<p>I'm not smart. I have a hard time adjusting to an academic setting because I'm a poor student (not because I don't study and keep on task) but because I'm stupid. I've been out of high school for a year now because no college would accept my stupidity (I did extremely low on the SAT/ACT even though my grades were great).</p>
<p>I have a growing urge to get back into school and accomplish a career. The other problem is that I want to reach for one of the highest academic goals in going through medical school. I feel that I'm not smart enough to obtain an education of that degree (M.D). I'll have regrets for settling with anything less.</p>
<p>I took a tour of a community college in my area and feared that I was not like the other students and would not fit into the college setting. I find it hard to talk to college educated individuals because I know that they are secretly laughing at my limited intelligence.</p>
<p>How can I make this transition in confidence in order to attend school? I'm forcing myself to enroll so it's not an issue of "just doing it," but fear. I feel that fear my bring me behind in my studies and class attendance as it did in high school.</p>
<p>How do I gain confidence in my intelligence (or lack of)?</p>
<p>You should start by stepping back and re-reading what you just wrote. That doesn't sound like the post of a village idiot, or even the average citizen. From what I can gander here, you seem to worried that everyone in college is a super-genius, Pultizer Prize winning Nobel laureate, which is not even remotely close to being the case. Oh, and the SAT/ACT don't mean a damned thing, plenty of people test horribly. </p>
<p>Plus, what in the hell are you scared of? Nobody's going to give a damn about the person next to them in class, any student worth their salt will be more focused on their own progress in a course, so your terror of being ridiculed is just paranoia. People actually care a lot less about their fellow man (whether for good or bad) than most think. </p>
<p>I'll put it to you like this: My HS GPA was a 2.1 or 2.3 at best.
Next Fall, I'll be in Columbia. </p>
<p>If you don't believe in your abilities, who will? Better yet, why should they? Don't give up on yourself, enroll in community college or a state college and just do your best. It's more intimidating (especially if you're listening to CCers) than it actually is.
Should you do well in the aforementioned college, transfer up to some place you feel is a better fit.</p>
<p>in my personal opinion (with limited experience), anyone can do school (provided you aren't retarded). It's just a matter of how much time it will take for you to understand the material and how much dedication you have. And I think it gets easier over time.</p>
<p>and about the talking to educated individuals thing, forget about that...emotion>intelligence any day.</p>
<p>Thank you for the positive feedback. I know that what I believe is unrealistic and tied into insecurities. I know that people do not judge one's intelligence especially in a setting in which their own is pressed, yet I feel that they are; it's an irrational fear. I also have unrealistic interpretations of those around me, true. Since I'm very insecure in my own abilities, I assume that those around me are far surpassing my own. I'm not sure how I get over these irrational fears. My mind knows better but my emotions do not.</p>
<p>Perhaps I should seek someone that specializes in emotional therapy?</p>
<p>Absolutely talk to someone in emotional therapy. You're not in an emotional state right now to be able to take in all that college has to offer. If you actually did get great grades in highschool you aren't hopeless.</p>
<p>PlattsburghLoser, I would like to say how wonderful it was for you to give such edifying advice to the young man/woman who felt they weren't 'smart' enough to attend college.</p>
<p>Secondly, I couldn't help but notice you make a brief statement about your own experience in academia, especially regarding your low GPA in high school leading up going to an Ivy League institution. How did you do it!? Have you given a more detailed write up of your experience in any of the CC forums?</p>
<p>Vehicle, I too have found myself lacking in motivation at times because I didn't think I was 'smart' enough for college. The statements made in this thread is wholesome advice and I do believe you can achieve anything that you put your mind to. You are not unintelligent, but intelligent and well capable of acquiring a college degree!</p>