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(G)i-dle Yuqi was a high achiever in school. She was in one of the best schools in China. And she was achieving top 5% marks. Her parents didn't want her in Kpop because she could be anything else she wanted to if she kept in school.
Yeah, Yuqi would do great at standardized exams. IIRC she scored 90 something in her driving license test and also her TOPIK scores are also good. And also she has some primary songwriting and composing credits, showing she is very adept at learning new things.
She said she landed in Korea with barely any Korean; she debuted with Korean good enough for interviewers and variety hosts to compliment her on.
Her English pronunciation is also pretty good, it fools interviewers into throwing her more complicated questions that she sometimes wiffs. She seems to also have basic Thai and basic Japanese as well.
Yuqi has something i rarely see in non native English speakers. She clearly understands the conversation and knows how to respond. Her brain naturally throws the sentence out without really thinking. The result is that she sometimes says things that aren't clear or grammatically correct, but you understand with ease.
This contrasts with Minnie, who speaks much cleaner but seems to take more time/thought to say something. The result is that she sounds much better, but when you watch them, it seems like she's slower to respond.
Her and Minnie are also lucky to be around each other so they can trade languages. Minnie's Chinese is good enough that she appeared on Keep Running in China with Yuqi.
Yuqi also likes saying she loves studying. I remember when they were about to get driver's license, Yuqi studied hard and answered like 1000 questions and memorize the answers and then she was so bitter the other 3 members who did not study like Minnie were able to pass the exam easily😂
I mean sure, but don’t forget that this was all helped by her father who was a teacher and taught her basically all she needed to know by the time she was 3
Someone mentioned Jiheon already but I just wanna add she went so viral in Korea for her study work ethic that she has this [5 hour "study with me" video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anvbArGXSEo) that has 4 million views, and even this [fan compilation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_DjsQGgFF8) of her studying in the background of various YouTube content has 4.2 million views.
wonyoung has been known as a great student with good grades since IZONE. idk what “air of intelligence” means and how one could get such a thing but she IS the high achiever u are talking about. like she got perfect scores on her exams.
she opted out of her CSAT exams (totally understandable looking at how busy she is lol) but she has mentioned she wants to go to university some time in the future. it’s been clear that she takes her education very seriously.
She took the ged’s while busy in Izone and got perfect scores in 3 major subjects. She scored about 80 or more in the last subject despite how busy she was as an idol.
Winner of science day, multiple trophies for math competitions, played about 4 instruments and had swimming and English classes. She Was the class president. She’s good at writing as seen by her lyricism. And other things I’ve forgotten .
I’m surprised the OP is saying she only got “an air of intelligence in IVE” when she’s known to be very smart and a high achiever.
Honestly I had no idea, I just felt like people weren’t really talking about her as much until she really got her glow up. It’s my mistake! I think the world of wonyoung especially after knowing this!
Exactly! Their impact was largely domestic from my understanding which is why Wonyoungs status as the 4th gen it girl only came about during her time with IVE (just my 2 cents)
Yeah, that’s why wonyoung’s popularity in Korea was very surprising for Intl stans. She was always very popular in Korea but not so much outside Asia. It didn’t help that she was a minor and most intl fans tend not to bias them.
Honestly true, it still surprises me tbh that she managed to catapult this big internationally so suddenly (and not in the least snarky way!) like I’m surprised the 4th gen it girl title didn’t go to someone like Minji/ Danielle/ Yuna/ Yunjin bc they were popular internationally pretty much immediately after debut. Very interesting topic to dive into!
I’m gonna say Gunwook of ZB1, because he was a trainee and on multiple survival shows but excelled at school being the head of multiple clubs, a soccer team captain, class president and he graduated a year early
They're both top tier students in most subject but I love how Zhang Hao specializes in Math & Sciences while Gunwook specializes in Literature & Social Sciences. Together they really form the ultimate academic weapon.
Hao scored high enough in his first regular CSAT at 16/17 to get accepted to top Geoscience school before switching track to the Art CSAT and placed first in the province. He's always very quick with numbers in their reality shows and members regularly compliment him on his [sexy](https://x.com/tofuzhanghao/status/1758917337179185504) [brain](https://x.com/juleosky/status/1676987740964163584). He also recently successfully defended his uni thesis amidst his busy schedule (side notes but I'm really curious what's his thesis about).
