Okay we all probably know someone like this. Perfect grades, mostly AP/IB classes, play a sport or two, popular, do great things for the community, and seem to perfectly balance all the burdens of high school and still love life. Do these people really exist or are they just perceived to be like that? How can a human being physically handle all of these things and perform with what seems to be effortless success. Were they born like that or did they become like that? How!?
I think that for anyone, it just comes with living life in general. However, that is not the case for myself or any of the people I know. People have internal struggles and weaknesses in areas that they probably do not discuss. Not everything is as it seems to the eye.
I know a girl who seemed to be like that–she ended up at Harvard (got into Stanford, Yale, and off the waitlist for MIT as well). Competitive dancer (she is now on the Harvard dance team), took the AP Calculus BC test whilst taking Honors Algebra 2 as a freshman, took three AP sciences + APUSH in a year (a feat otherwise unheard of at my school–I literally don’t think anyone else did that, although I’m not sure if she took a math course junior year), 4.0 GPA, on the best youth orchestra in California (now on the Harvard orchestra/symphony or whatever), super nice/modest. And really, really, really smart (if my previous statements haven’t asserted that already).
In Spongebob Squarepants the person that could identify himself as “perfect” would be Long, Tan & Handsome. Unfortunately, he wasn’t all that perfect. In my opinion, people seeming to be perfect hide a lot on the inside, which is a benefit to those around them yet becomes detrimental to their own self. Perfection is also very relative, so being perfect in the own mind’s eye may be completely different from how another mind perceives perfection.
My 2¢, throw it in a jar and save it 
I think it’s an image a lot of the time. Especially with stuff like Facebook, where you can pick and choose what to share with others, it’s easy for someone to craft a perfect picture of effortless success.
One of my close friends seems to be one of the “perfect kids” that you describe. She has great marks, 2350+ SAT first try (and as a sophomore), and 5s on 8 different exams (none of which were the “easy” ones). She’s also a competitive figure skater and skilled violinist. At school, she has a few good leadership roles (including in DECA, where she has won awards at ICDC) and is generally very well-liked. Everyone thinks that she has a perfect life because she’s so cheerful all of the time.
But they don’t realize that she stays up until 3 a.m. every night to juggle everything. They don’t realizes she had to take care of her depressed sister (thanks to parents who denied that their child could be depressed) and often called me in tears trying to cope.
I’ll conclude with a quote by Steven Furtick: “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.”
But colleges must know we feel like this, right? I mean they know so much about us they must know about these one or two “perfect kids” in each class. Do you think colleges realize this and still acknowledge and accept those who are imperfect or do they still idolize these perfect kids with acceptances?
Actually thought that about a friend of mine who seemed like he had it all figured out. He’s going to U of M, real smart, he’s got rich parents, but I think he’s got depression/emotional issues and on top of that he has no idea what he wants to do after college. I just feel kinda bad for him sometimes. He puts up this faux front, so he’s popular, but he has to hide how he feels sometimes. Kinda glad I don’t have to act like that.
People at school act like I’m one of these “perfect kids”. One guy told me he should hang a motivational sign that says “Be Like Psithurisma” where he studies. I sleep as little as my classmates and feel just as overwhelmed. The difference is I don’t join the ranting at lunch. I don’t complain. I smile and crack jokes, so it seems like I’m handling it better than they are. But when I get home I tell my mom how I really feel, echoing my classmates. The “perfect kids” have their own struggles; you just don’t see them.
Yeah I know some people who literally do so much I can fathom how little sleep they get. I mean seriously how do people function and look happy on such little sleep? Coffee? Drugs?
Well… a lot of people spend a lot of time “doing work” when they’re really not… working during that time. They’ll get distracted and do other stuff, and end up staying up really late at night.
Usually these “perfect kids” have a REALLY good work ethic where they can schedule time to organize their work and really get it done. Also, sometimes, if they get too caught up in maintaining “perfection” (usually through GPAs/SATs), they actually go a little crazy by the end of high school in my experience. Everyone has to have an outlet.
