Do you feel like people don't appreciate your academic intelligence?

Student Lounge College Life
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<p>I'll be the first one to admit that I don't have the IQ of a genius (if I did, I probably would have gone to a school for gifted children), but at the same time I'll observe that I have always been more academically intelligent than most of my peers.</p>

<p>That being said, do you also feel insulted whenever someone looks at you or talks to you for a few minutes and concludes that you must be struggling with college when in fact you feel college isn't more difficult than high school?</p>

<p>Here are a few examples of times when I felt people insulted my intelligence:</p>

<p>I asked a college professor to give me an idea of the difficulty of his class. He reassured me that it was a very easy class and that I shouldn't worry about it. The problem is, I asked about the difficulty of the class because I didn't want to be stuck in an easy class. The professor misunderstood my question, I suppose, because he perceived me as being unintelligent and weary that his class could be too difficult for me.</p>

<p>I asked a staff member why the system didn't let me sign up for an additional class. She looked at me in a smug manner and very self-assuredly told me that it must have been because my GPA was not high enough. Mind you, I cleared the GPA requirement, so not only did that woman insult my academic intelligence, but also mistook me for the type of imbecile who couldn't inform himself of the basic requirements needed to sign up for an additional course.</p>

<p>My college roommate could almost swear I was going to flunk out of college, because he never saw me studying. He treated me condescendingly and handled himself in an arrogant manner, gave me a lot of unwanted advice, etc. Then at the end of the first semester, it turned out that my name was in the honors roll and his wasn't. He never said anything, but I noticed some humility and resentment on his part after we came back to school from winter break.</p>

<p>I could go on and on telling these stories but I don't want to bore anyone here with too many details about my life.</p>

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<p>
[quote]
I asked a college professor to give me an idea of the difficulty of his class. He reassured me that it was a very easy class and that I shouldn't worry about it. The problem is, I asked about the difficulty of the class because I didn't want to get stuck in an easy class. The professor misunderstood my question, I suppose, because he perceived me as being unintelligent and weary that his class could be too difficult for me.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That's a legitimate reaction because 90+% of the time students asking this question are afraid to struggle, not to be bored. After my first interaction of this sort I started approaching professors differently. I tell them that I am looking for a challenging class, I give them some reference frame for what I experienced as challenging or not challenging, and ask them if they think I would like their class. No ambiguity there.</p>

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<p>If you don't already, try wearing glasses.</p>

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<p>You have Asperger's. You're not reading the verbal or body cues of these people correctly. You asked about the level of difficulty in a class. The way you wouldn't the question was wrong. Asking the question as you did obviously implies that one is worried about the difficulty of the class. The professor answered correctly based on the way you worded the question. What the heck did you want the professor to say? You should have said-- "Hi. My name is xxx and I'm looking forward to your class. I love a good challenge and I'm hoping this class will challenge me." </p>

<p>You asked someone in the Student Services dept. why the system wouldn't let you sign up for an extra class. You should have said, "Hi. I'd like to sign up for an additional class but the system doesn't seem to be letting me. I know that I meet the GPA requirement. Is there an additional requirement that I must meet in order to register for an additional class? Do I need to get a waiver approved or something?"</p>

<p>How do you know that your roommate could almost swear that you were going to flunk out? Again, you may have misread his words and expressions. </p>

<p>You say, "I'll observe that I have always been more academically intelligent than most of my peers." Again, this is the perception of someone with Asperger's. Most people without Asperger's wouldn't even think about making a statement like this.</p>

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<p>I tried to edit the above post but was "timed out". </p>

<p>Line correction should read--"The way you worded the question was wrong."</p>

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<p>/facepalm.</p>

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<p>It is polite to be humble of one's own accomplishments.
Your roommate erroneously thought you were in trouble because he never saw you studying and was trying to be a good roommate.
You took his suggestions as insults.
You earn respect from others.
You can't demand people to respect you.</p>

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<p>"You have Asperger's."</p>

<p>Neither you or I are qualified to diagnose me with Asperger's or any other condition. Even if you are a fully accredited psychologist you can't and shouldn't diagnose someone over the internet.</p>

<p>"You're not reading the verbal or body cues of these people correctly."</p>

<p>Assuming that I present myself like a person with Asperger's, perhaps they observed my social intelligence and concluded it was reflective of my overall level of intelligence?</p>

<p>"You asked about the level of difficulty in a class. The way you wouldn't the question was wrong. Asking the question as you did obviously implies that one is worried about the difficulty of the class. The professor answered correctly based on the way you worded the question. What the heck did you want the professor to say? You should have said-- "Hi. My name is xxx and I'm looking forward to your class. I love a good challenge and I'm hoping this class will challenge me." "</p>

<p>I don't know the statistics, but if b@rlum is correct, "90+% of the time students asking this question are afraid to struggle, not to be bored."</p>

<p>Fine. I didn't know that. Now I do.</p>

<p>"How do you know that your roommate could almost swear that you were going to flunk out? Again, you may have misread his words and expressions. "</p>

<p>Because he treated me condescendingly, handled himself in an arrogant manner and gave me unwanted advice. His advice was of the form "you need to be more like me, do this, do that, or else bad things will happen, you won't do well at school/fail at life." I grant you that it is impossible for me to know exactly what my roommate thought about me, but his attitude towards me changed when we came back from winter break, and I deduce it had to do with his realizing that my not studying as much as he does does not necessarily mean that I will fail at school. Early this semester he was giving me more unwanted advice but when I pointed out to him that my GPA is higher than his (I suppose, since his name is not in the honors roll) he clenched his teeth and wrinkled his brow. He hasn't given me unwanted advice ever since.</p>

