<p>As an admit to Stanford, I have had my fair share of elation, but as time wears on, I begin to ask practical question on student life. To any current or former students: the people at Stanford comprise an academically strong (understatement) student body, but there is undoubtedly some depth in their intellectual capabilities. In your experience, have you ever felt inferior to your peers in that you felt alone in your lack of understanding in course material? Did some classes go completely over your heads? And do you know of any such people if you are not within this group and if so, how did/do they cope with and/or rectify their seeming "inferiority" (in their minds)? This may come across as insecure, but I can't help but feel that some students would be intimidated (despite their appreciation) by the level of their peers and would closet their struggling (perhaps brought about by "duck syndrome"). Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>You’re not alone. I feel the same way. I have no idea what my abilities are, since I’ve never been challenged/motivated/intellectually stimulated by my classes, and because… to put it frankly, in my current situation, I’ve never had anyone come close. So, for all I know I could be the person that flunks out.</p>
<p>I often feel like it will be really hard to keep up with the best of the best students from around the world. If you think about it, Stanford students are awesome, but 50% of the student body is going to be in the bottom half of the class, and we may be in that group. For most of us, it would be a huge change to be any lower than top 1, 5 or 10%. </p>
<p>But I’m hoping that people in the Stanford community will be motivating so we will maintain our desire to excel.</p>
<p>Stop worrying about it guys, you will be fine. Odds are you will be able to keep up, nearly everyone I meet here can keep up. Yes, certain people are smarter than other people, but on a whole it will come down to how hard you work.</p>
<p>About you 50% thing, your right and it is just something you are going to have to deal with. This line scared me a bit though,</p>
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<p>The way I am reading this is that your motivation to do well in school came from being the best, not from wanting to learn. If this is the case you are going to need to change your attitude. I’m sorry, no one at this school is the overall best, it is impossible to tell because people have so many varying strengths. You are no longer going to be able to derive motivation from being the absolute best. If I read your post wrong I apologize.</p>
<p>I think what NJDS posted, though unfortunate, is probably a mentality shared by a good deal of the incoming freshman who are indeed used to being at the top of their class. That competitive nature could very well cause a potential burnout to those who take such a mentality to Stanford, which is among those factors which drove me to ask my original question. And thanks for the reponses. Keep 'em coming.</p>
<p>We actually had this discussion among a group of people in our dorm. We all felt like after hearing about other Stanford students, we were wondering how the heck did we end up at this school! We then realized that it was sort of pointless to worry about that… hey we’re already in, and obviously Stanford saw something in us. Don’t stress out too much about this and don’t be afraid to take challenging classes. Sure, some classes are incredibly hard, but you also have a great support system. There is free tutoring, office hours, and people are always willing to work on p-sets together or help each other out with essays. We are here to succeed, sure, but also to see each other succeed :)</p>
<p>I’ve heard a lot about people having these sorts of thoughts when they’re accepted into top colleges. Like darling said, if we were accepted, then Stanford saw something in us. We were accepted for a reason and they wouldn’t have let us in if they didn’t think we could make it. We’re probably never going to be the number one student again, but that’s what we get for picking a top school. If we went in there getting A’s just as easily as in high school, what would be the point?</p>
<p>Well, I have the same feelings, but am slightly more comfortable perhaps, because of two things. I don’t derive motivation from being at the top… I much prefer being intellectually engaged (and besides, I go to a distance learning school, so there’s really no such thing as competition - and at my old school, there wasn’t any either, if you know what I mean…). Another is that I’m not “shy” in a sense that I find it easy to ask questions, go for tutoring, etc.</p>
<p>yeah I think worst comes to worst is you can just become more resigned. That’s not a bad thing necessarily. I think with the way students are turning out these days, it’s important to take a step back and look at the bigger picture. The people that are majorly stressing out here over grades, classes, job prospects, etc. have really helped me realize there are more important things in life than being academically or professionally “successful” (where success is measured in terms of grades or money). </p>
<p>This may be interpreted by some as a form of preemptive excuse for “failing” in life. Maybe that has something to do with it. Because yeah coming here has made me realize I don’t have what it takes to become really wealthy in life. It’s not that I’m not smart enough. It’s just that I don’t have the necessary motivation; my motivation is here and now. </p>
<p>Every second thought about the future is one less spent on the present.</p>
<p>Why do I find that post utterly…depressing?</p>
<p>I find Senior0991’s post anything but depressing–s/he’s showing signs of a consciousness that each person must define “success” personally depending on his or her values and goals. Focusing on the present (not to the entire exclusion of the future, of course, but primarily) also tends to lead to fulfilling futures, because you are maximizing your actual opportunities and meeting your current developmental needs. Being too future-focused can be as detrimental as dwelling too much in the past.</p>
<p>what i meant was that it can often be discouraging to not reach a certain measurement of achievement. for example, when i got my first B, i was really upset for a few weeks, even though looking back, it really wasnt a big deal. i was motivated to do better because i had certain goals that i wanted to achieve and bc i was motivated to do better.
i’m saying that i think the opportunities at stanford are enough to make us want to keep being good students even if we are in the bottom half of the class or whatever else.</p>
<p>I have to agree with zenkoan. You have to define success for you. If you freak out over getting a B, as others have said, you’re going to have a tough time at Stanford. Only the other hand, if you have another goal - like actually learning something or just enjoying yourself - Stanford becomes more worthwhile. For example, I’m thinking of the Earth Systems major. And yeah, I’m pretty sure I’m going to get Cs in the core classes. And you know what? I’m okay with that (as long as I don’t fail). I’m motivated by the material and the opportunity, not the grade on my exam.</p>
<p>I think the game might change for those, who are aiming for fields which require grad school, which obviously do consider grades and not just how much somebody learned. For those people, it isn’t just about the learning opportunities, but besting others in a competitive application process. As such is the case, competition and scores probably are inevitably of a higher value.</p>
<p>[Impostor</a> syndrome - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impostor_syndrome]Impostor”>Impostor syndrome - Wikipedia)
you’ll get over it</p>
<p>As much as I can identify with the article, nngmm, it doesn’t really answer my original question over HOW such people dealt with it[impostor syndrome] on campus. I am not as terrified as I might seem to indicate, but at a place like Stanford I have no doubt that this could very well be a prevalent psychological problem, whether or not it is apparent. Thank you for the response though.</p>
<p>I think once you get there, you will see that, although there are some geniuses over there, most of the students are just regular smart overachievers like you…</p>
<p>^which means for the vast majority of cases, if you do the work, you shouldn’t have a problem being academically successful.</p>
<p>And throwing it out there, I have yet to meet any student here who I consider a true genius. Granted, maybe I have my standards too high. Here is an example of what I consider genius,</p>
<p>[Stephen</a> Wolfram - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Wolfram]Stephen”>Stephen Wolfram - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>This is the guy who made mathematica, here is an excerpt from the article:</p>
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<p>And these are only his early life accomplishments, try finding this on the chance forum.</p>
<p>Damn baby!</p>