<p>I'm extremely terrified at the thought of not being the top student in all my classes anymore. I don't know what's wrong with me or why I even feel the need to be the top student in all of my classes -- but the fact still remains that this is really bothering me. </p>
<p>I don't know how to explain it. I've the top student in all of my classes all through high school. I've been so used to being the best, top student of every class. College has come as a big reality check for me. It feels really weird and odd that I'm "average" in some of my classes.</p>
<p>You’re in college now. The only person who cares if you’re the top student in classes is you. Unless you’re trying for a prestigious scholarship for your upperclassman years honestly it’s not that big of a deal. In fact, it’s a little hard to judge because there’s no way you can know how everyone else in the class is doing.</p>
<p>Go out there and get real-world experience and internships. Meet people and make connections. This is just as important as good grades.</p>
<p>So many high schools completely fail at preparing students for college. With college there’s such a higher expectations, which is natural because you’re not just in school because you’re required to be. Now you’re in school because you’re working towards a degree that’s going to help you establish a career. You have to work at doing your best like there’s no tomorrow because this is your gateway to your dream job. It’s not about just learning the information for the sake of making an A, it’s learning the information so you can transfer those skills into the work force and be able to do something great with it.</p>
<p>OP - you are not in school to be the top student. You are in school to get the degree to get the job to get the paycheque. If you were the last student and made bank, you will have done well.</p>
<p>Ugh, I too am very familiar with this feeling. I’ve generally been in the top of my classes since I transferred, but ever since I added the CS minor with the not-even-required-but-good-idea-to-take math courses, my confidence has taken a major hit. </p>
<p>I just got out of a linear algebra test, and while many people say it’s supposedly easy, based on my experiences in there, I’m beginning to question my ability to do this kind of thing. I spent a solid 10-15 hours studying, and when I applied that kind of effort for previous classes, I’d be basically guaranteed an A. Not so, here. I’ll be lucky if I stay in the B-range. Then again, I did take 18 credit hours this semester, but that doesn’t really make me feel much better. </p>
<p>I’ll just be hanging in there until next semester, when the course load will be lighter. My body and brain are just drained, emotionally and physically.</p>
<p>When my son matriculated at Emory, he told the students, “look around you…90% of you were in the top 10% of your class in high school…I can guarantee that 90% of you will not be in the top 10% here…and that’s ok. Whether or not you are in the top 10% here has exactly 0 to do with how much you learn and grow intellectually.”</p>
<p>^ well duh. But for the rest of us- imagine how many people are graduating every year, even every semester, with degrees in our majors. Imagine how many of them are at the top of their class or have a great GPA. Our goal is to figure out how to set ourselves apart from everyone else. You can’t just rely on academics.</p>
<p>I can completely relate. Not so much for being at the “top” but simply doing well in all my classes. In high school, I knew all the teachers and all the kids who had taken the classes before me, so I knew what to expect from each and every class before I picked it. I knew I would do well and even if I hadn’t, I had the reassurance that the teachers who I had known for 10+ years would give me extra help outside of class. But I have no idea how I’ll do in college, especially in “weed out” courses, and that scares the crap outta me! </p>
<p>And it seems like in college it’s so much harder to pull up a bad grade, especially when you only have 5 or so tests. :/</p>
<p>College is a healthy competitive environment where everyone came from the top of their classes. You just get used to it and raise the bar.</p>
<p>In high school, you just have to be the best of average, but in college, if you want to keep those status, you have to be the best of the best.</p>
<p>For that particular reason, this is why the top colleges are well-known, and which college you go to becomes more important than your GPA as long as your GPA is reasonably high. After all, your abilities never changed; only the expectations and environment are changed.</p>
<p>Be inspired, learn from others, and take this as an opportunity to improve yourself.</p>