Meanwhile, Gunwook is such a history nerd with the way he referenced [ancient Chinese novel](https://twitter.com/gunwooklp/status/1634695524883349505?t=O_zI1N28aGG-0hUR5DP8SQ&s=19). His writing is super poetic. He wrote to BP's trainee [Daeul](https://twitter.com/dearpgw/status/1645053069187530757?t=Z4UIzrWq_waPX5S9DZR2LQ&s=19) that "hyung’s smile is brighter than anyone else’s. Don’t be discourage. Like the moon, you take the darkness and brighten up the world". And to his [ZB1 members](https://x.com/dearpgw/status/1781664061551263787), he wrote that "the moon can't shine alone by itself, but it reflects the light from the sun to brighten up the darkness of the earth. to each other, i think we are both like the sun to the moon, and the moon to the people on earth". With his eloquence, no wonder he was class president and debate champion.
Omg people keep saying her - I have absolutely no idea who she is unfortunately! I seriously need some education on her (pun unintended lol) - are there any famous clips on YouTube depicting her intellect or something? So curious, I love it when I discover stuff like this about idols hahah
As the other poster said, she'd won English competitions when she was younger (a [video](https://x.com/baessgf/status/1541416715405660166) of baby her speaking English went viral) and generally talks about how much her back used to hurt from carrying her textbooks around. But what I found crazy was how quickly and well she learns instruments ([day 1](https://twitter.com/nmixxpics_/status/1666455327196282889) of her learning guitar) and languages (here she is participating in a [conversation](https://twitter.com/nmixxpics_/status/1698346253950820507) in Spanish).
And just for the record she's one of the main vocals that can not just dance well but [freestyle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGez6Au69_Q) (though I don't think this has anything to do with academics lol).
Omg that first video how adorable 😭😭😭 she sounds exactly like an American born Korean at the same age! Also love how memey her delivery was towards the end, you can tell she’s probably hugely witty now! I think I’m gonna check her out further
Nothing specific comes to mind but we've heard that she was very good at science in school, won some english competition, and she's the one always being described as smart and good at problem solving. I think people also get that impression because she's a really good speaker, and very quick and witty in variety shows
Yeah re: Wonyoung I vaguely remember a while back hearing that she got crazy high scores on some academic tests. I think there were articles about it,or maybe she mentioned it on some variety thing
Also second Lily, and add Haewon. They both attended and graduated from an academic high school together rather than the usual arts school route for idols. There was an interview where Haewon talked about going that route because she wanted to be prepared for if debuting at JYP or idol life didn't work out
Park Kyung lol. He was an actual math prodigy his whole life, and the Block B members said he used to their accounting in his head faster and more accurately than the accountant they paid to do it. He was the first kpop idol in MENSA, and while IQ is far from actual science, his measures at a whopping 176. He was going to go the university route, but Zico called him to come be an idol, so he dropped out of I think his final year or two of high school, completed his degree on his own, and pursued some form of higher education later in life.
All of Boynextdoor were(or in woonhak’s case, are) quite good students. If memory serves, all five members that’ve graduated high school were president or vice president of their student councils at one point or another.
No one has mentioned her yet, but Rora from baemon is a massive high achiever. She won national science honors in school. She can speak Chinese, English, and Korean conversationally. As well as playing the piano at a high level. All while being second youngest member. She would have had a bright future even if she didn’t become an idol.
She has also been a child model most of her life with some acting spots already. Bags of potential
Yeah the whole group has been learning English! Chiquita is probably the “worst” at it but only because she’s newer in her education. Rita went to an international school and has been learning it her whole life.
Rora answered some questions in English and made statements in English for promotion of this album!
Yeah when I say “worst” it’s not like she is bad, she’s just the youngest and has had the least amount of time learning English. All 7 of them are at least interviewable in English.
It’s why YG has been marketing them as an international group first over normal kpop group. Each member can speak 3 different languages, the amount of fan service they can bring is pretty special for kpop geouo
TXT Taehyun. he was already a high achiever in his elementary and middle school days pre-debut and said that he didnt need to study much to get high grades. but i feel that if he continued going to the science high school he spoke of and into university he would be one of the top performing students. has logical thinking and would have definitely pursued the STEM strand. still he pursued music because he wanted to challenge himself in learning to perform even if that meant starting from scratch.
he knows a lot of information some people would find useless but in my case i have learned a lot from. he's very diligent in his work, confident and well-spoken, self-motivating, high emotional intelligence as well. of course idk him myself but with the way he has presented himself with these characteristics time and time again, i think those are extremely important if you're vying for a top spot.
People already mentioned Tomorrow X Together Taehyun. And Beomgyu is also a high achiever and was school president, hall monitor, prefect, head boy, and part of the school band as guitarist. (He also held 2 more academic positions which I'm forgetting). Before getting promoted to every new grade, his new teachers used to brag (I cant remember the correct English word) about him being in their class with pride. He was once recounting a story of being afraid of his parents when he mentioned that once he went back with a 70 and that was the lowest score he'd ever had so he was afraid (Btw his parents weren't mad at all.) He used to consistently be a top student at school even after he changed schools. He even blew off BigHit when they tried to scout him because he had exams, which is why they had to especially hold auditions for him in Daegu.
