Does this sound familiar to anyone? From a historical figure's college entrance application, we have these perspectives (name redacted by me, see if you can guess who it is before you click the link below):
X has rather superior mental ability without the deep interest in his studies or the mature viewpoint that demands of him his best effort all the time. He can be relied upon to do enough to pass. We have been and are working our hardest to develop X’s own self-interest, great enough in social life, to the point that will assure him a record in college more worth [of] his natural gifts of intelligence, likableness, and popularity.
X has a very brilliant mind for the things in which he is interested, but is careless and lacks application in those in which he is not interested. This is, of course, a bad fault.
It's worth noting that this individual eventually found something interesting enough to apply the full capacity of his brilliant mind, although family connections certainly didn't hurt. The more things change...
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