The Student Room Group

I am not smart

I am tired of people telling me that I am smart because in my head I know I am not and nothing can change that I feel extremely inferior compared to others.I am not smart enough for my school I am not smart enough for my teachers I know i am not smart I am tired of hearing lies because i know I am stupid.

Scroll to see replies

Original post by Anonymous1502
I am tired of people telling me that I am smart because in my head I know I am not and nothing can change that I feel extremely inferior compared to others.I am not smart enough for my school I am not smart enough for my teachers I know i am not smart I am tired of hearing lies because i know I am stupid.


Can you explain please? Are you gettimg bad grades?
Yeah can you please explain? Because if you can't find the words to explain why you don't think you're smart, then maybe you should start listening to everyone who says you are :smile:
Original post by SuperHuman98
Can you explain please? Are you gettimg bad grades?


I am just an A/B student never an A* student I feel like my teachers never see my potential or hard work they are never impressed.I feel like I work hard yet it is never good enough.I did 4 GCSE's so far i received 2A's and 2A*'s.However I don't think it is that great to be honest there are plenty of people who only achieve A*'s.There are plenty of international students whose knowledge put me to shame.
Original post by Anonymous1502
I am just an A/B student never an A* student I feel like my teachers never see my potential or hard work they are never impressed.I feel like I work hard yet it is never good enough.I did 4 GCSE's so far i received 2A's and 2A*'s.However I don't think it is that great to be honest there are plenty of people who only achieve A*'s.There are plenty of international students whose knowledge put me to shame.


Well an A at GCSE is still very good, and an A* is better. In fact 2A*,2As in year 10 is very good, and is infavt better than most. You are just beating yourself up for no reason... Maybe you can work harder if you aren't happy? I used to think the same, but i realised yeah I worked hard but I worked hard at the last minute.

So start revising now for your remaining exams and stop being so ungrateful for the results you got from early GCSEs bevause they are superb
Original post by Anonymous1502
I am tired of people telling me that I am smart because in my head I know I am not and nothing can change that I feel extremely inferior compared to others.I am not smart enough for my school I am not smart enough for my teachers I know i am not smart I am tired of hearing lies because i know I am stupid.


You should be talking to childline or going to see your GP for menatl health issues including stress and anxiety. You are putting yourself under serious pressure and are not coping well.

You need to just try your best and stop beating yourself up. If you worked hard and tried your best then you cant blame yourself.

You are clearly not stupid and if you work diligently then you can still get good A levels , go to a good Uni and get a good job. It may not be the one your parents want, but it should be the best one you can get based on your own efforts and ability.
Original post by 999tigger
You should be talking to childline or going to see your GP for menatl health issues including stress and anxiety. You are putting yourself under serious pressure and are not coping well.

You need to just try your best and stop beating yourself up. If you worked hard and tried your best then you cant blame yourself.

You are clearly not stupid and if you work diligently then you can still get good A levels , go to a good Uni and get a good job. It may not be the one your parents want, but it should be the best one you can get based on your own efforts and ability.


But I want it I had been dreaming so much about going to a top university it is my dream I sacrificed a lot to get to where i am.
Reply 7
Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid

you are probably weak in mathematics , which is why you are feeling stupid
Original post by Anonymous1502
But I want it I had been dreaming so much about going to a top university it is my dream I sacrificed a lot to get to where i am.


You need to make peace with yourself. Try your best and that is good enough. Any beating yourself up is pointless. Nit everyone ets to Oxfod, but hey have perfectly normal happy lives.

If its your dream then work smarter and harder. People have veen known to go from average to top grades for A level.

If you dont get this under control you are going to make yourself very unhappy for a long time. Talk to childline or your GP if your parents wont listen..
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous1502
But I want it I had been dreaming so much about going to a top university it is my dream I sacrificed a lot to get to where i am.


Being an A/B student is enough to get into a top university. It's not just Oxbridge or nothing. Places like Edinburgh and KCL, schools in the top 25 in the world, offer things like ABB for some of their courses. What is it that you want to study? Because with A's and B's I think you can make it into most Russell Group unis :smile:
You dont seem to be disappointed about your grades as such, but because everyone else seems to be better than you. There will always be someone better than you, this is how it all works, so just try and get over it.
Reply 11
Original post by Anonymous1502
I am just an A/B student never an A* student I feel like my teachers never see my potential or hard work they are never impressed.I feel like I work hard yet it is never good enough.I did 4 GCSE's so far i received 2A's and 2A*'s.However I don't think it is that great to be honest there are plenty of people who only achieve A*'s.There are plenty of international students whose knowledge put me to shame.


you don't need to compare yourself
good grades don't necessarily equal intelligence.
Original post by Anonymous1502
I am tired of people telling me that I am smart because in my head I know I am not and nothing can change that I feel extremely inferior compared to others.I am not smart enough for my school I am not smart enough for my teachers I know i am not smart I am tired of hearing lies because i know I am stupid.


