Learning about your cognitive profile

Depending on where you live, you may or may not have exposure to students who are as strong as you, or stronger than you. If you don't have exposure to such students, it can be hard to gauge how your skills compare with those of students nationwide. It's important to get a sense for this, in order to assess whether you're meeting your potential. You may be getting A's in most of your classes. If you're in this position, you know that you're doing well relative to your classmates. But you don't know how well you're doing relative to what you're capable of or relative to your future college classmates.

In order to assess your potential, consider having your IQ tested by a psychologist, who can administer a test such as the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales, Fifth Edition.