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Imagine the high school teen who has it all. We all know her. She’s the valedictorian, student body president, and when she shows up to parties, everyone knows her name.
It’s easy to imagine that she’s sure to be the real game-changer of the future. We compare her high school success to our own (or lack thereof) and are tempted to believe that we’ll never measure up. If the popular teens are destined for the limelight, will unpopular teens always have to stand in the shadow?
Well, I’m about to bust that high school popularity myth. Turns out, being a smash hit in high school doesn’t guarantee you’ll make it into the big leagues as an adult.
Karen Arnold, a researcher at Boston College, conducted a fantastic study to look at the correlation between high school and college success, and how that translates into the real world. This study was held over an extended period of time, keeping tabs on 81 high school valedictorians and salutatorians after they graduated.
She found that this sampling of valedictorians and salutatorians did well in college (averaging a GPA of 3.6%), but none of them went on to change the world, nor are any of them considered the top in their professions. Most reported being content with their lives, but it was clear that high school success, while translating to achievement in college, didn’t send them to the head of the class in the real world. Only 40% were in middle or upper-level jobs.
Here’s a different statistic to consider that came from Harvard researcher, Shawn Achor. He found that the average GPA of over 700 millionaires surveyed was 2.9 percent.
The average GPA
Not even 3.0!
Who were these millionaires?
Not the popular kids. Research done in both 1977 and 2005 seems to point out that the most popular students took average jobs while the less popular seemed to move on to better-paying jobs and found their passion outside of social interaction.
So, how do we account for this discrepancy? Arnold told Time magazine in 2017 that those who do the best after high school are often not those with the highest GPA. They are, however, the hardest workers.
“They are well-rounded and successful…but they’ve never been devoted to a single area in which they put all their passion. Valedictorians aren’t likely to be the future’s visionaries…they typically settle into the system instead of shaking it up,” she said.
Dr. Mitch Prinstein, a professor at the University of North Carolina, had researched how reputation (social status) and likability (social preference) in high school played out when it came to the success of a person’s life. His data suggests that the concept of peaking in high school is a genuine thing.
“There is some evidence to suggest that 10 years later, 20 years later, they are having some more difficulties with relationships, those that were high in status in adolescence,” Prinstein told Business Insider.
In general terms, the most popular students in high school, Prinstein concluded, are less happy and prosperous than many who were of a lower social caste because their popularity was mostly superficial, and when they left high school, they had not yet learned how to create meaningful relationships.
Most importantly though, Prinstein indicated that there are exceptions to many cases, and that these have to do with a shifting mindset later in life.
If you’re a young professional struggling to climb that social ladder, here’s my encouragement to you: Don’t! It’s not needed, I wish someone would have told me!
Focus instead on finding clarity about your passions, making real connections with friends, and getting curious about what’s possible for you in this great big world.
Don’t settle into the system; shake it up!
If you need some help along the way, consider investing in a coach or find a mentor who can give you a new perspective. Let’s have a conversation. Contact me to schedule a complimentary consultation.
