Judging ourselves
Hi everyone. I wanted to follow up on my post and some of the reactions, and also some of the other interactions I've seen on this community.
This isn't a competition.
Let me repeat that: this isn't a competition.
No matter where you are, there will ALWAYS be someone who is better than you by one measure or another. Yes, there are graduate school applicants who test really well or are just really smart or really lucky (I guess I'm one of the above). But maybe they have a lower GPA, or aren't good at forming positive relationships with faculty and are having trouble finding references. Even if a candidate exceeds your aptitude in all of these categories, he or she isn't necessarily competing with you for a position... we're not all in the same field.
In short, don't compare yourself to the people in this community. Compare yourself to the admissions criteria of the programs you're applying to.
Why? Obviously comparing yourself to other community members isn't making you happy. And I know from other comments I've read that it doesn't feel good for the community members who receive these comparisons. It makes us feel like we don't have a right to share our experiences or seek advice.
As for me, yeah. I didn't study much for the GRE, but not by my choice. I worked my ass off when I took the SATs and would have done the same this time but it just wasn't possible. So either I lucked out, I'm brilliant, or I test well. But my grades are mediocre (currently averaging around B+) and my references are... well, it's unclear whether they'll work out. And, on top of all that I have a disability that makes it very difficult for me to achieve my potential a lot of the time. Going into the test, I didn't have time to register as having a disability, so I had to take it like everyone else. I didn't know if my disability would flare up or not. I'm also pretty poor, so I can't really afford to retake the test. So, I was really relieved to get a high enough score the first time.
I didn't post about it to brag or to make anyone feel bad. I think most of the people on this community are pretty awesome -- we're putting our necks out in pursuit of a dream. What's not impressive about that?
This isn't a competition.
Let me repeat that: this isn't a competition.
No matter where you are, there will ALWAYS be someone who is better than you by one measure or another. Yes, there are graduate school applicants who test really well or are just really smart or really lucky (I guess I'm one of the above). But maybe they have a lower GPA, or aren't good at forming positive relationships with faculty and are having trouble finding references. Even if a candidate exceeds your aptitude in all of these categories, he or she isn't necessarily competing with you for a position... we're not all in the same field.
In short, don't compare yourself to the people in this community. Compare yourself to the admissions criteria of the programs you're applying to.
Why? Obviously comparing yourself to other community members isn't making you happy. And I know from other comments I've read that it doesn't feel good for the community members who receive these comparisons. It makes us feel like we don't have a right to share our experiences or seek advice.
As for me, yeah. I didn't study much for the GRE, but not by my choice. I worked my ass off when I took the SATs and would have done the same this time but it just wasn't possible. So either I lucked out, I'm brilliant, or I test well. But my grades are mediocre (currently averaging around B+) and my references are... well, it's unclear whether they'll work out. And, on top of all that I have a disability that makes it very difficult for me to achieve my potential a lot of the time. Going into the test, I didn't have time to register as having a disability, so I had to take it like everyone else. I didn't know if my disability would flare up or not. I'm also pretty poor, so I can't really afford to retake the test. So, I was really relieved to get a high enough score the first time.
I didn't post about it to brag or to make anyone feel bad. I think most of the people on this community are pretty awesome -- we're putting our necks out in pursuit of a dream. What's not impressive about that?