If a guy told you that he has a 2.2 GPA in college, but would ace any test on his favorite books and movies, would you think that he is stupid?

“stupid” can mean a bunch of different things, and is an ambiguous term. It can mean “lacking intelligence” or “lacking the ability to learn new information” or simply “lacking information about a specific topic”. It could also mean “willingly makes illogical and foolish choices”

I would say it meant he was unmotivated about school and therefore ignorant and unrealistic about the future and the real world. He obviously has the capacity to learn, but chooses not to. That in and of itself, could be “stupid” under the last definition I listed.

Lazy, to say the least.

no…...he is not applying himself. He is watching movies instead of studying.

Put him on a trivia show, and win some dough…that would be using his resources.that would be smart.

use your talents

Gpa is bullshit. I had a 2.3 gpa in HS, because I didn’t give a flying fuck. In college, I had 3.5. I never studied, I just already knew the subjects. Never cared about school and never will. I think real world experience is ten times more valuable than a college education. And I have both. :)

@mowens Congratulations, you found a college willing to overlook a sub-standard high school GPA. Not all will.

Haha, sorry that was a typo. 3.3 gpa in high school. Never studied.school is bs.

I should rephrase. School is BS for certain people. Everyone learns differently, and educators need to tailor their classes accordingly.

My boyfriend has a 2.2 GPA. He is majoring in Biology and working part time at a hospital laboratory. I think that he is immature because he believes that he could get into a PhD program with these grades. I tell my boyfriend that this is impossible, but he gets mad at me. He loves science fiction and fantasy novels, animals, and watching Japanese animation. He told me that he would get an A+ on any exam on these books and movies.

@mowens “Everyone learns differently, and educators need to tailor their classes accordingly.” How do you propose they do that? It is impossible to teach 25–30 people individually at the same time. Since everyone learns differently, no matter what educators do, it won’t be right for some people. How do you think they should go about tailoring their classes to each student? I’m not trying to be smart—I’m genuinely curious. Someday, I want to be a teacher, and I want to effectively reach all of my students.

@mowens Agreed. Was the same way. I put in just enough effort to pass high school, but shone when I got to college.

@MrItty From personal experiences, when you ace the SATs, and by that I mean completely max out the verbal section, colleges will overlook just about anything.

He needs to get his priorities straight. Unless he wants to spend the rest of his life working as a junior technician in a biology lab. He’ll probably need a bechelors degree to keep doing even that. At some point, we need to put away our hobbies and concentrate on earning a living, even if it means studying things we’re not terribly interested in.

@takidavaki306 Perhaps your boyfriend is studying the wrong thing. Maybe he should be studying writing and New Media.

“Smart” is awfully subjective. People are quick to say stupid, but at exactly what point does one move from one to the other? No one cares about GPA’s outside of school, I’ve yet to evaluate a candidate for a position where I even asked what their GPA was (though graduating with honors or a 4.0 can make you stand out). He’s only there for the degree, if a 2.2 gets it, that’s good enough what will mater most in the end is experience and performance on the job. If anything, I’d suggest he look into classes that blend more with his interests, take them while you’ve got the time.

no i wouldn’t think he was stupid. school is not the ultimate test of intelligence. some people don’t do well in it, especially if they aren’t going for something they are passionate about. 2.2 is a low gpa but really, if you can tell he’s not a dumbass, who cares?

I have a 3.5 GPA in college, majoring in Psychology. I have many interests outside of school, such as travel, animals, music, and cooking. Its much easier for me to remember the things that I enjoy, than forcing myself to memorize boring information for exams. I just don’t understand why my boyfriend doesn’t study at all, and thinks that he could become a research scientist with a 2.2 GPA.

I would think either he wasn’t serious about his education; he was bored of entry-level classes and could use a new challenge; he needs to evaluate his degree and see if he needs to change focus; or he simply was being an average kid.

Just because someone is not a student it doesn’t mean they’re not smart. Schools are full of brilliant square pegs that don’t fit in their round holes.