I don't mean to be rude, but it's funny that you have an inferiority complex. Why are you tired of people telling you that you're smart? I've heard that the brain can become tired, yet it doesn't lose calories. I'm sure people don't CONSTANTLY say you're smart to the point where your brain starts hurting. Rather, it's you who is contemplating too much on this.

I know I'm decently smart, but I'm not that proud of my GCSE results 3A*, 2A, 3B, 1A* in IGCSE English Lang - mainly because I know I could have gotten A*s across the board. On the other hand, this has taught me an important lesson; it's not the end of the world, You don't necessarily need the best grades to do well later in life, such as in A-level. The important thing is that you tried at least. I'm disappointed that I didn't try my hardest, but at least I did try to revise for all my subjects etc. I know that I'll try my hardest for A2.

If you know you're stupid, you probably are in denial, because most people aren't stupid. A lot of people get straight A*s because they're freaks at memorising stuff, because GCSE's are mainly memorising, with the exception of a few subjects such as English. Surely, there's a reason why they're saying you're smart but if so, are you so incompetent as to simply tell them to stop saying that if it's so annoying as you should be yourself and not constantly get such remarks told about yourself and why don't you just ignore them if they're getting to you that much?

Your inferiority complex is what's annoying. Hah, comparing yourself to others huh.... Well I guess everyone compares themself to something, it's one of the only ways of gauging aspects relative to something else. Like if you're the only person in the world and you do something that would seem amazingly impossible today, well, it would just be normal to you.

I think that disgusting inferiority complex, if you could explain it in words, would dehumanize the people who are working hard like yourself.

Indeed, when you see glimpses of people's lives, you'll see that they're much like yours.
I just finished applying for university last week {Oxford/Bristol/Exeter/Bath}, the best piece of advise is get above a B in Mathematics and a B in English. Anything above a B is fine, I got 3 A* 3A 3B and things are going well so far, just make sure you study hard in A-Level as that is where the 'real' deal is, If you are getting mostly A-A* and above B's then you are grand :tongue:, I know people having gone to good uni's with C-A in GCSE, just enjoy life man, chill out and this of school as a learning experience, you should find you are more engaged in the subjects. 'Follow excellence and success will follow you', one of my favourite quotes :wink:
Do some research into the growth mindset: honestly it works wonders.
....
(edited 7 years ago)
Original post by Anonymous1502
....


I know you're tired of people telling you you're smart, but honestly you are. You're certinally not dumb or below average at least. I think your problems are less your mental ability and more confidence or self-image related.
How "smart" you are depends on what you are comparing yourself to and you are comparing yourself to soe stiff competition. Nationally speaking you are probably a good amount above average. No you're not as smart as some people and there are even people from overseas who are smarter but there are also a whole bunch who aren't.
Also bare in mind that it's not just grades that matter and a lot of people who are getting amazing grages like all A*s are getting them because academia is their main focus. They tend to be less well educated socially and emotionally and are often less good at coming up with their own ideas. For a lot of people it can just be that they are good at memorising things. Asian students for instance tend to get better grades and that's because of their culture and how they see education. If you want an example look up "Tiger Mums". It shows how seriously academia is taken in their society.

I would suggest you consider seeing a therapist. It's possible that you have self-image problems and they could really help. I don't think any ammount of me trying to tell you that you are smart is going to settle in with you because you just don't believe it yourself. But, even if you don't think you're smart and don't want to, do think that you deserve to be happy and if you are being bothered by things like this you are not happy.
Original post by Kindred
I know you're tired of people telling you you're smart, but honestly you are. You're certinally not dumb or below average at least. I think your problems are less your mental ability and more confidence or self-image related.
How "smart" you are depends on what you are comparing yourself to and you are comparing yourself to soe stiff competition. Nationally speaking you are probably a good amount above average. No you're not as smart as some people and there are even people from overseas who are smarter but there are also a whole bunch who aren't.
Also bare in mind that it's not just grades that matter and a lot of people who are getting amazing grages like all A*s are getting them because academia is their main focus. They tend to be less well educated socially and emotionally and are often less good at coming up with their own ideas. For a lot of people it can just be that they are good at memorising things. Asian students for instance tend to get better grades and that's because of their culture and how they see education. If you want an example look up "Tiger Mums". It shows how seriously academia is taken in their society.

I would suggest you consider seeing a therapist. It's possible that you have self-image problems and they could really help. I don't think any ammount of me trying to tell you that you are smart is going to settle in with you because you just don't believe it yourself. But, even if you don't think you're smart and don't want to, do think that you deserve to be happy and if you are being bothered by things like this you are not happy.


Well, thank you for your advice.
Original post by Anonymous1502
Well, thank you for your advice.


Adapt the Growth Mindset. That will really help.

Quick Reply

Latest