<p>I don't know about you, but i feel depressed. Eventually the people who have all these good things to put on their application are your competition. I know you shouldn't compare yourself to others, but I feel sad..
I keep thinking that I don't have as good grades, SAT, and EC's as these people.
Anyone feel the same way? Or am I the only one with such mindset?</p>
<p>Well, since the schools everyone else is applying to on this site are not anywhere enar the schools I applied to, I didn’t feel so depressed; I DID, however, feel depressed that everyone has better stats than I did lol. But that’s not because I couldn’t have them too–I just didn’t apply myself in high school :P</p>
<p>Cheer up! No need to wallow over your own stats; embrace them! Their yours! And make everyone else’s grades motivation to do better in college. Stay positive and don’t fall into any jealousy or envy because at the end of the day you matter not them :)</p>
<p>Yah, I feel you.</p>
<p>For me, the worst is to totally not even get semi or finalist for the scholarships I applied for. I was accepted and am attending my number one choice in college, which is not a big name ivy or anything like that so I am happy about that. I just would like to score some money towards it. I am not the super smartest, but I am a good kid, have been totally dedicated towards my EC’s and have been a Girl Scout since kindergarten. However, so far, have gotten no scholarships after applying to upwards of 40. So wish I was a Ron Brown or Horatio Alger winner!</p>
<p>Ha, don’t believe half of what is posted as stats on this site. Some posts have the real goods but some are just the outright exaggeration of the tortured mind. </p>
<p>Let’s play a game. Consider the following stats: (parenthesis represent reality)
4.0u GPA (100 out of 400 kids in class graduate with a 4.0)<br>
2300 SAT (Taken 6 times and is a superscore)
200 volunteer hours (Babby sitting little brother)
Research Internship (Went to the University library all summer - to get away from little bro)
wiinner musical competitions (5th &th Grade recital chamption)
Three years soccer & basketball (played in PE Class)
Founded charitable foundation (delivered old clothes to Goodwill)
and on and on.</p>
<p>“Founded charitable foundation (delivered old clothes to Goodwill)”</p>
<p>@sosomenza - that really made me laugh! My son applied to the UC’s and was told that UCLA in particular really looks at your volunteer hours. All he had were the mandated 20 hours required by his high school to graduate. He didn’t bother trying to “invent” anything, just left that blank. Got accepted!</p>
<p>I felt depressed after seeing not what’s here (because I so wanted to apply to a physics PhD program) but on PhysicsGRE and I realized that I couldn’t cut it at Tufts. Then, I realized way too late that perhaps I might have had a chance at Georgetown (which is far more horrible for physics than Tufts, according to my EM I professor, who collaborate with faculty at both schools)</p>
<p>some people just want to gain some confidence on this forum
do your own work
Change what you can change
and accept what you can’t change.</p>
<p>It’s called the CC Effect.</p>
<p>In order to make their own stats look better, people bolster and change them. In response, other jealous people come in and say they have little to no chance, when in reality they’ll make it in in the first round. Thus, those jealous people later bolster their OWN stats and further malign others in order to make THEMSELVES look better.</p>
<p>It’s an ugly process.</p>
<p>^Either that or America’s education system is actually secretly awesome :P</p>
<p>There have always been great opportunities in American education for people who both actively pursue them and have access to them. The problem is the other 95%: How do we make them interested, and how do we get them access?</p>
<p>i totally hear you… I dont have the best stats… but I think I have a lot of perseverance and i have worked really hard against some obstacles and I hope that the schools i applied to particularly my reach school (uc berkeley) can see past the high stats and look for diamonds in the ruff like me 
Stats arent everything: Some people might have higher stats if life circumstances had been different… but considering it all you do the best with what you have. Evn if Berkeley passes on me I know I will go SOMEWHERE and thats all I could really ask for… besides all of us with less than stellar grades can always make up for it and go somewhere really awesome for our masters/phd (where it matters more anyway, incidentally)… life lesson… there is always hope and never give up on your dreams!!! :-)</p>
<p>When it comes to test scores it is sort of awful. My application is basically spotless for top schools except for my test scores (I can’t even break 2000/20) and then I read posts of people getting a 2200 or a 33 on their first try with no prep.</p>
<p>A lot of the stuff on here seems to be greatly exaggerated and deceptive. I have caught them lying myself. For example, one person claimed to have a FIDE chess rating of 2150 (which would place him at master status), and after I grilled him on it for a while, he admitted that it is an online rating from chess.com! I second sosomenza’s post.</p>
<p>I actually find CC hilarious! Most people here either know too much…or they don’t really care…Thats why I love this place:D</p>
<p>Wow… I thought people were being honest!
I mean I’m sure there are people out there who are being honest and worked really hard for everything, but I didn’t know there were people who lied about it…
But what benefit does it bring to lie? I mean your being evaluated by people who have either done this before or know how it works. I would rather tell the truth and get the honest answer. No offense…</p>
<p>People are forced to lie on here to get a reasonable answer, because the expectations of users on here are so far from reality.</p>
<p>Am I the only one that can be honest in chancing if the applicant is honest?</p>
<p>But do you ever think that the people here are being honest? Because some of the EC’s they have are pretty hard to lie about…</p>
<p>There are always going to be people better than you, there are always going to be better worse than you. That’s how I think about it.</p>