Does Everyone In College Seem Smarter Than You?

Even if you were the straight-A student in high school and were the one who people were always going to for homework help, college is different. With some solid effort and studying, there’s no reason you can’t excel there too. However, you might have to make some room at the lunch table, so to speak. There will be plenty of other smart students at your college, and some will be smarter than you.

This shouldn’t be seen as a challenge however! Even if you were your school’s quiz bowl champion, no one’s out to dethrone you. When entering college, come in with the mentality that you’ll be meeting plenty of other students who are smarter than you, and plenty frankly who aren’t as smart as you, whether in the classroom or when it comes to making life choices. So be prepared to embrace this diversity.

Whether you’re in the classroom, the cafeteria, or at a club meeting, you’re bound to meet people who know more than you or are downright more intelligent. So when you do meet these fellow students, think of them as just that: fellow students. You can learn just as much from other students as you can from professors and teachers. It can be a bit of a pride issue for anyone, but admit it, you’ve met someone smarter than you, so now see what you can learn.

If you weren’t the genius in the classroom while in high school, that means you’ll have even more opportunities to learn from other students. While you won’t be taking classes from other students, pay attention to their ideas and approaches. Whether analyzing literature or working your way through an organic chemistry problem, other students will have different means of coming up with an answer and different answers too. So don’t just pay attention to the teacher; pay attention to your fellow students just as much.

You and another bright student can both get to the same correct answer, but how you got there can be different too. Even if the course material is the same, reasoning can be different, and that’s where every student can take his or her own approach. Indeed, other students can be just as valuable learning resources as your teacher and your textbook.