<p>Thanks to all of you above! I’m using a mobile device so I can’t quote each like I’m supposed to, but first I have to post this anyway, to clarify.</p>
<p>I have to correct. P didn’t tell me those in English, and I translated according to P’s words. The words P used that I translated as “competitive” are literally “having the <em>ability/capability/competency</em> for competition”, which are perhaps nearer to “highly qualified”, and don’t mean actually competing or wanting to compete with others like rivals, just being excellent and (somewhat) hard for you to compete with (and/or surpass if you want). P didn’t use “with the mind of competing with others”, which I would dislike. So when P implied as if P’s peers couldn’t make P feel needing to pay effort to match them, I was a bit alarmed, hence this thread.</p>
<p>Also, though I’m not sure if I’m ok with an intense atmosphere, I definitely prefer intense/rigorous <em>academics</em>. I.e. I definitely want to work hard and be challenged. I mean, it’s undergraduate times after all.</p>
<p>And, Jack63, I didn’t quite get what you meant by “sometimes profs and students are, in general, not direct”. Could you perhaps paraphrase or explain it for me?</p>