“It can also be a shock for students in very competitive programs where everyone around them was also the top of their HS class.”
I certainly saw this as an undergrad. When every student in the university was one of the top 3 students in their high school, and tops in math and science, expectations are high. When you have never had a math class in your life that was even remotely difficult, somewhere in university you are likely to run in a class that is way past what you are used to.
I was bad at a few subjects in high school, particularly French. Tutoring and some extra work outside of school helped a lot. I think that this turned out to be an advantage in university. When I ran into a difficult math class I actually had some vague clue what to do. Some of my classmates did not. They had never had a class that they found difficult.
“When someone is accepted to a college with stats in the bottom 25% of accepted students they are overjoyed here on CC. I wonder how they do at that college.”
I have wondered the same thing. I might have occasionally been the “stick in the mud” in my lack of enthusiasm for any student attending a university where they are coming in as part of the lowest 25% of admitted students, or lowest 50% for premed students. I do not think that we are doing students a favor when they are accepted to academically tough schools where they are near the bottom of the incoming class.