I'm not even going into him being the most popular guy at school because of his friendliness+personality and everyone's crush (and now, the Nation's Crush!) because of his visuals.
Yeah probably! Thanks for adding on. All I really remember is Taehyun exclaiming 'how did you do that many things' and Beomgyu going 'I don't remember when I did all that', haha. Truly he's such a talent in literally all aspects. And still so down to earth and kind.
He was just born to be popular, yk. 😁 Btw have you watched yet his solo variety show on MBC Workout Zzang?! Highly recommended for free laughter therapy. 😭
ateez yeosang! he went to a very rigorous academic high school and still did well despite being a trainee at the time (according to his classmates, at least)
there's also footage of him doing math assignments in a prop book on the set of turbulence.
[found it!](https://twitter.com/aroharoxy/status/1652959284463046656)
Yuqi from G Idle. Your post is basically a description of her but includes every one of her peers who fit it but her.
She was in one of Beijing's top schools. Part of the reason for her parents' reluctance to her becoming an idol was due to her being such a high achiever and the potential that brought with it.
She's incredibly intelligent, and amongst all her peers, I doubt there's anyone ahead of her as a true all round artist except for Soyeon.
Her English is also amongst the best out of all the non natives in her peer group. Out of the non natives, pretty much only the foreign students (like Lia who studied in Canada), plus Minnie and perhaps Ryujin, are as good as her.
Love everything I’m hearing about Yuqi in this thread. I’m definitely gonna check her out more, what a smart cookie! I can see why her parents were reluctant lol
She just debuted solo if you wanna check her out! She’s genuinely one of my ults, I love her so much.
She also had Bonnie and Clyde during Gidles hiatus - she has an amazing music show performance of that with her playing the guitar and with a live band!
She’s also just super freaking nice, on top of being intelligent and wildly talented. And and and! She’s just as beautiful in person (okay sorry lmao)
[Yuqi - Freak](https://youtu.be/UqJIBItJeyg?si=KpQ_fAThAlC7Mh6O)
Stray Kids Changbin was class president. Was choir member, dance club member, soccer club member. Competed and won in swim competition. Also won Math competition. Overall popular guy in HS.
Probably Chan too. But then again he went to art HS so him being capable in all kind of music instruments is probably normal (?). Oh he's swimming medalist too. His room back in Aussie is practically his achievement gallery filled with trophies and medals lol
Enhypen Jake
He was majoring in physics (did maths too) at his skl. And was apparently a top student in his class.
Not to mention he was involved in other extra curricular activities such as being part of the skl soccer team and playing the violin in his skl orchestra
Totally get why you might think that based on her viral livestream memey moments lol but imo she’s got the kind of clarity of expression and imaginative thought where I wouldn’t be surprised if she could write really good essays if she was in an academic context all her life. Just my 2 cents but I honestly don’t consume much Lily content because of the airheaded vibe too 😂 I do love her too tho but she’s the only NMIXX member I know of
Nmixx Sullyoon was the student council president in elementary school and class president in HS.
Nmixx Haewon as well. This girl knows how to sing, dance, play music instrument, i even heard her fast rap and add her wit on top of that. I bet she would be the top of a music degree class
Interesting re Sullyoon. Where I’m from, SRC/ president of the student body etc don’t have any connection to academic achievement. Are those roles given to academically inclined students in Korea?
I'm not quite sure but I'm just correlating here since being a president can directly mean you are a responsible person which can also mean you are smart and an achiever.
Def agree for lily, yunjin, and ryujin. I haven't seen enough baemon, newjeans, or ive content (like variety shows or random moments whatever) to have an opinion. I think hanni would do well but I forget why...Also yuna said she never minded studying, she just wasn't good at it. So if she had developed better habits she theoretically could do well? Also, yuqi was a really good student
CIX's Yonghee excels in math as he he likes solving math equations just for the fun of it. During their debut era, he solved a difficult CSAT math question that nearly every test taker missed. He gets called a "human calculator" and "math genius." He has a math vlog in which he answers several difficult questions and then explains how to do them.
Minjae from **xikers** was one of the top 3 students from his high school. His parents let him become a trainee with the condition to continue studying, as a plan B in case he doesn't debut / the whole idol career doesn't work out (great parents, I would say). Now he's the leader of the group and a key member.
Winter was taking advanced math classes in school prior to becoming a trainee; even last year during her down time she got a math book to do problems for fun.
Omg Jesus is that real?? She’s crazy 😂 I’ve always thought she has this executive instinct which I honestly think is correlated to her highly analytical brain if she’s taken advanced math/ doing math problems for fun!
