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All those things sound very boring to me.

I can offer no concrete solutions.

However, I have a friend who graduated from high school #1 of a big class and 2 years early. His mom explained that if he made at least a 1400(of 1600) on his SAT, she would buy him a new gaming computer. He then proceeded to make exactly a 1400. No more. No less.

I recommend if you haven't tried already, an iteration to this approach using a sliding scale reward system. Perhaps a gaming pc with nvidia 4060ti up to *insert parental budget* in event of a perfect SAT score.

Ofc this only works if he's a gamer. I feel this type of system can be applied in many areas though. In my view, the clever component his mother applied is that the computer he earned was not just a desirable reward... It was VERY desirable.

My parents also tried this system with me. It didn't work as well. The reward was not sizable enough. It just didn't seem worth it. Too low value. Also, I already had a job and bought my own. My parents were unwilling to budget a sufficient reward. It's gotta be something he more or less is unlikely to be able to get via other means.

Now my friend is a physician. He graduated top of his class from med school. I think he's pretty content with life.

The bored ones can be a little more trouble sometimes. Fun breed though. Best of luck.



Be careful with reward systems, as it can destroy internal motivation.

Additionally, one very important thing to learn as a young adult is how to motivate yourself to do things that have only long term payoffs.

Of course I also understand that you can take SAT only once, so as bad as that is, it’s maybe not the best time to learn a life lesson.


Is it a recent thing that you can only take it once? when I was a teenager you could take it as many times as you wanted


I was wrong. I was making assumptions


You can, but they send all your scores to colleges, not just your latest.


The problem is that there are rarely guarantees for long-term playoffs.


I scored 32 on the Act which was one of the highest scored in the high school, if not the highest. My parents thought I could do better and that it would be worth it, so they offered a new hunting rifle if I improved my score. Got a 35 on the retake and got a super nice Sako rifle and scope--IIRC a little over $1000 in 2005.


Haha well done.

I like the iterative approach. Perhaps we can ammend the test case with advice to keep the receipt for the first video card and offer an upgrade to a 4070ti on the retake or whatnot.

Or bigger/better boom stick on the retake or whatnot.


>reward system

Is a good idea if you need a (relatively) constant result because your brain adapts to the idea of getting a satisfying reward.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5geuTf8nqo (+ some other of his videos about rewards)




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