<p>I was looking through, and so many people are like:</p>
<p>OH NO IM WAYYY BELOW AVERAGE!! I WONT GET INTO ANYWHERE!!
Gpa: 3.82 (i kno its really bad)
ACT: 30 (I cried for 3 days)
I'm president of this, that, have ALL AP's, and varsity this, that and that, etc.
THERES NO WAY ILL EVER GET INTO ANYWHERE!</p>
<p>^^^ Stuff like this makes me angry. Since when is a 3.8 and a 30 BELOW? For god sake, if those are your stats, you are in the freaking TOP 2% of students in america. Take a chill pill, seriously.</p>
<p>I don't know of ANYONE in my school who has a GPA over 3.7. NO ONE.
So to these people who have a good shot at pretty much every school who say "I'm so below average.. im so scared"... just think that there are a ton of AVERAGE students (3.3ish GPA, 24 ACT) such as I who would KILL to have the stats that you have.</p>
<p>I'm not trying to be mean about this, but this is something that annoys the hell out of me every time I come on here.</p>
<p>there are all kinds of colleges for all kinds of people.</p>
<p>Thre is a big focus on this BB, I've noticed, on the top 30 schools in USNWR. for those schools, top 2% is in the middle of their accepted students. Just the way it is.</p>
<p>When people say this they usually mean they're stats are average for HYP and others. Most people realize that their scores are above the national averages, but that doesn't help if you're looking at top colleges.</p>
<p>But it's like the words "average student" become completely redefined as soon as you get onto these forums. I mean, if 3.8/30 is "omg awful," what on earth is 3.1/24 (which is what I consider "average.")?</p>
<p>I think a lot of people are calling themselves "below" because they simply want to hear someone say "oh, you're not below average.. you're a great student!"... which almost EVERYONE on here is.</p>
<p>I mean it's to the point where I'm almost EMBARRASED to state my GPA (3.1.. rising junior) on this site... because people ALWAYS reply saying "you're just looking for people to feel sorry for you" or "lol."</p>
<p>I posted a chances thread on the Stanford Forum, and SO MANY PEOPLE were just DOWN RIGHT RUDE, because they find themselves so superior to others because they have 3.8's and 3.9's, and because they have better extracurriculars, and because they got 34's on the ACT.... and if they are jealous of your extracurriculars (which is highly rare), they start saying "you don't show passion like I do. That's a laundry list." Then, on the next thread, you see that EXACT same person saying "oh nooo, im such an awful student..." </p>
<p>Sorry that I'm ranting. This is an very useful website, but this just bothers me like you wouldn't know.</p>
<p>When you're going for the Lombardi trophy and you have a great line, great receivers, LT in the backfield -- but Trent Dilfer is your quarterback... </p>
<p>Wouldn't you worry?</p>
<p>Depends on what you're shooting for.</p>
<p>It's why the term "crapshoot" has become so popular on this site.</p>
<p>Ohh don't get me wrong... I'm just as "obsessed" as everyone else, but I'm unfortunate enough not to have those stats. I'm the kid that attends the school that's constantly at the top of the dangerous schools list... and has little available, and little going for him.
But even If I consider myself on par like that, people just have an attitude of superiority...</p>
<p>Some people are like that, but I can definitely empathize. I'm only a lowly sophomore, but when it comes to Ivies/Stanford/Duke/MIT admissions, I can understand why they start panicking (I would too) -- the admit rates are so low, and a lot of people have parental pressure to get into a top-ranked USNWR school.</p>
<p>As much as I love this site, and gain so much from it; it also makes me crazy for the reasons stated above! I am the mother of a rising junior who has an excellent GPA in a very demanding curriculum. She hasn't taken the SAT/ACT yet and has a couple of good EC's, but no big awards, kudos, etc. . . . After reading some of these threads, I'm starting to wonder if she'll have any shot at all at the schools she is interested in. Then I stop and remind myself that I am getting a very skewed view on CC. This is not the real world.</p>
<p>inferiority complex for some. Parental pressure is off the charts though. Parents getting mad at their kids for getting a 2100+ on the SATs or thinking scores lower than 800 are unacceptable? That's actually really sad and I feel bad for the kids who have to go through that when they otherwise should be very proud of those scores. Also the amount of kids who I see on this forum who have gone through some state of depression is insane.</p>
<p>In some of the "retake a 2300+?" threads I've wanted to ask the OP how he/she possibly did well on a reasoning test. You don't have to be a genius to answer 50+% of the questions asked about retakes.</p>
<p>Well all i know it that before i got on this site i used to feel i could get in anywhere, but then i started to feel really bad as if i was dumb compared to some of these ppl, mostly just bc of my SAT (2070), but i realize by looking at the college website, that my scores are competive at top schools, take for instance at Harvard 1 out of every 4 got a M+CR 1380 or less. So it is a lot beside just scores.</p>
<p>I have a 3.25 GPA and I am proud of it and I can tell you I will get just as far if not farther in life then people who get into top colleges. I am taking sort of a lesson from Van Wilder life is all about meeting new people and experiencing new things. With this 3.25 I can get into a decent college and that is good enough for me. I doubt half the people on CC have around 150 to 200 people they consider really close friends. I doubt they have had dinner in the governors mansion, gone skydiving, been in a hot air balloon, snowboarded down a mountain, flown a helicopter, and gone scuba diving. In ten years I see myself as a physician and a mountaineer (whose eventual goal is to climb Everest, laugh if you want, having a family, and traveling the world). I know a lot of these people have no idea how to live life to the fullest and I feel sorry for them.</p>
<p>Stop trying to appease your own sensibilities and egos. Success is relative, and drawing upon the greatness of others breeds motivation for success. I measure myself with the people I'll be competing with, and so do many others. You can feel satisfied and good about yourself with your 3.0 GPA, your 1800 SAT, your five second 40-yard dash, your 185 pound bench press, and your "expertise" at playing chopsticks on the piano, but don't be scornful of others who dominate your ass at everything just because you're fine with toiling in averageness. </p>
<p>"Everyone who does better than me at [X] must be trying way too hard or were given [Y] advantages, I'm definitely a superior person than that robot/brat/spoiled priss/cheater! RAWR!"</p>