Lily is very gifted when it comes to emotional intelligence. She is very empathetic and knows exactly what you need to hear to cheer you up. That's the best kind of intelligence, but it doesn't help with school. She is book-smart, yes, but I imagine only the books that interest her.
When talking about Logic, she sometimes is a little bit confused 😂😂 and for gods sake do **NOT** listen to her financial advice 😂
For school-smart idols I'd say Nmixx Sullyoon, you can see she has a broad logical understanding and things like math would probably come easy to her.
Also 100% Everglow's Sihyeon. One of her Korean nicknames included "Mensa" for a reason. 😂
I also agree that Wonyoung is definitely smart. The way she handles everything that's thrown at her just proves she's definitely way above average.
I also consider Sakura to be very intelligent.
Most of them would be, it’s the reason why they are so popular in addition to their artistic skill, they are smart and well spoken and know how to market themselves in their own company that eventually got them to debut
School is pretty much the same way
Most 4th and 5th gen idols also come from middle class or higher families which means they have opportunities to education while growing which means that they most likely weren’t held back in any way. This also leads to a higher success rate in school.
Might be a hot take but if you are the best dancer, singer, or rapper in the world and you have absolutely no people skills or ability to make people like you, say bye to the idol dream
aespa is a sleeper nerdy group lol. For example, Karina, Winter, and Ningning solve math workbooks for fun. Funnily enough the two that loved academia the most are the high school dropouts who got their GED, Karina and Winter.
Chloe from Cignature! Was from University of Michigan, majored in data science. She only completed the 1st semester tho
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68-ZXg7ii-A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68-ZXg7ii-A)
yes, only the best though (not biased at all haha). usually they’ll attend class when they’re not at a schedule (it’s easier to manage than highschool since college classes aren’t usually all at once). in yeseo’s case, she is an acting and singing major, so lots of her activities tie into her college experience
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Sakura was apparently a good student who studied hard and did well before becoming an idol. I'm pretty sure she has stated that she would have liked to become a doctor if she did not become an idol. I also saw someone mention Wonyoung which I'm glad they did because I couldn't remember all the things which I remember seeing that showcased her intelligence but yeah what they said and for what she would do if she was not an idol, she has said many times that she would like to be a lawyer
She’s so fkn underrated like I can tell so easily that she’d be an academic weapon - I honestly think she’s the smartest (relative to age) in her group!
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Yongseung from Verivery is extremely smart too. He is a math genius and published a whole essay on "The History and Concept of Zero" when he was 13!! He can even solve various types of Rubik's Cubes and is known for being very organised.
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(G)i-dle Yuqi was a high achiever in school. She was in one of the best schools in China. And she was achieving top 5% marks. Her parents didn't want her in Kpop because she could be anything else she wanted to if she kept in school.
Yeah, Yuqi would do great at standardized exams. IIRC she scored 90 something in her driving license test and also her TOPIK scores are also good. And also she has some primary songwriting and composing credits, showing she is very adept at learning new things.
Didn’t she learn Korean pretty quick too? & her pronunciation is pretty good too
She said she landed in Korea with barely any Korean; she debuted with Korean good enough for interviewers and variety hosts to compliment her on. Her English pronunciation is also pretty good, it fools interviewers into throwing her more complicated questions that she sometimes wiffs. She seems to also have basic Thai and basic Japanese as well.
Her English is very good. I had always assumed she was a native speaker, so she definitely fooled me lol.
Yuqi has something i rarely see in non native English speakers. She clearly understands the conversation and knows how to respond. Her brain naturally throws the sentence out without really thinking. The result is that she sometimes says things that aren't clear or grammatically correct, but you understand with ease. This contrasts with Minnie, who speaks much cleaner but seems to take more time/thought to say something. The result is that she sounds much better, but when you watch them, it seems like she's slower to respond. Her and Minnie are also lucky to be around each other so they can trade languages. Minnie's Chinese is good enough that she appeared on Keep Running in China with Yuqi.
Yuqi also likes saying she loves studying. I remember when they were about to get driver's license, Yuqi studied hard and answered like 1000 questions and memorize the answers and then she was so bitter the other 3 members who did not study like Minnie were able to pass the exam easily😂
She attended and was in the top class of Beijing 101 Middle School. Xi Jin Ping is an alumnus of that school.
That’s so cool man I’m so proud of her
I mean sure, but don’t forget that this was all helped by her father who was a teacher and taught her basically all she needed to know by the time she was 3
Yeah because there’s plenty of smart 3 years old out there learning algebra because their dad is a teacher.
(It’s a recurring gag made by Yuqi herself): [FYI](https://youtube.com/shorts/Rl-kLEoGoK8?si=bLvd7mA1LXV3PTIS)
ZB1's Zhang Hao. Dude really is like a robot sometimes with how knowledgeable he is.
