Competition between high schoolers.

<p>Ok so I was wondering if any of you were experiencing this? In my school, the smartest people in my grade tend to be semi-aggressive towards each other, as if it was a competition between ourselves to get into the top schools, even though it's not?? Cus my "friend" who is one of the smartest kids in my grade, just like me, always asks me what I'm doing and keeps on asking stuff like where I volunteer, what else stuff I do, etc.. and bugs me about it, in a nice way.. Meanwhile, he conceals what he is doing. Is this even right?? Does it even make sense?? Cus its like a competition between everyone in the country to get into Harvard, Stanford, etc, not just in our school. I don't see what he is trying to do by bugging me constantly and being annoying and selfish and rude.</p>

<p>omg i have a friend like that. Its just that hes not smart at all.. He just wants to get into top schools. But he tries hard i guess. He knows i know a lot about activities and stuff. Hes always asking me what i do during the summer or where do i volunteer, or what clubs/sports do i attend. I just try to ignore and avoid him as much as i can.</p>

<p>Nope, I do not experience that at all at my school. No one cares how others are doing. We work together, not fight against each other. lol</p>

<p>Competition in academics is stupid/pointless.</p>

<p>I know exactly what you mean and what you are going through with this. I fully empathize with your situation, seeing as mine is very similar. The one difference is..... people in my school have a very misconception of the competition and of the work it takes to get into the top schools. Oh well, I couldn't care less--their problem!</p>

<p>I agree..also sushant thats a good idea of ignoring..except the person Im talking about has 3 classes this year with me, and next year, signed up for EXACTLY the same classes I signed up for. like ***???</p>

<p>yo hey yo ehy lol</p>

<p>Here, we always seem to help each other. I'll give you a great example: AP Bio. We had a test and our teacher gave us a take home test. I conferred with so many of my peers for that test and managed to get an A. :)</p>

<p>Then again, there are only a couple of us going to top schools this year. It's about.... 5 out of 550.</p>

<p>I'm glad I don't go to a super-competitive school. There were three people in my grade who really wanted to be valedictorian, but they just took a ton of online classes. None of them were doing it for college or anything, at least I don't think: they're going to good schools, but no top tier school. Valedictorian chose our state school. They just really wanted to be number 1 for some reason. I remember when someone rubbed it in that they passed me, which was as bad as it ever got (though that is pretty lame, especially considering I never set out to "compete") but I got the metaphorical last laugh when I got into my colleges. :) Didn't say anything about it or anything, but he sure never mentioned class rank again! I'm glad the situation wasn't any worse than that.</p>

<p>However, in the grade below mine it seems like things are getting harsher since a couple of people are very... dishonorably intense about grades. It's really rather disheartening to see people so preoccupied with things like that and ignoring learning any real material in class. To each their own, I guess.</p>

<p>yeah i agree with u..theres even an indian guy in my school who takes non-AP classes just so he can get the highest grades in each class and im like ARE YOU SERIOUSSSSSS.</p>

<p>My Senior class was not that competitive (rank was determined in the end of January). Even my other peers in the top 20, don't call it competitive. The only competitiveness present was between 2 and 3, and 19-21. The GPA difference between the sal and me, the val, was big, so I had the opportunity to challenge myself and I did not have the burden of worrying about Bs.</p>

<p>Getting into college is not purely based on rank.</p>

<p>Sometimes, when you're competing to be val, for instance, you want to be 2 steps ahead of your competition. It's true that this competitiveness is bad, but competition is always present in the real world. My school has block scheduling, so I was in almost the same classes as the sal except for a few AP classes and electives.</p>

<p>im one of those "annoying" guys... jk!</p>

<p>A few members of my class were that competitive in terms of WHERE people got in. But, for the most part, people weren't that petty. Just annoys me... some people are badmouthing me because I got in where I did. </p>

<p>Realize, if someone is THIS hyper-competitive, it might be best not to even bother with them. Find something else in common or just stop talking to them. You don't need it.</p>

<p>dude yeah i totally know what you mean. it's so annoying. people are always bugging and trying to find out like activities and they like never tell you in return.. -_- and then like, during classes, if you ask anyone a question even like a simple question that is just a general question, people are like what?! what did you ask?! like they're scared they're gonna miss something. uhm, annoying much? geez. lol ): and people bug about class rank. augh.</p>

<p>Yeah, class rank is so annoying when it comes out. Seriously, if anyone asks, say you're whatever the last number is. They'll stop harassing you after that. hah.</p>

<p>well im rank one..so what should i say? "yeah im rank 625" ? "yep im rank ONE" ?
or "screw off loser i only talk to smart people" ?</p>

<p>It gets really annoying once that person starts being all obsessive about everything you do. There's this kid in our school, who wants to do EVERYTHING I do in school (like, clubs, volunteer). It kinda freaks me out in a way...and annoying at the same time.</p>

<p>omg that is exactly the same situation at my school...the competition here is crazy...my best friend always asks me questions about my academic & extracurricular life yet she keeps what she does private</p>

<p>I hate saying I'm number one, mainly because it sounds braggish no matter which way you say it. I'm definitely going to follow the advice of lying about my number. It'll be fun. :)</p>

<p>any tips on how to avoid answering people's annoying questions, yet still befriend them?</p>

<p>I'd just say "I'm number one." If they have an issue with it then that is their problem and not yours. If they continually harrass you then they are not worth your time because they are only using you! </p>

<p>There's ot really competition between people, more like individual competition. We all (well most of us) just want to do our best. If someone can do better, fine. At least we know that we tried as hard as we could. At least that's how it is with my friends and I. none of us even know what our ranks are!</p>