Does anyone else feel dumb when looking at how general sdn population are performing?

[Paul Darlington]

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Is like there is always someone who is doing better than you no matter what. Do they just freaking exaggerate?

 

[inasensegone]

Is like there is always someone who is doing better than you no matter what. Do they just freaking exaggerate?

First of all, there is always someone out there doing better than you are. Never base your measure of success on the basis of comparison to others. This may be difficult to accept, given that medical school is competitive, but it is difficult to find happiness if you live your life like that.

Also:
1. SDN is not an accurate representation of the composition of the general population taking the MCAT. Remember, people that come on here are generally going above and beyond in their preparation for the MCAT. They're likely spending time on here that other students taking the MCAT are spending on Facebook or twitter or some nonsense.
2. Even if SDN was a statistically representative sample of the population, the people that are posting their scores on here are more likely to be people with relatively good scores. The people with low scores are less likely to be sharing that information with others. Modesty is probably not as common among medical students/pre-meds as it is in the general population. Of course, some ego can be a good thing because it pushes you to do better.
3. Everybody lies now and again. I don't think that the majority of SDN members are lying, but undoubtedly some percentage is.

The average score on the MCAT for all test takers in 2011 was 25.1. If you were only looking at SDN, you would think that the average was much higher. Anyway, good luck with your score on the real thing! Stay positive 🙂

 

[Paul Darlington]

First of all, there is always someone out there doing better than you are. Never base your measure of success on the basis of comparison to others. This may be difficult to accept, given that medical school is competitive, but it is difficult to find happiness if you live your life like that.

Also:
1. SDN is not an accurate representation of the composition of the general population taking the MCAT. Remember, people that come on here are generally going above and beyond in their preparation for the MCAT. They're likely spending time on here that other students taking the MCAT are spending on Facebook or twitter or some nonsense.
2. Even if SDN was a statistically representative sample of the population, the people that are posting their scores on here are more likely to be people with relatively good scores. The people with low scores are less likely to be sharing that information with others. Modesty is probably not as common among medical students/pre-meds as it is in the general population. Of course, some ego can be a good thing because it pushes you to do better.
3. Everybody lies now and again. I don't think that the majority of SDN members are lying, but undoubtedly some percentage is.

The average score on the MCAT for all test takers in 2011 was 25.1. If you were only looking at SDN, you would think that the average was much higher. Anyway, good luck with your score on the real thing! Stay positive 🙂

Thank you sir 🙂

 

[simmadown]

All. of. the. time.

 

[chemhead123]

I think it is useful though as a driving force...

 

[Uafl112]

every ****ing day I come on here

 

[GoBlue20141]

Can't compare yourself to others. If you put in the work, and have confidence in what you've learned, you will get the score you want.

 

[Blueprint MCAT Tutor]

3. Everybody lies now and again. I don't think that the majority of SDN members are lying, but undoubtedly some percentage is.

 

[petyr_baelish]

Errrday.