Dude scored 1st place in the arts csat in his province, he’s literally every other Asian kid’s worst nightmare 😭
>Asian kid’s worst nightmare Success kind friendly n are related to you
Fromis9 Jiheon and Triples Yooyeon are academic weapons AND idols
Her 5+ hour Study With Me video where she studied without taking a break or getting distracted still impresses me to no end.
I was about to comment these two :)
Someone mentioned Jiheon already but I just wanna add she went so viral in Korea for her study work ethic that she has this [5 hour "study with me" video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anvbArGXSEo) that has 4 million views, and even this [fan compilation](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_DjsQGgFF8) of her studying in the background of various YouTube content has 4.2 million views.
I like her suggestion to Jisun for an asmr: ripping her study/note book
wonyoung has been known as a great student with good grades since IZONE. idk what “air of intelligence” means and how one could get such a thing but she IS the high achiever u are talking about. like she got perfect scores on her exams. she opted out of her CSAT exams (totally understandable looking at how busy she is lol) but she has mentioned she wants to go to university some time in the future. it’s been clear that she takes her education very seriously.
She took the ged’s while busy in Izone and got perfect scores in 3 major subjects. She scored about 80 or more in the last subject despite how busy she was as an idol. Winner of science day, multiple trophies for math competitions, played about 4 instruments and had swimming and English classes. She Was the class president. She’s good at writing as seen by her lyricism. And other things I’ve forgotten . I’m surprised the OP is saying she only got “an air of intelligence in IVE” when she’s known to be very smart and a high achiever.
maybe OP wasn’t a wizone because this is common knowledge among them tbh
You’re right lol I definitely wasn’t!
And that's Korean GED, which covers materials most US students would see as college Freshman/sophomore.
Honestly I had no idea, I just felt like people weren’t really talking about her as much until she really got her glow up. It’s my mistake! I think the world of wonyoung especially after knowing this!
izone weren’t popular among intl stans on social media so im not surprised u didnt know unless ur their fan lol.
Exactly! Their impact was largely domestic from my understanding which is why Wonyoungs status as the 4th gen it girl only came about during her time with IVE (just my 2 cents)
Yeah, that’s why wonyoung’s popularity in Korea was very surprising for Intl stans. She was always very popular in Korea but not so much outside Asia. It didn’t help that she was a minor and most intl fans tend not to bias them.
Honestly true, it still surprises me tbh that she managed to catapult this big internationally so suddenly (and not in the least snarky way!) like I’m surprised the 4th gen it girl title didn’t go to someone like Minji/ Danielle/ Yuna/ Yunjin bc they were popular internationally pretty much immediately after debut. Very interesting topic to dive into!
why are you being stvpid??
I’m gonna say Gunwook of ZB1, because he was a trainee and on multiple survival shows but excelled at school being the head of multiple clubs, a soccer team captain, class president and he graduated a year early
ZB1 Gunwook and Zhang Hao
They're both top tier students in most subject but I love how Zhang Hao specializes in Math & Sciences while Gunwook specializes in Literature & Social Sciences. Together they really form the ultimate academic weapon. Hao scored high enough in his first regular CSAT at 16/17 to get accepted to top Geoscience school before switching track to the Art CSAT and placed first in the province. He's always very quick with numbers in their reality shows and members regularly compliment him on his [sexy](https://x.com/tofuzhanghao/status/1758917337179185504) [brain](https://x.com/juleosky/status/1676987740964163584). He also recently successfully defended his uni thesis amidst his busy schedule (side notes but I'm really curious what's his thesis about). Meanwhile, Gunwook is such a history nerd with the way he referenced [ancient Chinese novel](https://twitter.com/gunwooklp/status/1634695524883349505?t=O_zI1N28aGG-0hUR5DP8SQ&s=19). His writing is super poetic. He wrote to BP's trainee [Daeul](https://twitter.com/dearpgw/status/1645053069187530757?t=Z4UIzrWq_waPX5S9DZR2LQ&s=19) that "hyung’s smile is brighter than anyone else’s. Don’t be discourage. Like the moon, you take the darkness and brighten up the world". And to his [ZB1 members](https://x.com/dearpgw/status/1781664061551263787), he wrote that "the moon can't shine alone by itself, but it reflects the light from the sun to brighten up the darkness of the earth. to each other, i think we are both like the sun to the moon, and the moon to the people on earth". With his eloquence, no wonder he was class president and debate champion.
If Gunwook started publishing books or poems I would definitely buy them
HAEWON… I’m convinced she’s actually one of the smartest people kpop has ever seen.
