<p>After being at the top of your high school class, where all your classmates think you're ridiculously intelligent and will be getting accepted at every ivy league school you apply to, you come on college confidential and see yourself completely outshined by everyone else: people who have 20 patent-pending inventions or have been asked to play the viola at the olympics. If you go to an upper-tier/ivy league school, will you constantly find yourself surrounded by these type of people, or are these people only common on this website? Is it difficult to feel up to par at one of these schools if you're smart but otherwise average? Is it better to go to one of these top schools where you will be surrounded by geniuses or to a state school/similar level college where you will be able to continue to shine academically? Is it impossible to handle the course load if you aren't innately brilliant or dedicated to studying 15+ hours a day? Thanks ahead of time!</p>
<p>Basically, these schools are a collection of the best and the brightest from around the world, so that’s not unexpected. You could probably get a lot of support at state schools for being smart, but I personally think it would be better to show some courage and take a risk going to a school where you won’t get so much (although there are many close-knit LACs with many extremely intelligent people too).</p>
<p>“If you go to an upper-tier/ivy league school, will you constantly find yourself surrounded by these type of people, or are these people only common on this website?”</p>
<p>College Confidential is not a simple random sample of the population, there will be plenty of people at ivy league schools/upper-tier schools who do not have the same credentials as people on CC. My friends going to Brown don’t have A+ averages or crazy extraccuricular activities, just 1 or 2 that they actively participate in.</p>
<p>“Is it difficult to feel up to par at one of these schools if you’re smart but otherwise average?”</p>
<p>It will be competitive but just be warned that you are no longer one of the smartest at the school. This can either motivate you to do better or you can feel depressed, you choose your own path.</p>
<p>“Is it better to go to one of these top schools where you will be surrounded by geniuses or to a state school/similar level college where you will be able to continue to shine academically?”</p>
<p>I cannot make this decision for you. It is up for you to decide.</p>
<p>“Is it impossible to handle the course load if you aren’t innately brilliant or dedicated to studying 15+ hours a day.”</p>
<p>It is but if you want to get good grades, you should be studying at least 40-50 hours a week</p>
<p>If you’re not as special as the students body on the whole, you won’t get in so don’t worry.</p>
<p>In all seriousness, what you describe is common. Many kids have been the best in their environment all of their lives and find out there are many, many very smart kids out there. Colleges know who can do well in their environment, trust that you can do well at the schools that accept you.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the advice, it’s just been nagging at the back of my mind for a while as I’m starting to look at colleges. pierre0913 – I’m just curious where you got those numbers. Maybe that isn’t ridiculous as a college student, but from where I right now, it seems like an extraordinary amount of time to spend studying. Also, is it more difficult to get into a good graduate school (ie medical school) if you have lower grades but at a better college, or does it even out?</p>
<p>Sirensong, I am going to Clemson University and have been told to expect 2-3 hours of homework a week per credit hour (I’m taking 16-17 credits in the fall), that would be around 32-48 hours a week. I assume that a better school may have a heavier workload. However, if you think about it, you will be working 40+ hours a week after college so it’s good preparation for a long work day.</p>
<p>The cliche is that it is better to get an A at a lower “ranked” college than a C at a higher “ranked” school. I think that’s true but it’s even better to get an A at a good school. These ideas apply for both graduate school and job placement.</p>