Why do some bright college students suck at their bachelor or master thesis?

[Anonymous]

[IslaTheWitch]

because learning is not the same as exploring... and a bachelor/master thesis can't be just a reflection of the existing state; it should bring something new... some work put in by the person who writes it and show a new perspective or approach or data...

[Asker]

But would smart person not be able to explore and show new perspectives?

[IslaTheWitch]

people who have good grades don't have to be smart... just good in learning theory... memorizing...

[Asker]

I only talked about grades in regards to the thesis

[Alli112]

Because it's a very specific skill set that might not be their expertise or reflective of the manner in which they're intelligent. Ex. if your strongest sill is rote memorization, then a project requiring you to synthesize new ideas might be difficult.

[Asker]

I wouldn’t refer to someone who only is good in memorization as bright

[Alli112]

I mean, there are different types of intelligence and in some classes, ex those with a ton of vocab or equations, memorization is a very useful type of intelligence. If you need an alternative example because you don't respect the first one, imagine someone who is an amazing engineer (problem solving, synthesis of ideas, systems knowledge) but they have poor writing skills. Their thesis will suffer as a result because they won't be able to express their ideas as easily.

That aside, the point is that the specific set of skills that are useful in producing a thesis are not necessarily the skills they've excelled in to succeed in their classes or that make them intelligent in general. "Bright" doesn't mean "perfect at everything".

[DannyUk2017]

Because the "devices" are more Entertaining these days, and School became Boring! So they ended up in a "zombified state", so their Brain is Wired to What's happening with/to others, rather than being concerned about them Own!

[Astarlessnightsky]

Its really challanging and hard. Its among the 5 hardest things to write. And you only write them once, so there is no learning process which could help you get better.

[jennifer_bloom]

I believe there are different types of brains. I had a friend who studied computer science and got accepted into the school based on a scholarship but when she had to write an essay for a non STEM class, it took 8 hours for he to write a single page. Me, I can easily write 18 pages a day and get 95-100% on my paper but my STEM isn't that good, I might not even be able to keep a cashier job since my math is so poor.

[kylee2437]

Because why do colleges waste time on things that have nothing to do with a persons degree?

[andy530]

Because academic writing and research are challenging

[Asker]

And exams are not?

[andy530]

They are challenging too just in different ways

[Asker]

Yeah but why would a generally intelligent student who learns fast fail at a thesis or a long term project specifically?

[Asker]

When most students get significantly better grades in their thesis than in exams?

[andy530]

Exams often test the acquisition or recall of knowledge, whereas a thesis or project like that tests, the application of knowledge. So you may know about something but struggle with how to apply or use the knowledge in ways deemed useful within a particular field of study

[Asker]

Do you think this applies to stem exams?

[Asker]

And if someone is intelligent why would they struggle to apply their knowledge?

[andy530]

Intelligence does not necessarily equate to application of knowledge