quite stressful...anyone has the same feeling?

<p>After a month in my college, I'm totally out of the subculture, football, greek, drinking, ect...ppl. dont focus on a high GPA here, but I do care about GPA a lot.(aiming at top colleges and law school in the future.) I push myself to get involved in many activities, maybe a little bit reluctant; I feel so exhausted with those things...I study till late night while most ppl. here have parties at that time...I need to get a 3.9+ GPA for my target schools, but fairly the quality of prof. is not high;I need to do the self-study most of time...I have to take SAT in Nov. cuz I havnt taken it before, and perfect score is desired...I attend a leadership program with a lot of dogmatic journals to write which is totally different from what I expect...everything here has complicated process... :(
I absolutely stress out...I just finished the first mid-term exam. After checking the answers from prof. I know I didn't get a perfect score...I'm disappointed with myself...I'm not stupid...so what's the problem...not hard enough?
Do you have the same feeling? How do you get through from that? Any input is appreciated...</p>

<p>I sometimes have the same feeling, but think about it: "TO BE OR NOT TO BE??!!"</p>

<p>I think you're putting too much emphasis on being perfect and putting all your energy into getting into top schools. There is a lot more to success in life besides getting good grades. You are stressing yourself out and what good is a burned out college student with no lust for life?
Take a deep breath and a few steps back and try to enjoy yourself. Find activities that are calming and fun. Take time to enjoy good friends, good music and good food. Go to the gym, try a meditation or yoga class. Learning to find balance in life should be the ultimate goal.</p>

<p>You simply might not be as smart as you think you are. College will humble you. Read that chapter in The Catcher in the Rye where Mr. Anatoli tells Holden about coming to terms with his intellectual capacity.</p>

<p>Just gonna have to deal with it.</p>

<p>If you think it's tough now, wait until [if] you make it to a top school. Talk about a humbling experience.</p>

<p>I know how you feel sometimes. For me, it's not so much the work but just the annoying process of transferring and the uncertainty that accompanies it. I also am a very motivated student, and in my experience CC ( I realize you are not at a CC) is not the place to meet like minded individuals. Not to say this is true of all cc students, just MY experience. It's easy for me to get overwhelmed because there are so many things I want to accomplish and it feels like nothing is happening. I also want to go to law school. Correct me if I'm wrong but I'm assuming you feel similarly? Are you a freshman at your current school or a sophomore? There are some schools out there that waive SAT with a certain amount of credits/ have it as optional. It would still be a smart idea to take it, but realize that even if you don't do as well as you hope or need you will have options. For example, smith, mount holyoke, connecticut college, bates, NYU(if you have more than a years worth of credit), GWU(same as NYU), Fordham (Same as NYU), and I'm sure other members can contribute many more colleges. I understand that these schools are not Yale or some other magical ivy league, nevertheless they are still very good and have excellent placement of students in top grad programs. In terms of EC's don't try to choose all these different things and be barely involved in any. Obviously your GPA is top priority so choose a couple of EC's that you are very passionate about and go from there. Lastly, try to enjoy the school you are at now, as much as you can. It will make the process a little bit less painful. </p>

<p>Hope that helped.</p>

<p>yes yes, deft. rcl268's reply is the most helpful.
thank you all for your input! It's just the annoying process. I should make it clear that I've no problem with the academic things...I'm in a big U right now, which I'm always considering being overwhelmed in such a big pool. and also cuz its lack of diversity, i cant find a lot of things i'm passionated at. sometimes feel lost, sometimes feel isolated. and it's too modern with the new tech here, which means i have few chance to communicate with prof. it's a little bit tough for old-fashioned ppl. like me...I'm so happy tonight with all your helpful suggestions. and another thing make me pleased is that a friend came to me for academic questions. It's so great that I could help ppl with academic questions!
thank you all again!! I will do my best to conquer all negtive emotions!! :)</p>

<p>I am definitely in the same exact place as you are... I got my first midterm back and it's a 48/50, which I can live with =P</p>

<p>I'd like to think that we're ahead of the game by studying so much and putting so much effort into what we do. If we want to transfer, everything we do academically matters. Friends will come.</p>

<p>Thank you Violaghost! EVERYTHING WE DO ACADEMICALLY MATTERS! that's so agreeable! I think I was too nervous about socialization in the first few weeks. I'm so afraid of isolation...however that's not easy to make friends in such a big U, esp. most ppl. don't share common interests with me...(as I mentioned above, college subculture.) That should be the derivation of my tension...
I got my mid-term today too. :) if i can keep that grade and devote a little bit more energy to study, hopfully i'll have all A for the 1st semester. just quote someone's random words to encourage all of us here, "fight to win, die with honor."</p>