[godelski]

I had this problem and noticed it among others too. I think part of the problem is that in High School (and many times in undergrad, at least the beginning) you could get away with not doing the homework/studying/etc. So while you have the intelligence for the material you never learned the work ethic associated with achieving at the higher levels (and studying didn't force the material into long term memory as well). Sometimes I wonder how things would be different if these people learned an (academic[0]) work ethic early on.

[0] I stress academic here because at least in my case I was working a lot during undergrad. 40+hrs/week while in JC and 30+ when I transferred to a uni. But succeeding in those areas aren't the same as academic work ethic and I do want to acknowledge people that just ran out of energy.