<p>The high school students at CC make my old high school self look like Ferris Bueller or Zack Morris in comparison. That's quite a feat considering that I'm one of their counterparts from the days that Bush (Senior) was president - salutatorian, taking Honors/AP classes to the hilt, MIT/Stanford or bust mentality, AP Scholar With Honor, National Merit Finalist, etc. I can't believe I managed to survive taking Honors/AP classes to the hilt and insisting on doing work of sterling quality, because there's NO WAY I'd be able to work so hard so persistently today.</p>
<p>I noticed that the prevailing attitudes here are so much different. If this forum were like the high school forum or the chances forum, everyone here would be a Rhodes Scholar, Nobel Prize Winner, Mother Theresa, AND pro athlete.</p>
<p>So what happens to the Academic Performance Cult members? Do they drop out of the cult, or do they disappear from the face of the earth?</p>
<p>I guess I don't understand what all the fuss is about. Although I think it's troublesome when kids get caught up in college admissions for the sake of college admissions, I don't find it strange that some really enjoy working hard -- I count myself among them.</p>
<p>My suspicion is that at this point most of us have already gotten degrees from top schools, so we're comfortable with letting our accomplishments speak for themselves.</p>
<p>Because to be all those things at a college level takes a much higher amount of effort and skill. than it did at a high school level. Also, many of us specialize to the point where those things are not feasible to accomplish. The best colleges select the best people but at the college level only the best of those best are selected to receive those world-reknowned awards. That's why they're so prestigious.</p>
<p>Because by the time you get to grad school applications this kind of attitude is just silly. Your accomplishments and goals should be pretty clear at this point, and the only real competition is with yourself.</p>
<p>But yeah, I've met a number of those academic performance cult members in my early undergrad years. A lot of them were quickly tamed by reality.</p>
<p>Yeah the thing is, people start specializing and it starts becoming pointless to compre between applicants. However, in the more competitive fields, there probably still is an academic performance cult - say, med school or law school.</p>