<p>As an upcoming student at Swarthmore, I’m even more confused now.</p>
<p>There’s a sharp disconnect between two sides, one in which a special ed student manages to succeed at Berkeley while a salutarian at a nationally ranked HS is barely scraping by at Duke. Some claim that the students at top schools are not very different from those at a lower tier, and that getting an A is manageable with decent effort, but others claim that top schools are concentrated with veritable geniuses, with academic suspension within the realm of possibility even for the most able students.</p>
<p>To those who would say that Swarthmore wouldn’t have admitted me unless they felt I was capable of handling the work: you don’t know me.</p>
<p>Most difficult school in the US? Well at least if I do do well, it’ll be the first time I’ve accomplished something significant.</p>