Bill Gates Skipped All His Classes But Got A's Anyway

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How do you get an A in a class you never attended? Ask Bill Gates, he knows the secret. :cool:


One Redditor asked Gates what his fondest memory was from Harvard. Interestingly, Gates explained that he never actually attended a single class he signed up for, but “almost always” received A’s anyways.
 
Geniuses and visionaries are just a different cut of folk. They don't think and act like regular people.
 
Same with me. I skipped class all the time and NEVER did homework.

Passed all tests and quizzes (except for stupid shit like poetry), SAT's, college entry exams, etc with flying colors.

137 GT score on my ASVAB, all other line scores were even higher.
 
LOL I did the same thing with some of my courses. In one case I forgot I had signed up for a course until I got an email about the final exam room being changed at the last minute. I didn't manage a 4.0, but I did pretty well and actually graduated unlike some drop outs. :) It was pretty hard to study when your roommate is the Spanish Ambassador's son and wants to party all night. The guy down the hall was the King of Norway's son... actually he was pretty normal and joined in the Warcraft LANs, but I quickly learned that attending classes was optional, especially lower division stuff. Basically you just had to show up for meetings with your GSI and pick up math work from the random locations it would be left. Seriously, they would post that problem sets could be found in "x" location and everyone would run there, make copies and destroy the originals. They would do this because grades were done on strict curve with only a certain number of As, Bs, C's and Ds... if you wanted an A or B, you had to be the most cutthroat.
 
In college I never went to a single "Math 460 - Differential Equations" class.

Before the midterm, my jackass friends told me it was on a different date, in the wrong building and room number (which turned out to be a bathroom). They had their laughs and then gave me the right info.

When I came to take the real midterm I was carded, because the professor had never seen me before, and thought I might be trying to take the test for someone else.

I - again - proceeded to never go to a class, took the final, and got an A. The only A in the class.

Everyone hated me, but at least they got their laugh around the midterm.

The end.
 
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leeleatherwood said:
137 GT score on my ASVAB, all other line scores were even higher.
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What do these things mean? What is an ASVAB? I've heard all the alphabet soups of standardized tests, SAT, ACT, GMAT, MCAT LSAT, you name it. ASVAB - however - is a new one to me.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
What do these things mean? What is an ASVAB? I've heard all the alphabet soups of standardized tests, SAT, ACT, GMAT, MCAT LSAT, you name it. ASVAB - however - is a new one to me.
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Some Armed Forces placement exam. Had an acquaintance who scored high on that test who eventually became a multi-lingual translator.
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
What do these things mean? What is an ASVAB? I've heard all the alphabet soups of standardized tests, SAT, ACT, GMAT, MCAT LSAT, you name it. ASVAB - however - is a new one to me.
Click to expand...

ASVAB is military but also has civilian uses. Its similar to an IQ test, but better. For instance its broken down into "line scores" that represent different categories. Some military specialties require above a certain score in certain categories to qualify for a job.

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 
Zarathustra[H] said:
In college I never went to a single "Math 460 - Differential Equations class."
Before the midterm, my jackass friends told me it was on a different date, in the wrong building and room number (which turned out to be a bathroom). They had their laughs and then gave me the right info.
When I came to take the real midterm I was carded, because the professor had never seen me before, and thought I might be trying to take the test for someone else.
I - again - proceeded to never go to a class, took the final, and got an A. The only A in the class.
Everyone hated me, but at least they got their laugh around the midterm.
The end.
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I did essentially this on a couple of my political science classes at UTK.
The grade in one was based solely on the mid-term and final and the other also had a term paper that had to be submitted the week before the final.

So, I basically went to class the first day to get the syllabus, went for the mid-term, turned in the paper, and went to take the final.
I knew the professor well from other classes and told him in advance that that was what I was planning to do and he had no problem with it.

Of course, this wasn't hurt by the fact that I got the highest scores (over 100, including the extra credit questions) in both classes on both the mid-terms and the finals (and, like you, I totally wrecked any chance of a curve, which made my popularity in the class such that it was probably good I wasn't there anyway).

Basically, if I didn't know the material in a class and needed to learn it, I went.
If I knew it, but still had questions, I'd go to class periodically and especially when they were covering the areas I had trouble with.
If I totally knew the material, then I wouldn't bother to go to class unless it was required (in which case I'd usually sit in the back and work on stuff for a different class while pretending to take notes).

What I really hated were classes where I knew the material backwards and forwards, but had required attendance.

