I have a PhD and am nearing the end of a long and successful career, and I STILL have the Impostor Syndrome. Had it all the way through school, grad school, and all these years of work.
It has always seemed to me that others already knew just what do, but I was always felt like I was a step behind - just muddling through.
Neither of my kids struggled with this. D was a top student at her HS ( which was demanding) but she flew under the radar and never was considered a “big fish” in HS. S went to a very demanding magnet school where everyone was very smart so no “big fish” for him either. Both were well prepared for college and knew it.
I mean, I sort of have imposter syndrome as a human being, and since I was I child always felt like everyone else had an instruction book that I didn’t have, but that’s probably not what you mean.
@Scipio this is a PERFECT description of how I feel.