<p>There was recently a thread on who thought they would make into the Top Schools. </p>
<p>I was surprised that alot of people said things along the lines of: "I know I have no chance, but I will give it a shot anyway..."</p>
<p>I was wondering, what makes you think that? What is it about your academic curriculum or ECs or personality or whatever, that make you think you don't qualify you as a candidate for Top Schools (Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Georgetown... etc...)</p>
<p>I mean, I know it's superhard to get in. But what, in detail, makes you doubt yourself?</p>
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I mean, I know it's superhard to get in. But what, in detail, makes you doubt yourself?
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<p>Although I think I could get in (but I'm not applying), I'll chime in.
I blame cc. It gives people an inferiority complex and doesn't represent the real world of college admissions.</p>
<p>CC does make me feel inferior (only a little though) as does my school. The kids at my school are way too smart. But yeah, my GPA is average. My ACT was pretty good, but my SAT wasn't. Also, I'm not the captain of any sports team, or the president of any clubs.</p>
<p>Also (unless this is a myth or something), some Ivy League admissions officer was quoted as saying that he could replace the admitted applicants with another random 1,000, and the class would be just as good. The Ivy League schools are a reach for ANYONE, and if you feel positive that you're going to get in, you're way too naive (no offense). Even the most qualified applicants get rejected from some places.</p>
<p>Before I signed up here I felt very confident that I could get in anywhere I wanted. Then I posted in the Chances forum and everyone started focusing on my negatives and not my positives. "Your SAT scores are weak" was what I heard the most often. </p>
<p>I still believe that if I applied and had an excellent essay that I could get in. But CC made a huge dent in my confidence.</p>
<p>Those are the short-term effects of CC though. </p>
<p>When I first became addicted (lol) in the summer before sophomore year, I saw all these chances thread and saw kids that really were too amazing and for a time I felt soooo crappy. But then, little by little, you start working by those standards. Eventually, you improve so much. </p>
<p>For ex. I remember before CC I used to think 5 APs a year was wayyyy too much. Then I saw so many applicants that boasted of 14 APs with all 5s and stuff and little by little, I raised by standards to the standards of CC until I became one of them. </p>
<p>So although like some stated it may hurt your confidence at first, I feel the long-term effects are worth it.</p>
It's better to feel dumb now and work hard than get cocky only to be swept away when you find that you got rejected from all the colleges you thought you could get into come april.</p>
<p>All the negative thoughts CC inspires in all of us will eventually inspire us to go farther in life than if we never came here (because then we'd get totally pwnt in college-admissions)</p>
<p>For me it has inspired me to do better in my classes personally because I see now that a 91/100 GPA is nothing to be happy about, with all you nuts getting 4.0 GPAs......ugh</p>
<p>CC had a real negative impact on me frosh yr after i got my grades and felt like i already ruined my chances w/ a bunch of B's. but it forced me to work harder and be more involved in school.... but i still feel like the top schools are a super reach 4 me b/c SAT scores</p>
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So basically you're saying you want to encourage a never-satisfied mentality.</p>
<p>"Yeah I got a 4.0 but I have to work harder because that one kid got a 4.1."</p>
<p>I would personally rather be happy with my achievements.
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suit yourself, but I would rather get into a top school. I probably will be content come January when there is nothing else I can do. But for now, I will keep working hard and strive to get the best options possible.</p>