The one that annoyed me most was Western Civ -- which I actually didn't take until about my final year, even though it was a freshman class (and it actually took me 7 years to graduate -- because my major wandered around from Aerospace Engineering to Political Science to Electrical Engineering to Computer Science and I accumulated around 200 semester hours, if memory serves). The professor who taught Western Civ made the class mandatory attendance and then had the gall to assign his TA, who was a couple of years younger than I was, to teach it (i.e. so he made sure we had to be there, but he never was). What made it even worse was that the TA obviously never prepared for the class, quite frankly wasn't all that well versed in Western Civ himself, and, as a result, would force people to go around the room covering the different areas we were supposed to have read since the last class (so he didn't have to). As I had already read the entire text before we started the class, having to go back and review it by sections, just to see what had actually been covered in a given section, irritated the crap out of me. Well, as I knew the material better than he did, I'm now a bit embarrassed to admit, I sort of made an ass of myself and intentionally pointed out things that he tried to gloss over when he didn't know them and made sure to ask questions that took the discussions in directions he wasn't prepared for (basically, making him look like an idiot most days). I got an A out of the class, but it was only because the professor had to assign the final grades, and with my test scores, he didn't have much of a choice. In retrospect, I feel sorry for the TA -- but if he had actually taken the time to learn the material he was supposedly teaching better himself, I wouldn't have given him nearly as much grief.
 
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Required attendance is BS. That is speaking as someone who attends almost all his classes unless I was not able to.
 
TheCommander said:
Don't be jealous that everyone here is a genius and master at everything.
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See, that part never bothered me. It's if they are assholes as well.....and the ones who are, know who they are, and don't give a crap. They like annoying other people. That part bothers me a bit, but I just don't read their comments.
 
Uvaman2 said:
All this tells me is that harvard is a POS university.
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hey, cruz was top dog on harvard law debate team, & he was borderline incoherent in a couple of the presidential candidate debates. even for the ivy league tier, a test score...or worse...who you know...matters most. its been like that to certain extents for a long time

nightfly said:
See, that part never bothered me. It's if they are assholes as well
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let people have their hobbies
 
This is a perfect example of why successful business men are rarely good examples to give your children, if what you want them to do is stick it out in school. Bill Gates, Richard Branson, Kirk Kerkorian, Francois Pinault... smart, driven people they may be, but good students they were not.

That said, school may help make you successful, but with the exception of Elon Musk in recent years, it is not likely to lead to changing the world.
 
Wrecked Em said:
pencil
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Would you like to play a game?

The majority of my courses had attendance sign in sheets and pop quizzes to deter individuals who were capable of understanding the content without actually attending. Maybe the profs feeling would be hurt if they were not indispensable.
 
leeleatherwood said:
Same with me. I skipped class all the time and NEVER did homework.

Passed all tests and quizzes (except for stupid shit like poetry), SAT's, college entry exams, etc with flying colors.

137 GT score on my ASVAB, all other line scores were even higher.
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A 137 on your ASVAB? You exceeded the best score possible for 40 points....
 
leeleatherwood said:
ASVAB is military but also has civilian uses. Its similar to an IQ test, but better. For instance its broken down into "line scores" that represent different categories. Some military specialties require above a certain score in certain categories to qualify for a job.

Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Click to expand...

Maybe they've changed the ASVAB since I took it, but when I took it in the mid 80's it was mind numbingly simple. I was shocked when I went through AF Basic training and saw all the composite ASVAB scores on the roster sheet. There were two of us out of 50 that had 98 / 99 percentile scores and the rest were typically 80 or lower, some much lower.
 
nightfly said:
See, that part never bothered me. It's if they are assholes as well.....and the ones who are, know who they are, and don't give a crap. They like annoying other people. That part bothers me a bit, but I just don't read their comments.
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I try to only be an asswhole to be people who deserve it. :D
Like to university TA's who couldn't be bothered to learn the material themselves when they were supposed to be teaching it to a class..... or to professors who make attendance mandatory and then assign the class to their TA's and never come to the class themselves.
 
verncat05 said:
A 137 on your ASVAB? You exceeded the best score possible for 40 points....
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The GT is a combination of multiple scores; as an ANGer myself, I don't know what mine would be, I'd have to look up my score sheet which may have that information, but the GT score is itself not part of 99-point scale.

Raffin said:
Maybe they've changed the ASVAB since I took it, but when I took it in the mid 80's it was mind numbingly simple. I was shocked when I went through AF Basic training and saw all the composite ASVAB scores on the roster sheet. There were two of us out of 50 that had 98 / 99 percentile scores and the rest were typically 80 or lower, some much lower.
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I was one of those 98 out of 99ers, pissed the Army guys off when I decided that maybe I shouldn't join the infantry, or the Army period ;).
 
Raffin said:
Maybe they've changed the ASVAB since I took it, but when I took it in the mid 80's it was mind numbingly simple. I was shocked when I went through AF Basic training and saw all the composite ASVAB scores on the roster sheet. There were two of us out of 50 that had 98 / 99 percentile scores and the rest were typically 80 or lower, some much lower.
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Just like with IQ tests, where the average is 100.
That means that half the people you pass on the street have an IQ of less than 100.
Once you realize that, it starts to make sense why so many people behave the way they do.

Both my wife and I have fairly high IQ's, and she always had problem understanding the decisions some people make until I explained that to her :)
 
nutzo said:
Just like with IQ tests, where the average is 100.
That means that half the people you pass on the street have an IQ of less than 100.
Once you realize that, it starts to make sense why so many people behave the way they do.

Both my wife and I have fairly high IQ's, and she always had problem understanding the decisions some people make until I explained that to her :)
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Ugghhh. Even though I am aware of this, it still boggles my mind at how stupid people can be and act.