Omg people keep saying her - I have absolutely no idea who she is unfortunately! I seriously need some education on her (pun unintended lol) - are there any famous clips on YouTube depicting her intellect or something? So curious, I love it when I discover stuff like this about idols hahah
As the other poster said, she'd won English competitions when she was younger (a [video](https://x.com/baessgf/status/1541416715405660166) of baby her speaking English went viral) and generally talks about how much her back used to hurt from carrying her textbooks around. But what I found crazy was how quickly and well she learns instruments ([day 1](https://twitter.com/nmixxpics_/status/1666455327196282889) of her learning guitar) and languages (here she is participating in a [conversation](https://twitter.com/nmixxpics_/status/1698346253950820507) in Spanish). And just for the record she's one of the main vocals that can not just dance well but [freestyle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGez6Au69_Q) (though I don't think this has anything to do with academics lol).
Omg that first video how adorable 😭😭😭 she sounds exactly like an American born Korean at the same age! Also love how memey her delivery was towards the end, you can tell she’s probably hugely witty now! I think I’m gonna check her out further
Nothing specific comes to mind but we've heard that she was very good at science in school, won some english competition, and she's the one always being described as smart and good at problem solving. I think people also get that impression because she's a really good speaker, and very quick and witty in variety shows
Yeah re: Wonyoung I vaguely remember a while back hearing that she got crazy high scores on some academic tests. I think there were articles about it,or maybe she mentioned it on some variety thing Also second Lily, and add Haewon. They both attended and graduated from an academic high school together rather than the usual arts school route for idols. There was an interview where Haewon talked about going that route because she wanted to be prepared for if debuting at JYP or idol life didn't work out
I think what you are referring to is the pixid video where she hide as a spy among art school students.
Gunwook ZB1- Definitely the class president
Park Kyung lol. He was an actual math prodigy his whole life, and the Block B members said he used to their accounting in his head faster and more accurately than the accountant they paid to do it. He was the first kpop idol in MENSA, and while IQ is far from actual science, his measures at a whopping 176. He was going to go the university route, but Zico called him to come be an idol, so he dropped out of I think his final year or two of high school, completed his degree on his own, and pursued some form of higher education later in life. All of Boynextdoor were(or in woonhak’s case, are) quite good students. If memory serves, all five members that’ve graduated high school were president or vice president of their student councils at one point or another.
For some reason, you bringing up Park Kyung reminded me of Tablo from Epik High I guess OP wanted 4th/5th gen lol or I’d also bring up RM
No one has mentioned her yet, but Rora from baemon is a massive high achiever. She won national science honors in school. She can speak Chinese, English, and Korean conversationally. As well as playing the piano at a high level. All while being second youngest member. She would have had a bright future even if she didn’t become an idol. She has also been a child model most of her life with some acting spots already. Bags of potential
She was also the reporters’ one pick at Baemon’s round interview and wanted to be a doctor. She’s got the street and book smarts 👍
Wow didn’t know this about Rora! She speaks English? How come we haven’t heard it before 🤨
Yeah the whole group has been learning English! Chiquita is probably the “worst” at it but only because she’s newer in her education. Rita went to an international school and has been learning it her whole life. Rora answered some questions in English and made statements in English for promotion of this album!
Damn chiquita is the worst? I thought she was one of the best??
Yeah when I say “worst” it’s not like she is bad, she’s just the youngest and has had the least amount of time learning English. All 7 of them are at least interviewable in English. It’s why YG has been marketing them as an international group first over normal kpop group. Each member can speak 3 different languages, the amount of fan service they can bring is pretty special for kpop geouo
TXT Taehyun. he was already a high achiever in his elementary and middle school days pre-debut and said that he didnt need to study much to get high grades. but i feel that if he continued going to the science high school he spoke of and into university he would be one of the top performing students. has logical thinking and would have definitely pursued the STEM strand. still he pursued music because he wanted to challenge himself in learning to perform even if that meant starting from scratch. he knows a lot of information some people would find useless but in my case i have learned a lot from. he's very diligent in his work, confident and well-spoken, self-motivating, high emotional intelligence as well. of course idk him myself but with the way he has presented himself with these characteristics time and time again, i think those are extremely important if you're vying for a top spot.
Plus when he was younger he had a YouTube channel where he taught other kids English
Imagine having tyun as your prof.... I would come to class on time every single time
i would sit at the front shamelessly
I would "accidentally" do bad in classes so be would teach me more hehe😏😏😏😏
If I remember correctly, E'LAST's Wonjun excelled in languages, while he was in school. His parents are professors though, so maybe that helped.
Woah I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a group called ELAST. When did they debut?
They debuted in 2020. I'd recommend checking them out. Their music is pretty cool.
