<p>For me, it has been a little bit of both. There are some people on CC who seem to be superhuman. There are some opportunities that CC has taught me about that I now know are beyond my reach. However, it has driven me to do better, especially with standardized tests, self-studying, extra-curriculars and the like. </p>
<p>CC has improved me, but it has also humbled me.</p>
<p>Like you said, for me its done both…I find that my standards are higher and I want to try more but at the same time I feel like I have a much worse inferiority complex than before. It has, though, taught me to be more humble as well. The biggest downside I guess though is checking this site like every 5 minutes…</p>
<p>For me, I would have to say more academic drive to an extent, because after that extent the effort feels more like a job than an education.</p>
<p>Both. It makes me feel stupid and strive for better grades at the same time</p>
<p>It drove me to participate in competitions that I never would have done before, so it definitely drove me to do better. I wish I had discovered it a year earlier, though.</p>
<p>I use CC to procrastinate on homework. It also has provided me some information on the college selection process.</p>
<p>It has made me much more cynical and sarcastic.</p>
<p>It’s made me less na</p>
<p>@halyconheather are you sure it made you less na</p>
<p>It has demoralized me, but also pushed me to try harder, considering what’s out there.</p>
<p>^^
Well, less than I was before. I think the Internet in general does that.</p>
<p>Why, did I say something na</p>
<p>CC reminded me to take the ACT so I’d say it has helped :)</p>
<p>It motivated me to take more ap but I learn that people are stuck ups.</p>
<p>It taught me that if I care enough about achieving something and am really driven to succeed…</p>
<p>I can become a total loser.</p>
<p>It’s shown me that even if I may be valedictorian, president of nhs, music guru, etc., that there will always be someone better than me, and also that no one can expect to get into ivies, but they’re worth a shot.</p>
<p>CC has amped up my motivation; I decided to retake the ACTs and shoot for a higher score. However, I was quite demoralized to see that a lot of other people on CC have accomplished (or at least claimed to) far more than I did. And to think that I’m gonna apply to top universities… That definitely has made me a bit pessimistic…</p>
<p>It’s definitely shown me some humility and even though lots of people are taking extra APs and self-studying and taking summer classes and whatnot, it told me to slow down and enjoy my teenage years. Haha.</p>
<p>It also made me confident in my College choice.</p>
<p>When I was applying to college, it made me feel like I was not anywhere near good enough to get into the Ivys, but now that I have finished my junior year at an Ivy League school and having met many of the sort of kid who applies to college with a mile long resume and perfect scores, I have realized that many of these kids are not actually very impressive in person. For example, I know a kid who got a perfect score on the SAT and did tons of science fairs in high school. This person completely burned out in college and has under a 3.0. Others have kept up with their activities, but do not go beyond what is expected of them intellectually and basically end up blending into the crowd. The smartest kids I have met at college actually did not do tons of activities in high school, they focused on their interests and continued to do so in college, but not trying to do a million clubs just so they could pad their r</p>
<p>Yeah, CC made me less naive as well. It ended my fun, carefree years (easily being at the top of my mediocre high school), and I started going beyond straight As and looking for other places to spend my energy. </p>
<p>@Poeme, I hope that I don’t burn out before college! I’ll follow your advice and focus my attention on a few passions. So far, they are: </p>
<p>music (not really passionate about it, but I need to show that I’m well rounded, don’t I?), physics (my main focus), soccer (captain of JV this year somehow, probably never again, also volunteer coaching youth groups), and writing (I have yet to show my achievements here, hoping to medal in Scholastic next year). </p>
<p>I still have to narrow the list down, I think. How are the rest of you painting your resume? What extracurriculars / passions will you emphasize?</p>
<p>“I need to show that I’m well rounded, don’t I?”</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>I don’t think I really have anything in particular to emphasize, and my ECs suck a lot compared to people on here. My primary interest is math, but I haven’t done much to show that outside of school. (However, my senior-year schedule will be all college math classes except for one philosophy class.)
I’ve played the piano for eight years but I’ve never won any awards or performed anywhere other than local recitals. I wanted to submit stuff for Scholastic Art & Writing last year because I think my writing is decent, but I missed the deadline.
I’m not applying to anywhere insanely selective, though.</p>