<p>@TeenDream Couldn’t agree more with my situation.</p>
<p>The worst thing about CC is how it has dashed the hopes of so many here on this thread and others. This is the last thing it should do. CC is a little window into a little world, that is all. Instead of incessantly checking in on CC, read “How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity and the Hidden Power of Character” by Paul Tough. Watch Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk on how school kills creativity. Please understand that life experience is so much more than numbers and stats and punch lists, so much more than unnecessary and wasteful worrying about every little EC done or not done, award won or not won. Don’t become roboticized. “Liberet te!”</p>
<p>@gondalineNJ: I watched Sir Ken Robinson’s TED speech, very inspiring and hilarious! It really made me consider going into education when I’m older.</p>
<p>“The worst thing about CC is how it has dashed the hopes of so many here on this thread and others.”</p>
<p>People whose hopes are dashed by this website had shallow hopes (admissions at a college so they can brag about it) and need to find new ones, and it appears as though many of us have.</p>
<p>more academic drive! its my stupid high school with all those smarties that demoralizes me…</p>
<p>Definitely more drive. I didn’t know…anything about college until I stumbled upon a SAT thread last october. CC told me about summer programs and seeking out opportunities, and as a result this summer I will be helping research at two labs this summer(fingers crossed) and attending E2@MIT, which CC introduced me to.</p>
<p>Neither. My school’s competitiveness and lack of mathematicians/scientists in the C/O 2013 did. Did I make my day in High School? Maybe. In College? I’m staying home and all the “smart” people are going away. And guess what? Basically all I have to do is Math/Science. So game on.</p>
<p>(I’m basically that outlier that hasn’t found anything comparable on this website etc)</p>
<p>I’ve gained a lot of info on the type of people I will meet (and avoid) in college. I’m not a good person…</p>
<p>I don’t care what CCers have to say, but if they try to demoralize me then I can simply press that little button in the upper corner of the window and I won’t have to see that crap anymore.</p>
<p>CC doesn’t bring you down unless you let it.</p>
<p>Before I started browsing, I wasn’t under the delusion that outside my pond there is no ocean with many fish bigger than me.</p>
<p>It demoralized me because there are so many people on here with amazing stats but it taught me a lot about the college process and and how to apply to colleges. It also taught me to be realistic about not just applying to reaches which worked out well for me. 
It can be distracting as well. I used to come on the site almost everyday but I realized that it was hurting me a lot more than it was helping me and I forced myself not to go on for several months. It also taught me that if people are this amazing in high school then I need to do well in college as well.</p>
<p>A little bit of both. Seeing kids who complain about getting a 2200 on the SAT demoralizes me (not that I don’t have good scores), but it just makes me question the integrity of education nowadays. When kids are more focused on getting a certain number as opposed to bettering themselves, there’s an obvious problem. College Confidential elucidates this paradigm (e.g. “I got a 2250, is there any chance I’ll still get into XXX?!!! :(((((”)</p>