Research Reveals That Freshmen in College Know Everything, Even More Than Professors

On an amazing campus such as John Brown University, it is often difficult to define any one group as the best in a certain field. Thankfully, in our attempt to search for the most intelligent student group, we faced hardly any difficulties. The answer was made very clear after few interactions with JBU students and faculty.

After speaking with the people of JBU, our results show that the most intelligent people here are the freshmen. Furthermore, our research revealed that pretty much every college freshman is already aware of this fact, unlike upperclassmen and professors. This only provides even more evidence that freshmen are more knowledgeable than their older peers and teachers.

“It may be hard to admit as an upperclassman,” one freshman student says. “Trust me, I understand. I was a senior in high school last year.” She advised the upperclassmen listening that part of their problem could simply be their pride. This gracious student quickly offered her help for anyone who wanted to work on humility, as she believed she’d mastered this characteristic.

However, some people take a little more convincing; it may be hard to believe that mere eighteen-year-olds, right out of high school, could be more college-ready than experienced college students. To grasp how this could be true, we looked again to the freshmen. Eager to provide upperclassmen with an easy-to-understand explanation, one freshman student enlightened us: “So, basically, I took college courses while I was in high school.” That’s right. College classes—but in high school.

This phenomenon, commonly known by the names AP, CLEP, and dual credit, is increasing in popularity among high-schoolers. As confirmed by many freshmen themselves, AP classes are the most challenging classes out there—basically graduate-school concepts for extraordinary high-school students. This explanation not only provides evidence of these students’ sheer intelligence, it also speaks to their credibility. Simply put, any freshman who has taken a college level class while still in high school has legitimate grounds to call out any professor for teaching incorrect information in a class.

Many freshmen find that they receive higher grades than those older than them who are in more difficult classes. The key to their success? “Prioritize school above everything else,” a male freshman explains. “I even slip in fifteen minutes of social time to reward myself if I work for six hours straight.” He also reported that he has been running on four hours of sleep for the past two nights, and questions, “Why haven’t I been doing this the whole time?”

This student doesn’t appear to be the only freshman who places such a high value on school. In a poll given to JBU students regarding the JBU library, a shocking 95 percent of freshman said the library was for “studying”. The other five percent said “sleeping”. In contrast, almost every upperclassman said the library was for “socializing”. It appears that studyingin the library rather than socializingdoes help these freshman in their academic pursuits.

It really is a mystery why more upperclassmen and professors don’t look to freshmen for advice. Whether it’s a problem with the stigma attached to asking a freshman for help or the ego earned alongside earning a PhD, it’s time to stop ignoring the true Einsteins of JBU—and perhaps even the world—the young.

The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author. They do not claim to reflect the opinions or views of the Defendant or its staff members.