<p>"You asked someone in the Student Services dept. why the system wouldn't let you sign up for an extra class. You should have said, "Hi. I'd like to sign up for an additional class but the system doesn't seem to be letting me. I know that I meet the GPA requirement. Is there an additional requirement that I must meet in order to register for an additional class? Do I need to get a waiver approved or something?""</p>

<p>Perhaps I did not ask the question in the most tactful manner, but I still dislike the way that woman told me that I couldn't sign up for the class because my GPA wasn't high enough. She didn't even know my GPA.</p>

<p>"You say, "I'll observe that I have always been more academically intelligent than most of my peers." Again, this is the perception of someone with Asperger's. Most people without Asperger's wouldn't even think about making a statement like this."</p>

<p>Nonsense.</p>

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<p>You're overthinking what people are saying.</p>

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<p>rsxwheeeeee, you're right and it's part of the syndrome--in addition, misinterpretations of verbal responses and physical cues of others. The giving of advice by someone does not mean that the person is condescending or arrogant. Generally speaking, people with Asperger's take the slightest suggestion by others as an insult. They don't mean to but they do. </p>

<p>I actually thought the OP mentioned on a previous thread a while back that Asperger's was diagnosed.</p>

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<p>"The giving of advice by someone does not mean that the person is condescending or arrogant."</p>

<p>It depends on the way they give that advice. It also depends on the merits of the advice they are giving. If someone tells me that I need to study more or else I won't do well at school, but I already am an honors roll student, and possibly doing better academically than the person giving the advice, how can you or anyone expect me not to feel annoyed?</p>

<p>"Generally speaking, people with Asperger's take the slightest suggestion by others as an insult. They don't mean to but they do."</p>

<p>Another possibility is that people usually treat those with Asperger's condescendingly because of the way they come across (ie: socially unintelligent). I already explained this to you in another thread and you told me that you already know all this because you know a person close to you with Asperger's. Remember?</p>

<p>"I actually thought the OP mentioned on a previous threat a while back that Asperger's was diagnosed. "</p>

<p>No, I have never been officially diagnosed with Asperger's, only by people I have met on the internet who concluded that I have Asperger's on the basis of a few things I wrote about on the internet. Asperger's is sort of a fad. Nowadays young people with low social skills and poor communicational abilities get diagnosed with Asperger's, usually by people who are not qualified to make such diagnoses.</p>

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<p>In the OP, the professor and the roomie's responses are understandable, though the roomie's isn't exactly tactful/courteous/etc... The professor probably usually faces students asking about difficulty because they want an easier class, so if you tell him you want to be challenged it'll be fine. As for the roomie: it's not unusual in this world for people to think they're better than you and then be brought down a few notches.</p>

<p>The Student Services staff person was a jerk though.</p>

<p>As for the whole Asperger's thing: I don't think an internet diagnosis is necessary based on this specific thread, and I won't comment on whether or not Asperger's is a legitimate concern based on pmvd's previous posts.</p>

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<p>Yes, I do know a young man with Asperger's. I've known him for 16 years. </p>

<p>The irony of your posts is that you are the one with the arrogant and condescending attitude.</p>

<p>I'm out of this thread and I suggest for others to ignore this thread also. Anything that any of us non-aspie people post will be misinterpreted and misunderstood.</p>

<p>Out.</p>

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<p>I don't think they are making any judgment about your academic intelligence, they are in all cases simply working with the most likely scenario.</p>

<p>Most people who ask about the difficulty of a class want to know that it will not be too difficult.
Having a GPA that is too low is probably the most common reason why people are not able to sign up for classes.
Most people who never study don't do well.</p>

<p>Everyone makes these kinds of impersonal assessments all the time. They would be making a judgment about you if they assumed you were an exception to the most likely scenario. For example, if you worked all the time but your roomate still assumed you would not do well, then that may be a judgment based on something about you, but assuming if you never study then you will not do well is based on nothing more than their experience of what happens to people in general if they never study.</p>

<p>If the question is more "why don't people look at me and assume I am so brilliant as to be an exception to the most likely scenario rule" Then that is just not something most people do. Most people, particularly with people they have just met, assume them to be the rule, not the exception, until it is proved to them otherwise.</p>

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<p>idk, Asperger's always came off as more "sped"ly when I saw people with it. I definitely think that I overthink some people's mannerisms. But I think's that's more social paranoia than a mental disorder (at least in my case). & Honestly, in the OPs case, it sounds to me like he's being a patronizing prick moreso than a sped</p>

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<p>He might just be a d-bag and not have Asperger's.</p>

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<p>this professor didn't insult your intelligence. you set yourself up for this by having the hidden motivation of trying to show off. as they say, "pride comes before a downfall."</p>

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<p>LMAO at this thread. Only on CC.</p>

<p>1) Stop caring what other people think about you. And 2) realize that >90% of the people you meet will not care about how book smart you are, they'll be more concerned with your personality and whether you are a fun or cool person to hang out with.</p>

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<p>who cares?
do u need people to look at u and be awed or something?</p>

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<p>"do u need people to look at u and be awed or something? "</p>

<p>It would be nice if people were awed at me but as long as they don't take me for a moron I won't complain.</p>