I’m a HS junior and have been sort of having a snowballing breakdown the last few months… I got 3 Bs last semester (AP Macro, Chem, Calc BC) and have just been extremely stressed but also not doing well and I have a friend who has similar coursework and stats to me but she does so much better and it makes me feel like I’m useless… My dream school is UPenn but why bother when there are people like her at my school and probably thousands more even better across the country. I just… I can’t anymore. I don’t know what to do.
Don’t get so down on yourself. APs are hard, and there are many, many good schools besides Penn! You need to be more self contained – stop worrying about you friend or a ‘dream school’. Do your best, and work on developing a college list of safeties, matches, and reaches that you would want to attend. It is easy to dream of reach schools, but the real work of college selection is in finding matches and safeties that work best for you. There are so many good colleges out there, and your hard work will pay off.
Wait, you’re a high school Junior taking 3 courses meant for college kids. Getting a B is NOT a sign of a “breakdown.”
As to your friend, that might be a different matter. If you’re feeling bad because you can see she’s doing better than you, then it’s just a matter of realizing that we all find different things easy.
But if it’s her actions that are making you feel bad- if she’s going out of her way to highlight the difference in your grades-- then I might reconsider the friendship. There are so many wonderful people in the world, it makes no sense to involve yourself with the toxic relationships. You’re right-- there are thousands like her throughout the country: immature brats who thrive on making themselves look better by making other people look bad. But there are so many more people who have a secure enough self image that they can accept imperfections in others. Find those people, surround yourself with them, and make sure that you yourself are of that mindset.