel like you match up to what you think is expected of you, you're not going to be as willing to share it.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 48

username2130115

TSR is not representative of the entire student population. Most people who are intelligent are motivated by their studies and hence find TSR.

Do you even A* bro

only smart ppl would spend spare time discussing exams and topics before going back to study

Reply 51

Plagioclase

Original post by TheArtofProtest

Grades are no indication of intelligence.

Have you seen some of the garbage that people post?

Indeed, PRSOM!

Reply 52

seanthubb

Original post by romansholiday

Maybe it's because people with the drive to use TSR as a resource are those inclined to put the work in to do well? Just an idea :smile:

Reply 53

spaces

Original post by hellodave5

Haha. I suppose there is a bias in that, for the most part, only highly dedicated students are likely to join a 'student' website - I assume for help mainly, as well as chat.

My GCSE's were mostly C's, and my AS levels were terribru! Still proud of them though.

If people aren't open minded, then that is simply there loss.

I think you're right about the bias, but it isn't limited to that. People who get excellent grades are also more likely to brag about them online, don't you think? And do this ''these are my grades hurdurrh and I got offers from these unis'' thing. Which doesn't make you a bad person, I mean, it's an achievement and you can be proud of it. But it doesn't surprise me at all that people with average or below average grades don't spew them all over the internet, especially considering the hostility they would encounter on here.

Reply 54

Tom78

Original post by StrangeBanana

I think it's a mixture. If you're very intelligent, you have to work significantly less hard to get the same grades as someone who isn't so intelligent.

I don't think that's true when given research-based or theory-based assignments. Knowledge is everything for those types of tasks, which make up a large amount of Uni work tbh

Reply 55

Eva.Gregoria

Original post by Sisuphos

Uhm because the people who put their GCSE results on their profiles are the ones who did really good at them. The rest, won't include them at all. Which, btw, is the majority of people in here as far as I'm concerned. You overestimate how many people on here even have GCSE grades (or any grades really) on their profile info.

I disagree, there are some of us who achieved high grades in GCSE and A level that don't feel the need to broadcast it online. Who comes on TSR to get self validation anyway?

Reply 56

ckfeister

Original post by ACJHealy

I'm ignorant of your minority, you're ignorant of the majority. I'm happy for that to be the case. By the way, I'm truly sorry the hear you grew up in such a hole.

Funny funny... minority even give a crap about A*s. So maybe your the one who grew in a rock with ignorance.

Reply 57

hellodave5

Original post by spaces

Of course, you're dead on :smile:

Reply 58

Kvothe the Arcane

You perception is skewed by the fact that it's those who've done well who like to b̶r̶a̶g̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ showcase their results.

Original post by Eva.Gregoria

Who comes on TSR to get self validation anyway?

(edited 8 years ago)

Reply 59

Sisuphos

Original post by Eva.Gregoria

I disagree, there are some of us who achieved high grades in GCSE and A level that don't feel the need to broadcast it online. Who comes on TSR to get self validation anyway?

I didn't say that everyone who gets good grades puts it on their profile. I said the people who do put their grades on their profile are those who have done well.

There's a difference.