Maybe I should actually take an IQ test at some point, but never really saw the real reason to do so.
 
I will say this:

There are courses that you can take and become proficient from just a text.

However there are those that are more involved that it would take too much effort for little return to remember all the information.

Mr. Gates just did his homework.
 
nutzo said:
Just like with IQ tests, where the average is 100.
That means that half the people you pass on the street have an IQ of less than 100.
Once you realize that, it starts to make sense why so many people behave the way they do.

Both my wife and I have fairly high IQ's, and she always had problem understanding the decisions some people make until I explained that to her :)
Click to expand...

Yep. And once you really understand this, it really explains a lot -- like the current Presidential race.
I, for one, wish they would bring back poll tests before they let you vote. If someone can't prove they have at least some absolutely basic understanding of what they are voting on, then they have no business voting.
 
nutzo said:
Just like with IQ tests, where the average is 100.
That means that half the people you pass on the street have an IQ of less than 100.
Once you realize that, it starts to make sense why so many people behave the way they do.

Both my wife and I have fairly high IQ's, and she always had problem understanding the decisions some people make until I explained that to her :)
Click to expand...

IQ can give "some" insight about a person's thinking but overall IQ is pretty meaningless. It is very hard to quantify intelligence, logic, abilities, desire to learn, etc... You will find many people with high IQs who make dumb decisions and act like idiots. You will also find people with below average IQs who make better decisions than people with high IQs.
 
I passed school, but didn't really do homework. I did excellent on the tests, though, and my SAT. Teachers chalked it up to being lazy. I passed, though. Not great grades, but passing.

In reality, though, I was just lazy. I knew the stuff I just didn't want to do the repetitive homework to prove it. It showed in my grades, and I almost didn't graduate. My senior year, I went from C's & D's (A's in computers and science, always, though. Those were fun and I did homework) to A's & B's. I knew the material, and I was determined to graduate.

I was a lazy fuck in high school. I got better, though. :)
 
TheCommander said:
IQ can give "some" insight about a person's thinking but overall IQ is pretty meaningless. It is very hard to quantify intelligence, logic, abilities, desire to learn, etc... You will find many people with high IQs who make dumb decisions and act like idiots. You will also find people with below average IQs who make better decisions than people with high IQs.
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I will only partially agree with you on this. While you can find exceptions, everything else being the same, the person with a higher IQ will usually make smarter decisions. Where this breaks down is when people have very high IQ's (the .01%). Many have problems relating to others and the real world as their brains just don't work the same.
 
nutzo said:
I will only partially agree with you on this. While you can find exceptions, everything else being the same, the person with a higher IQ will usually make smarter decisions. Where this breaks down is when people have very high IQ's (the .01%). Many have problems relating to others and the real world as their brains just don't work the same.
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We had a gal that was extremely proud (she'd tell everyone) that she was a member of Mensa and had a high IQ. She was one of the worst when it came to calling for support. She'd disconnect everything with her PC and reconnect but do it wrong. Or not plug something in. Or fuck with our AP's (Ubiquiti, so the AP had a POE adapter, she swapped the cables so the POE went to the switch and the other port went to the AP). She was a moron with a lot of things. She just thought she was a genius. She tried to troubleshoot and figure things out, but it was always a square peg in a round hole with her. Not just with computers. She doesn't work here anymore...
 
mdburkey said:
Yep. And once you really understand this, it really explains a lot -- like the current Presidential race.
I, for one, wish they would bring back poll tests before they let you vote. If someone can't prove they have at least some absolutely basic understanding of what they are voting on, then they have no business voting.
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Oh, me too. The dumb masses should not be allowed to vote.

Allowing uninformed "voters" to vote is like putting a toddler in a racecar and expecting them to survive the Daytona 500 when 98% of the other drivers are also toddlers.
 
My college required a more than 50% attendance rate or they would drop you :|

So I dropped them..
 
mdburkey said:
Yep. And once you really understand this, it really explains a lot -- like the current Presidential race.
I, for one, wish they would bring back poll tests before they let you vote. If someone can't prove they have at least some absolutely basic understanding of what they are voting on, then they have no business voting.
Click to expand...

And this is one of the reasons they used to limit voting to land owners.
 
cyclone3d said:
Oh, me too. The dumb masses should not be allowed to vote.

Allowing uninformed "voters" to vote is like putting a toddler in a racecar and expecting them to survive the Daytona 500 when 98% of the other drivers are also toddlers.
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If you start setting bars, they will be manipulated for political gain, and that destroys the democratic process. Yes, it's annoying that not everyone is informed- but many who are 'informed' are rather much misinformed, and given that a vote in an election is based on a prediction or belief of what a particular person will do when they get into office- whether they will or won't, or even can- even being informed doesn't mean a whole lot in the end.

Better to keep participation open and deal with the consequences; if the situation becomes egregious, the people will express it with their votes, i.e. packing every legislative body across the country with conservatives of all types after Obama whined about 'obstruction' (also known as checks and balances working as intended) and proclaimed that he'd start using executive orders to enact his 'policies'.
 
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