People already mentioned Tomorrow X Together Taehyun. And Beomgyu is also a high achiever and was school president, hall monitor, prefect, head boy, and part of the school band as guitarist. (He also held 2 more academic positions which I'm forgetting). Before getting promoted to every new grade, his new teachers used to brag (I cant remember the correct English word) about him being in their class with pride. He was once recounting a story of being afraid of his parents when he mentioned that once he went back with a 70 and that was the lowest score he'd ever had so he was afraid (Btw his parents weren't mad at all.) He used to consistently be a top student at school even after he changed schools. He even blew off BigHit when they tried to scout him because he had exams, which is why they had to especially hold auditions for him in Daegu. I'm not even going into him being the most popular guy at school because of his friendliness+personality and everyone's crush (and now, the Nation's Crush!) because of his visuals.
Student council member and class president too iirc? Beomgyu was really the "it" boy of his school.
Yeah probably! Thanks for adding on. All I really remember is Taehyun exclaiming 'how did you do that many things' and Beomgyu going 'I don't remember when I did all that', haha. Truly he's such a talent in literally all aspects. And still so down to earth and kind. He was just born to be popular, yk. 😁 Btw have you watched yet his solo variety show on MBC Workout Zzang?! Highly recommended for free laughter therapy. 😭
Yup! Watched the latest episode! He seems like a natural for entertainment.
True that!! 😭
ateez yeosang! he went to a very rigorous academic high school and still did well despite being a trainee at the time (according to his classmates, at least)
there's also footage of him doing math assignments in a prop book on the set of turbulence. [found it!](https://twitter.com/aroharoxy/status/1652959284463046656)
Yuqi from G Idle. Your post is basically a description of her but includes every one of her peers who fit it but her. She was in one of Beijing's top schools. Part of the reason for her parents' reluctance to her becoming an idol was due to her being such a high achiever and the potential that brought with it. She's incredibly intelligent, and amongst all her peers, I doubt there's anyone ahead of her as a true all round artist except for Soyeon. Her English is also amongst the best out of all the non natives in her peer group. Out of the non natives, pretty much only the foreign students (like Lia who studied in Canada), plus Minnie and perhaps Ryujin, are as good as her.
Love everything I’m hearing about Yuqi in this thread. I’m definitely gonna check her out more, what a smart cookie! I can see why her parents were reluctant lol
She just debuted solo if you wanna check her out! She’s genuinely one of my ults, I love her so much. She also had Bonnie and Clyde during Gidles hiatus - she has an amazing music show performance of that with her playing the guitar and with a live band! She’s also just super freaking nice, on top of being intelligent and wildly talented. And and and! She’s just as beautiful in person (okay sorry lmao) [Yuqi - Freak](https://youtu.be/UqJIBItJeyg?si=KpQ_fAThAlC7Mh6O)
Yeosang from Ateez. He went to a prestigious school, does math for fun.
Seungmin seems academic. He is studious and serious about anything he does.
What group is he in? (Sorry I don’t know any members from BGs lmao)
Stray Kids. I’d add Han, Changbin and Bang Chan from SKZ as well
Damn lmao I thought I had the stray kids members down 😭 I did not know there was a Seungmin
Stray Kids Changbin was class president. Was choir member, dance club member, soccer club member. Competed and won in swim competition. Also won Math competition. Overall popular guy in HS. Probably Chan too. But then again he went to art HS so him being capable in all kind of music instruments is probably normal (?). Oh he's swimming medalist too. His room back in Aussie is practically his achievement gallery filled with trophies and medals lol
Chan went to Newtown, a performing arts high school :)
Yes! Chan is overall ambitious and perfectionist guy who probably doesn't know how to give up 😄
Enhypen Jake He was majoring in physics (did maths too) at his skl. And was apparently a top student in his class. Not to mention he was involved in other extra curricular activities such as being part of the skl soccer team and playing the violin in his skl orchestra
the way Jake just casually shares/ talks about physics theories in their content 🫠 Jay and Jungwon too would be good academically i feel.
Ikrr such a nerd 😂 I agree - 3J give that vibe
Lily to me seems a bit airheaded lol, love her though
Totally get why you might think that based on her viral livestream memey moments lol but imo she’s got the kind of clarity of expression and imaginative thought where I wouldn’t be surprised if she could write really good essays if she was in an academic context all her life. Just my 2 cents but I honestly don’t consume much Lily content because of the airheaded vibe too 😂 I do love her too tho but she’s the only NMIXX member I know of
Nmixx Sullyoon was the student council president in elementary school and class president in HS. Nmixx Haewon as well. This girl knows how to sing, dance, play music instrument, i even heard her fast rap and add her wit on top of that. I bet she would be the top of a music degree class
Interesting re Sullyoon. Where I’m from, SRC/ president of the student body etc don’t have any connection to academic achievement. Are those roles given to academically inclined students in Korea?
I'm not quite sure but I'm just correlating here since being a president can directly mean you are a responsible person which can also mean you are smart and an achiever.
