To be successful with school/colleges and professional careers you have to have commitment. I know a few people who got their BA/BS, Master, PhD just from never giving up and commit. They are not even the smartest people I know but they kept plucking away and after so many years they got it. I also know many smart people who don't have commitment and they never finish college. On top of having commitment your career or degree has to be a career that will pay well for example like medical doctors, pharmacist, Anesthesiologi st, etc.
In my experience most success people with professional careers are MOSTLY those who has a family, they got married have kids, struggle real life, went back to school and finish a degree in a career that pays well because they lived the struggle life already and don't like it.
If you have commitment you will get somewhere eventually in time. You can be a smart person but if you are to lazy to get up and do anything, you will fail. Apply commitment to most things you do and you will get somewhere. For example like starting a new sport that you have no clue about, keep practicing, learning and plucking away, commit to it and in time you will be good at it. However, commitment is like going on a diet. Only a few will have the will to commit and lose weight, the majority will cheat and fail. So yeah commitment is hard, it's very HARD.
Then again, just because you commit and in 10+ years you become a medical doctor and making good money that doesn't mean you are well-rounded and smart. It only means you learn a skill and had a job, you still need a lawyers to help when it comes to law issues and you still need a auto mechanic when it comes to fixing your car. That's why it always get me dumb-founded when I see Hmong people interviewing a Hmong doctor/official etc. and hyping him/her up like they are the smartest person. They are only good at that because they did it all their life AND some of them are not even smart at it they just commit to get the degree or job. Talk about fixing a computer and they just pause like WHAT? Anyways life goes on......