<p>The least you can do is act like a man! - Vito Corleone from The Godfather when his god son Johnny is crying to him about solving his problems. Stop comparing yourself to the best students.</p>
<p>Ya I mean you obviously aren’t applying to the same colleges as those people. You aren’t competing with them.</p>
<p>Ahh man don’t worry about it. No seriously, beating yourself up will not make you suddenly “shape up”. I’ve never heard of SAT scores being predictors of success. You need to look at the big picture. Good grades and a good college help predict how much money you’ll make (which most people use to weigh success). That doesn’t mean 4.0 and Harvard undergrad and grad school, it can mean a state university with around a 3.5. Not too bad. </p>
<p>But hey, a lot of people get that GPA in college and go to state universities. What separates them from, say, Oprah? The best predictor of success has been emotional intelligence, or even just an attractive personality (usually EI leads to other, but you can have a good personality and not have EI). Call it manipulation or just charisma, at the end of the day, people matter. That’s why celebrities have publicists, why the popular girl in high school seemed so perfect. People need to like you. It probably sounds like a load of bs to people who’ve been on the college track since they were in diapers, but you can Google it. You don’t live in a bubble, no matter what you’re influenced and affected by people and how they perceive you. Genius=success might seem evolutionarily novel, but it’s been proven otherwise. Like I said, look at the big picture.</p>
<p>I’d seriously recommend taking an extended break from CC, it’s clearly not a healthy influence factor in your life.</p>
<p>Stop worrying about other people’s accomplishments, that’s out of your hands. Stay focused on yourself, no sense in stressing over things you can’t control</p>
<p>OP: Please, please, please trust me when I say that your success in high school does not define your future success in life. Think about it: in twenty years, will your SAT score or high school GPA really matter? When someone dies, is their 2400 SAT score or 4.0 GPA going to be what people remember them by? Will anyone remember that you were valedictorian in your class of 600 people? No! No one will remember that in ten years. To be honest, I doubt anyone will remember that in five years. There are PLENTY of people who did just mediocre in high school and then later on went to accomplish incredible, amazing, memorable things. Similarly, there are PLENTY of people who were very successful in high school, went to a great college, and then got the same job as people who went to colleges that would have been considered that person’s safety school. None of this stuff will matter in the long run. In the end, the only thing people will remember about you is how kind and compassionate you were to those around you, and how you worked to make the world a better place. It sounds cliche, but IT’S SO TRUE.</p>
<p>Whenever I feel like comparing myself to someone, I always think of this quote from Judy Garland: “Always be a first rate version of yourself and not a second rate version of someone else.” If you’re always comparing yourself to others, you’re never going to be able to reach your own full potential. You’re never going to be able to do that thing that you were destined to do.</p>
<p>Sorry for the ranting, but it just makes me mad when I see posts like this on CC (not mad at you, OP, because I can definitely empathize with you and understand where you’re coming from). Yes, college and grades are important, but are they the most important thing in the world? No. Just work hard, and you will likely turn out fine. Use this site to your benefit, not to your disadvantage.</p>
<p>As far as advice for you, OP, study as hard as you can. Fight to get into those higher level classes. Talk to someone who is more neutral, such as a guidance counselor or a teacher you trust, and have them speak to the people who are preventing you from taking higher level classes. If they still don’t listen, it’s probably because they don’t like underclassmen taking a ton of APs or they don’t think you are ready for the workload of those classes, so just forget about it. Do the best you can in the classes that you are taking. As for ECs, join those that you are passionate about. The people you see on here who are really accomplished are either 1) ■■■■■■■■ or 2) really passionate and motivated and hardworking people who are lucky enough to have found their passion early on in life. If you don’t know what you are passionate about, explore until you find it. If you don’t like any clubs at you school, start your own club, or join an organization outside of school. Find a cause that really motivates you and that you care deeply about. The sooner you start doing something that you really love, the sooner you will stop feeling like a failure and comparing yourself to others.</p>
<p>If you still feel inferior after reading this essay I just wrote for you, read this post because it really changed my mind about a lot of things: <a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15585633-post15.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/15585633-post15.html</a></p>
<p>I’ve never liked the “this won’t matter in X years” argument. In 100 years, it won’t matter that I ever lived.</p>
<p>I think the demographic on this website is a little skewed. The kids who come onto these kinds of websites are generally the ones who have been aiming for Ivy League schools since kindergarten, and are desperate to do whatever they can to get in. Don’t let those kinds of students get you down.</p>
