<p>I have a 3.8 GPA and 1900 SAT. I don't think that's bad, but when I go on here, I'm lower than most everybody. Are college confidential people really that good, or do some blow their stats up a bit?</p>
<p>I’m sure some people inflate their stats a bit. But when you think about it, average students usually just go to CC or to a state university. Nothing wrong with being an average student (you’re def above average though), but they’re less likely to care enough about college to be here. It is the top students who are driven by top colleges and therefore are more likely to do research and end up here.</p>
<p>Yeah, the poster above is exactly right. </p>
<p>Think about it. The kids who get lower grades usually aren’t thinking about college, they’re thinking about partying or having a social life first. I didnt care about grades until I found this site and I was motivated by the high stats.</p>
<p>I don’t have high stats at all, but I consider myself above average regardless. Many kids in school struggle with their subjects and SATs and whatnot, and I’m not one of those people. But then again, I’m just in normal classes, no fancy APs or anything of the sort. My main edge in applying to college will probably be my SAT scores and college essay. I’m getting verbose here, but what I’m saying is that people and colleges are diverse, and even kids with lower grades are thinking about college. They may just not be aiming for an Ivy League or any other highly prestigious schools. I personally would be comfortable with your average state university.</p>
<p>Perhaps those kids you think are “average” are working their hardest for their grades. My daughter is an average student, and she does not party!!! She is home every weekend trying to maintain her “average” grades. She thinks about college constantly and if she had extra time on her hands, she would be sitting on CC but she is just trying to keep her average. Not everyone is created equal. I know a lot of kids that party that do very, very well in school so it’s not fair to peg those average students as “not trying”.</p>
<p>Agree with college42. There are a lot of students taking college prep and maybe a few honors classes that have to work for their grades - and those grades include lots of Bs and maybe a few Cs. They aren’t lazy. They aren’t dumb. They just aren’t 4.0/2400 types. There’s a big gap between brilliant and stupid and most of us fall in it. :)</p>
<p>This thread is so uplifting. I work so hard everyday to try to get near those “perfect stats” & i feel like i would never be close to half the people on CC. I’m just an average girl trying to go to an non-ivy out of state "dream"school. Although i look at people on here & im constantly telling myself there is so much I could be doing, while asking myself how do they do it? I wasnt born in a world where everything naturally comes to me & it just frustrating that it seems majority of the people on here makes it seems that way.
-sorry for the rant. </p>
<p>Sent from my PG06100 using CC</p>
<p>I don’t get it either. Nearly all the people here seem to be in the top 5% or so in the nation and yet they STILL seem to have trouble getting into college. </p>
<p>Everyone here seems to have a leg up on me. Where I live there aren’t any “college prep courses” or “AP courses.” Heck, I only found out what an AP was when I tried to go to college overseas and they wouldn’t even consider my Associate’s Degree. </p>
<p>Yet, we’re still expected to compete with these people for jobs. It’s discouraging. I can’t hope to be “good enough” if they’re what’s required to succeed.</p>
<p>Yeah, I feel the same way, 3.43 unweighted, 2030 SAT. I feel dumber than a stick on here. I see all the people with better stats than me panic and I start thinking community college will reject me. Then my parents/ teachers/ friends (the ones I know are really smart) give me a reality check by reminding me that I went to JHU CTY for six years, am sick A LOT (which impacts my grades), and my friends tell me their SAT scores which are lower than mine even though they have higher GPAs. </p>
<p>I think these are the people from high pressure families and schools where everyone has a high GPA (like mine, my unweighted puts me in the bottom 50%, but my weighted puts in in the top 50%, maybe top 25.) I’m not even looking at an Ivy or Ivy level, just a school with a good language programme. You make me feel better that I’m not the only lower stat person here.</p>
<ol>
<li>Your stats are far above the national average, don’t be discouraged at all! </li>
<li>People with high scores, myself included, like to brag about our accomplishments, and so we are much more likely to be online to brag</li>
<li>That’s a very insignificant reason to be on here, I go on here to help other people and to learn more about college life and admissions. The types of people who want to know more are usually those who have vested interest and so are shooting for better schools</li>
<li>CC is not real life, don’t take people too seriously 
</li>
<li>If your dream is UW it is a great dream! That school is amazing, beautiful, huge, great academics etc. UW is a top school, above average, and if it is the school you love don’t give a crap about all the Ivy-whores up in here.</li>
</ol>
<p>There are 3000 colleges in America, many people on here are going for the same top 20 colleges, so most people will have higher stats</p>
<p>CC is a bit of a bubble, that may be both good and bad at the same time.
The good: May inspire thers to try harder, learn tips and tricks from those that have done it, asses your top competition for the schools you want.</p>
<p>The bad: Discouraging, the only place on earth where you will see “2360…retake?”, false sense of reality.</p>
<p>Most people who come on college confidential are driven (reason why they might have found this site, like me) so with that it’s unlikely they have low stats. Though the site can be discouraging at times… ^^ “2360…retake?” and me then thinking my 3.73 unweighted gpa won’t get me anywhere but my state school and community college I still love this site. It’s very helpful and uplifting and the high stats just goes to show and remind you that you have competition. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try or go for your dream… who knows what might happen. Just make sure to have backups and matches.</p>
<p>I just found this and it was so nice and refreshing to see. I have good stats/EC’s (considered very strong at my school), but compared to so many people on CC, I feel like I am below average. I look at the posts and I can’t help thinking that my 3.8 and golf coaching will not get me far when I am up against 2400/4.0’s doing lab research and volunteering like 1000 hours. Thank you guys for posting!</p>
<p>It’s an interesting dichotomy on CC. The site attracts the best and the brightest…You would imagine these kids would have confidence to spare, and yet I’ve never seen more insecurity…and kids that require more ego stroking. As helpful as it can be, I also think it probably scares away 10 kids for every one that sticks around…and that probably contributes to the skewed sense of what “average” really looks like.</p>
<p>Lol yea almost everyone I encounter here have 2000+ sat.</p>
<p>I think everyone on here is just paranoid about school and grades and whatnot. I agree that this site attracts the best and the brightest, but I am sure that a lot of people really don’t feel like certain stats are hard to get. For some people, 2200+, 10 AP’s, volunteer, sports, and a 3.9 are not hard. For others it is. On CC, I don’t think we actually know enough about other people’s lives and schools to justify whether certain stats are “hard” for them. I know for me, 12 AP’s and sports didn’t seem hard, but I couldn’t get my SAT’s up there. It just depends.</p>