I know a lot of the kids you’d think are “perfect” (top 300 in the country in some sort of competition or other). They all have some sort of outlet… or they’re seriously a little crazy.
Because of my culture (Asian) I know of plenty of people that are considered perfect. A few people even consider me to be that. At least in middle school, not as much anymore.
I would argue that yes, they exist. They are solely focused on their own lives, they do not do anything because of others. They keep busy, never stop doing things. But they really do have their own problems… Maybe not the life and death type of problems that some of have to deal with, but still, major breakdowns and that sort of thing.
And what OP @xiphos said…
Yeah, drugs do come in handy.
You would not believe the number of Asian parents who are so focused on their child’s success, that they will buy them drugs so they can stay awake and be the star child they always wanted. It’s somewhat terrifying…
Nope, pure illusion, perfection does not exist. The fault of character is within all people, albeit for some it’s harder to spot. Also, Asians considering other Asians as perfect is an oxymoron. Consider that Asians are far to critical to admit perfection?
Me. I’m the perfect kid. I do everything correctly. And when I do it wrong, it’s only because it was correct to do so. 
Everyone thought we had a perfect girl junior year, but then we realized it was just a front and she’s actually not that smart. We have another girl who should be the “perfect girl” picture, but she’s too honest/real with people for us to picture her that way. She got a high SAT score, but we all saw her studying for months to get that score. She’ll constantly get the highest grades on tests, but we see her paying attention in class when everyone else is sleeping, and she’ll talk about how late she stayed up studying the night before. She has lots of leadership position, but we see how dedicated she is to all of her clubs. Some people still see her as the perfect girl because they don’t know her, all they hear is someone in the hallway saying “did you hear x girl got a 100 on her essay! The next highest grade was a 76!” (true story actually). But really, she doesn’t try to put up an illusion or something, she’s pretty transparent with how hard she works and she doesn’t try to cover it up just to seem effortless.
Yeah the hard work aspect is definitely there and important, but a lot of times this illusion can psychologically discourage other people
@SamRam uh… it exists when you go to a school where the vast majority of the people are Asian. Or really, any school with like, 10 or more Asians. You’re going to have Asians who think other Asians are perfect. Your comment was a little racist, just saying.
Yea they do exist. But I don’t think we should bring race to the table… while many Asians do appear “perfect,” so many more aren’t perfect. I’m Asian and honestly my life is a complete mess. By subjecting Asians to that “perfect” stereotype, it makes other Asians like me feel bad about ourselves for not “living up” to that identity. It always sucks when I happen to bomb a test and other kids say, “But I thought you were ASIAN!!! :O”. Ugh.
Back to “perfect kids,” I try not to think about it, and I suggest others to do the same. Sure they exist but why dwell on others when you can focus on yourself. There are lots of “perfect kids” right here on CC, but if there’s anything I’ve learned while on this website, it’s to not compare yourself to others. I used to compare myself to the other kids on here and it was REALLY damaging, and I was pretty depressed for some time after joining this website. Nobody’s perfect, and even if you don’t get accepted into HYPSM, that’s just what life has in store for you, and you should learn to have fun and go with what you’re given Just my two cents.
OP did you change your post? I seem to remember something quite different?
I don’t think he intended racism. As attending a school myself with a prominent group of “perfect” Asians, I can vouch for their drive and motivation. And descending from Asian parents myself, the culture simply pushed for an extreme emphasis on education. It has been that way for hundreds of years. Their contemporary drive to be the best simply reflects hundreds of years of value placed on education and filial piety.
A few kids like this go to my school. They have perfect test grades, they always do the extra credit even when they have 4.0 gpa, etc. But I’ve noticed that some of them can’t carry on a normal conversation about other topics outside of the academic world. Being successful later on in life isn’t defined as having perfect grades in high school. We should all strive for the highest grades we can achieve, but we shouldn’t have to become sleep deprived school zombies in order to do that.