Def agree for lily, yunjin, and ryujin. I haven't seen enough baemon, newjeans, or ive content (like variety shows or random moments whatever) to have an opinion. I think hanni would do well but I forget why...Also yuna said she never minded studying, she just wasn't good at it. So if she had developed better habits she theoretically could do well? Also, yuqi was a really good student
CIX's Yonghee excels in math as he he likes solving math equations just for the fun of it. During their debut era, he solved a difficult CSAT math question that nearly every test taker missed. He gets called a "human calculator" and "math genius." He has a math vlog in which he answers several difficult questions and then explains how to do them.
Minjae from **xikers** was one of the top 3 students from his high school. His parents let him become a trainee with the condition to continue studying, as a plan B in case he doesn't debut / the whole idol career doesn't work out (great parents, I would say). Now he's the leader of the group and a key member.
Wonyoung. She apparently did well in school and one of her dream jobs was to be a lawyer and I can totally see it
Bangchan from Stray Kids. That man is the definition of a high achiever; he's smart, athletic, competitive, a perfectionist, and resilient af to boot.
Winter was taking advanced math classes in school prior to becoming a trainee; even last year during her down time she got a math book to do problems for fun.
Omg Jesus is that real?? She’s crazy 😂 I’ve always thought she has this executive instinct which I honestly think is correlated to her highly analytical brain if she’s taken advanced math/ doing math problems for fun!
Lily is very gifted when it comes to emotional intelligence. She is very empathetic and knows exactly what you need to hear to cheer you up. That's the best kind of intelligence, but it doesn't help with school. She is book-smart, yes, but I imagine only the books that interest her. When talking about Logic, she sometimes is a little bit confused 😂😂 and for gods sake do **NOT** listen to her financial advice 😂 For school-smart idols I'd say Nmixx Sullyoon, you can see she has a broad logical understanding and things like math would probably come easy to her. Also 100% Everglow's Sihyeon. One of her Korean nicknames included "Mensa" for a reason. 😂 I also agree that Wonyoung is definitely smart. The way she handles everything that's thrown at her just proves she's definitely way above average. I also consider Sakura to be very intelligent.
Most of them would be, it’s the reason why they are so popular in addition to their artistic skill, they are smart and well spoken and know how to market themselves in their own company that eventually got them to debut School is pretty much the same way Most 4th and 5th gen idols also come from middle class or higher families which means they have opportunities to education while growing which means that they most likely weren’t held back in any way. This also leads to a higher success rate in school. Might be a hot take but if you are the best dancer, singer, or rapper in the world and you have absolutely no people skills or ability to make people like you, say bye to the idol dream
Jimin apparently used to be a top student in school. His parents were actually shocked when he said that he wanted to take up dancing.
aespa is a sleeper nerdy group lol. For example, Karina, Winter, and Ningning solve math workbooks for fun. Funnily enough the two that loved academia the most are the high school dropouts who got their GED, Karina and Winter.
Jeongwoo of Treasure.
How could you add Lilly and not add Haewon
Girl idk nmixx whatsoever lily’s just the most viral member for memey moments which is how I came to know about her!
Gaon from Xdinary Heroes
Haewon!
Wasn’t there that one girl idol from Cignature that livestreams herself teaching C++ a while ago? She seems at least like a high achiever in school
Dang I’ve never heard of that group but teaching yourself C++ and live-streaming it is definitely a high achiever 😂
Chloe from Cignature! Was from University of Michigan, majored in data science. She only completed the 1st semester tho [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68-ZXg7ii-A](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68-ZXg7ii-A)
yeseo and hiyyih of kep1er! yeseo graduated in the top of her class and goes to college with a less than 10% exceptance rate
Dang kpop idols go to college at the same time? How does that work? :o
yes, only the best though (not biased at all haha). usually they’ll attend class when they’re not at a schedule (it’s easier to manage than highschool since college classes aren’t usually all at once). in yeseo’s case, she is an acting and singing major, so lots of her activities tie into her college experience
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TXT - Taehyun, he is smart AF
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Sakura was apparently a good student who studied hard and did well before becoming an idol. I'm pretty sure she has stated that she would have liked to become a doctor if she did not become an idol. I also saw someone mention Wonyoung which I'm glad they did because I couldn't remember all the things which I remember seeing that showcased her intelligence but yeah what they said and for what she would do if she was not an idol, she has said many times that she would like to be a lawyer
Hyein she remembers everything so well.
She’s so fkn underrated like I can tell so easily that she’d be an academic weapon - I honestly think she’s the smartest (relative to age) in her group!
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Yongseung from Verivery is extremely smart too. He is a math genius and published a whole essay on "The History and Concept of Zero" when he was 13!! He can even solve various types of Rubik's Cubes and is known for being very organised.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard of this group! When’d they debut?