<p>I always thought I was intelligent. I was always ranked the highest in school, pulled off a 2350 with a couple 800 subject test scores, and did well in ECs but not extraordinarily. </p>
<p>I live in a very small town, so until I started using CC, I never understood how amazing people were. I didn't know about ISEF, USAMO, TASP, etc. before I discovered CC. And now that I'm heading off to UVA after being rejected/waitlisted at all my top schools, I realize how amazing people are. And I want to be amazing, but I don't have the passion or intelligence or creativity to be amazing. I suffer from an inferiority complex and it bothers me each day because I feel like I'm leagues behind the amazing people who filled the classes of the schools from which I was rejected. How do I overcome an inferiority complex? </p>
<p>Sorry for any incoherence in my post; it's late.</p>
<p>Ergh. Try to squeeze a really long rant condensed into this:
Prestige is nice… USAMO, top colleges, etc… There are good reasons to have them, but will they ever satisfy your inferiority complex? I’ll just say by looking at your stats, you might just be intelligent enough–put what good you’re at to use! Use it to serve others. I’ll keep it at that instead of elaborating on what else you might be able to do :)</p>
<p>Stop comparing yourself to others. The need to do so is probably related to some need to be perfect. Talk to a therapist. He/she will be able to get to the root of the problem and recommend cognitive behavior changes.</p>
<p>basically what they’ve already said. You’ll be a lot better off trying to actually get better because YOU want to get better at something, than worrying about how others are 1-upping you.</p>
<p>You stop allowing your sense of self-worth to have anything to do with SAT scores, ECs, what college you go to, etc. People post their scores and ECs mostly to make other people feel inferior. That’s the point. People with “bad” stats are less likely to post them. Nothing on this website represents the average, or any sort of ideal you should aspire to.</p>
<p>UVA is a great school! The school you go to does not define you. Just because you are not heading off to Harvard does not mean you are not smart. You will probably be of the top 1% at UVA, you will do amazing there. If you still feel you want to go to a top school, there is always grad school!</p>
<p>Geez, my brother, an Asian living outside of the USA, was admitted into Stanford though he scored only 2100+ on the SAT. All he did back in high school was focusing on what he is really passionate about - mathematics (he did won a silver medal in the IMO, but otherwise he had no other ECs). So, when he went to CC, he was completely shocked by seeing how amazing the people here were, and so are many of us. However, he did tell me that it didn’t matter what school we get into, what mattered was that we found a suitable school for us. Stanford liked the kind of person he is, so they chose him. If you didn’t get into your dream schools, it did not mean that you’re not good, but it might be because you’re not the kind of student they were looking for. So cheers and enjoy college, you have nothing to worry about your inferiority complex.</p>