<p>I don't know if this is the best place to put this thread, but here goes...
I've been looking around at all these posts, and it seems like a lot of people like to post their stats nd ask if they have a shot at blahblahblah college. It seems like everyone have just about perfect SAT and SAT II scores, they all have a lot of really really great extracurriculars, they're taking at least 7 APs and everything. Now I'm thinking, holy crap- I'm just a "regular" junior at Stuyvesant HS, I'm only taking 2 APs, I only have a 90 average, I only have work experience and community service, and I haven't taken my SATs. Now I'm just wondering, how does everyone else balance so much work and still have enough time to sleep? Am I going crazy here or is everyone else on the board just supersmart?</p>
<p>Sleep? What's that?
No, I don't think I'm supersmart at all. I work hard but I don't have perfect grades or anything. I have like, an A- and I've only taken one AP. I think you'd look perfectly fine to these top schools, and anyway, you're still a junior and have lots of time to improve and worry about college. Plus, Stuy is really competitive and hard, I almost went there...eeesh =)</p>
<p>I'm actually pretty stupid. My stats aren't that great, but hey, gotta try, no?</p>
<p>you are not stupid!
insecure, mayybe...</p>
<p>Not insecure... I am confident in my abilities. Question is whether or not Princeton will believe it :P I just don't think I am "supersmart" or whatever.</p>
<p>::cough:: four point</p>
<p>Super smart? Haha, that's funny. Yeah, AP Chemistry and AP Calc this year have shown me that I'm not even close.</p>
<p>I honestly don't even think it's a matter of being "super smart." It's about finding something you're excited/passionate about and pursuing it to the utmost of your abilities. It's about opportunities, amibitions, and drive. If you can show that in your application, I think you have a good chance in coming across well to the adcoms. I know I get very insecure whenever I see other people's test scores and them freaking about getting a B+, but then I just have to remind myself that that's not everything, you know? Sure you do. :)</p>
<p>Let's stop trying to be modest...</p>
<p>I AM A GENIUS!</p>
<p>jk.</p>
<p>People at my school consider me smart, but when I come here and see so many 1600's, I feel rather stupid. :(</p>
<p>I actually really hate it when people think I'm smarter than I am, and they have more confidence in me, so I feel like I constantly fail people. I'm telling people to tell me that I won't get in to pton because I'd rather prove people wrong than have to constantly live up to these expectations.</p>
<p>I'm not supersmart. In fact, I'm illiterate. I haven't read this post, nor do I have the slightest clue about what I'm writing.</p>
<p>:-P</p>
<p>Zantedeschia, I know exactly what you mean. Everyone keeps telling me that there's no way I'm going to get rejected from Pton and I should stop saying that's a very valid possibility. My parents do that, too. It only ends up putting a lot of pressure on me instead of giving me confidence.</p>
<p>just<em>forget</em>me we live in the same city! neat!</p>
<p>Anyways, I used to think I was smart until I visited these boards, and learned I wasn't. No one at my school has EC's even close to that of the people on these boards. I have very few EC's, but I figure, some people like me and you had to get in somewhere, and so we have a chance too.</p>
<p>Represent for tha 614!</p>
<p>I agree with celebrian about the humbling effect of CC. I've been a math whiz kid since I was little, and state/natl competitions have shown me that there are some incredible kids out there, but it wasn't until reading about all the RSI kids here that I realized where I really fit in the pecking order.</p>
<p>CC shows you that just becuase you're above average in you own school,doesn't necesarily translate into you're a genius. My own humbling experience was when I got a 3 on my ap us history test and everyone on this board was talking about how easy the test was, saying how only people who didn't study would have gotten a 3 or below. And consider the fact that most people here are national merit semi-finalists, when only the top 4% of the people from each state actually make it. A lot of people here are the cream of the crop, but there are plenty of people like you and me in the world, and don't count yourself out for the elite colleges, everyone has something going for them!</p>
<p>honestly speaking, my academic achievements are far inferior to most people here at CC. But as philntex put so eloquently, its not the 'smarts' that defines your chances at Pton, but your drive. To measure this drive, Pton thus looks at your grades as an indication of your passion. Since my grades and scores alone arnt enough to show how determined i am, the essays take the brunt of the weight of picking up the slack of my grades. </p>
<p>So i have never considered myself to be smart, just very determined and passionate about the tasks i take up. This is the only thought that gives me the confidence that i stand a chance at admissions this fall, not my grades and scores.</p>
<p>my point?? yea i kinda got lost rambling there, and dont know if i got my point across. But simply put, its this: the university doesnt look for academic success for its own sake, but only as an indication of your passion. So, being super-smart has nothing to do with the subject (though it helps).</p>
<p>anyone agree/disagree? anyone even make sense out of my rambling? lol</p>
<p>My academic achievements are pretty bad compared to most CCers, but I don't think they are smarter, they just work a lot harder and are "determined and passionate" like kayoshin. CC definitely has an academic elite, but it is selected more by drive and studiousness than intelligence or "supersmartness".</p>
<p>I think you bring up an excellent point, kayoshin. Applicants often use other aspects of their application to balance their lacking elements of the application (although "lacking" is used relatively), which is something I myself did. One of the reasons I was up until 3:00 this morning was because I wanted to give Princeton something that embodied my hard work and determination. No one part of the application will get you in. How they all work together will be (and this is only from the research I've done since I'm not an adcom) the deciding factor in whether you get in or not.</p>
<p>i have relatives and close friends that work as ad coms at MIT, Harvard and Yale and they all say gpa/sat is all relative SAT if your 1350-1550 per se you are all the same. your academic achievements are no where near as important as how much initiative you took in high school, ur course schedule, your activities, and most importantly your essays. it is not the academic achievements that get people in, it is the passion that they can convey thru interviews and on paper and thru recommendations that gets them in</p>
<p>as they all say, they are not looking for a nerd to sit in his room 24/7 studying. they are looking for someone who can contribute to his peers/his environment. if you have nothing to contribute besides ur hard 24/7 studious work ethic, u arent getting in</p>
<p>my EC's stink, which is why i'll probably be stuck in ohio. I have passions, like chess, but nothing to do with them. My school has clubs, but they're the kind where you meet for an hour a week and nothing happens. I also have no chance of holding an office becuase i'm not popular. My school doesn't participate in those math competitons like AMC or AIME. No one at my school has ever done RSI or TASP. I've never met anyone at my school who has done research. I go to just an average public school which has good academics, but not much else. That's why essays will make or break me. Which stinks.</p>