I have a 3.5 GPA, and still have plenty of time for outside interests and a social life. I love reading, yoga, traveling, nature, and music. I’m sure that I would ace any test on my hobbies.

It seems as though you have two options.

1. It appears that you have certain goals in life and your boyfriend does not. Your lives may not be heading in the same direction. Most likely this a good point to evaluate long-term compbatibility with your boyfriend.

2. Otherwise, you should encourage to him to pursue that which he cares most about. Like @rahm_sahriv suggested, maybe he should be majoring in writing and new media, rather than a subject that appears to mean absolutely nothing to him. Because if he truly cared about biology he would be pursuing it with a tad more fervor than he currently is.

I’m not sure you want an answer to your question or relationship and education advice.

I don’t think anyone should say your boyfriend is stupid. I don’t know what GPA or intelligence tests mean. Mostly I think they mean you have mastered the material, to some degree. You boyfriend is not showing his best side to graduate schools, but it is not outside the realm of possibility that he would be accepted, particularly at some of the lower tier institutions. It could also depend on what he does on the GREs or what work he does inbetween.

It sounds like you think your boyfriend is delusional. Indeed, he may be. Does he know it, or is it innocent? It sounds like you’re thinking of going to grad school, and maybe he doesn’t want to be left behind. I don’t know. But I detect hidden agendas. I hope you will raise some of the deeper issues or concerns you have with respect to this topic.

No I would not think he is stupid.

You may not share the same priorities or values in life. But, it is his life.

Only for wasting his college education.

I think anyone would ace a test on their favorite books or movies. You watch/read them several times, and you like them so much you don’t mind knowing about them. He is stupid if he thinks he can get into the PhD program with those grade and way of thinking. He has to wake up from whatever fantasy he is stuck in.

Perhaps unmotivated. College is not for everyone, and society should be okay with that. GPA is not everything. What matters is can you have a meaningful and intelligent conversation with him?

@lilikoi I disagree that that’s all that matters. It’s great if you can have a meaningful and intelligent conversation, but there’s more to life than that. There’s the ability to financially support yourself and your loved ones. Without a decent job, that’s not possible. Without a college education, a decent job is much harder to come by. With crappy high school grades, a college education is difficult to attain.

I’d say he’s smart enough but he’s lazy and unmotivated. He needs to learn some self discipline otherwise he’ll be in a dead end job for the rest of his life.

Smart is a weird word. For me, ‘smart’ can be the usual grades-smart, but also people who are fiercely and absolutely committed to their interests, and are always the best people to talk to on that subject.

My caveat is that their interests can’t be passive activities (say, just reading); they must also be the type of people who will discuss common tropes in various genres, who analyze and think about the books they read instead of merely consuming them, who write themselves, who suggest books to others, who seek to read the classics and new works because they want to broaden their knowledge, who branch out from what they usually read (say, fantasy fiction) to perhaps nonfiction…essentially, an intellectual interest that goes deeper than just a hobby.

The question is: is he actively pursuing his interests and seeking to go deeper in them, or are they just casual hobbies that he engages in because he’s too lazy to do real work? Hobbies can become work. I began writing for fun; now I discipline myself to write daily, to write more, to write better. I can’t be complacent about it. Writing is no longer an escape from my normal responsibilities as it is another set of responsibilities to deal with (albeit responsibilities I chose to have).

Selective intelligence. Academics are not important to him, movies are. I once knew a guy who was really, really dumb. Really dumb. But he could spout basketball statistics for hours clear back to the 30’s.

I think he has the wrong major. Why is he majoring in biology if he’s not interested in applying himself? Or did his high school education not prepare him for college level work? If that’s the case, he needs to spend less time with anime and movies and more with biology, or change his major.

@PandoraBoxx Good to see you! You know…when kids first hit college they major in “cool things” and often find out that’s not their real interest after all…..

He is probably bored with school. He needs to be challenged.

He may or not be “smart” but he clearly has his priorities mixed up, and poor self discipline. In addition, he is wasting money and time, which a reflection on his character.