<p>TheWin, this site is not created to discourage you in your college search…it is meant to encourage you. There are plenty of very good (not exceptional) students who get into great schools…and then, through sheer determination, excel. </p>
<p>I joined CC for my D. She was an 89 average student all the way through, only 1 AP at a competitive HS where she thought everybody did better than her. Her SATs were lower than yours (she did get one perfect score on a subject test). She had mediocre ECs partly because she always held down a job – or two. She now has a scholarship to a good school. It can be done. And please believe me, CC was what got us there.</p>
<p>CC is what you make of it. Just like college. The most super-achieving highly-motivated people are going to post disproportionately, and why wouldn’t they? Others browse and get tips and help for staying on track. Point is, there are many many tracks.</p>
<p>And…there are many, many schools. CC helped me to understand that D not only wasn’t going to a top school…she wasn’t even going to get a merit scholarship at a good school which would make it affordable. The advice I rec’d here was invaluable. </p>
<p>If you are first gen there might be some other options for you. Keep reading threads on CC. But don’t get so easily discouraged! How on earth will you fare in college, where disappointments will be a dime a dozen? </p>
<p>If you are motivated enough to join CC that already speaks in your favor.</p>
<p>Work from your strengths and stop obsessing…take advice when it sounds helpful…do your absolute best. Your confidence level is very important. You can’t get into certain courses? Have you contacted heads of depts – respectfully – to show them you are serious? If/when they give you reasonable responses (e.g., material really is super hard and your average is 5 points below cut-off to be considered), do you assimilate it?</p>
<p>You still have time to cultivate a positive attitude and reinforce your work habits. And those are important life lessons which will serve you well for ANY college…and beyond.</p>
<p>Best of luck!</p>
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<p>“Everything you do in life will be insignificant…but it’s very important that you do it.” Mahatma Gandhi.</p>
<p>I don’t mean to keep bringing up quotes that seem cheesy, and I definitely don’t want to turn this into a philosophical discussion about nihilism lol, but I think this is so true. Sure, a hundred years from now, most of our lives won’t matter. But who wants to live their life like that? What you do today can really make a difference in someone’s life. And that person can make a difference in someone else’s life. And the chain continues…</p>
<p>Uh Hello? legacy? You can leave an impact on anyone and still be remembered for decades to come. It doesn’t just stop unless you do very little.</p>
<p>I don’t know whether you’re looking for consolation or not. A lot of people are offering consolation and that’s very kind of them. The reality boils down to where your aspirations lie and what you’re willing to do about them. If you’re looking at top 20 schools, you need to buckle down and work much much harder. No matter how incredible your resume word choice is, numbers and substance outweigh that much more. If you’re looking for a certain program at a certain school, work hard toward that. There’s literally nothing else people can tell you.</p>
<p>Yeah, there are kids with 4.0s and 2400s and 20 leadership positions. The reality is that these people are your competition. College admission competition has gone through the roof in the past few years. It’s cutthroat; there’s no reason/sense to be depressed about a reality. Work toward something you want and work hard at it and you might have a shot.</p>
<p>To the people that say that you’re not even going to remember or care about your SAT score or your GPA in 20 years, sure that’s true. I don’t remember when I learned my ABCs or when I learned to multiply single digit numbers but all these things are instrumental to achieve something greater. Unfortunately, exams, grades, leadership are tools to demonstrate your capacity to succeed. They’re used for a reason. None of those things are inherently difficult to do. By doing well in these things one is showing that one is able to work extremely hard to balance and do well at multiple things. Getting an A in a class–I don’t care the class–is easy. Getting an A in six AP classes is not. Getting a 2300 if I had nothing else to do–absolutely nothing else–but study for that is easy. Getting a 2300, getting As in six AP classes, and pouring hours into an activity you’re passionate about shows dedication and the ability to work. Colleges want someone that has the propensity to succeed in their chosen field. This is the best way to demonstrate that.</p>
<p>So if you want colleges or whatever it is you decide to do after high school, you have to show the person who’s in charge that you’re capable of working hard. It has absolutely nothing to do with being “smart.” I don’t even know what that means anymore. Plenty of naturally intelligent and perceptive kids end up working dead end jobs in 20 years. High school is about building up knowledge. They don’t give us anything we’re not capable of understanding. You’re not going to find a quantum physics textbook laying around in your Honors Physics class. </p>
<p>Don’t fret about other people’s stats. It’s about finding what you want and giving it your all to get it. If you do that, there’s no way you’ll ever be a “failure.”</p>