Ridiculous Amount of High ATARs on AN

[jeanweasley]

Thushan is the greatest human to ever walk this Earth.
He scored a 99.95 ATAR with around 5 subjects getting a 50. He also represented Australia in an international chemistry Olympiad competition.
Currently, he is studying MBBS at Monash and will be a doctor in no time!
He is a very active member of AN and has around 4k posts.

Now I feel incompetent...

[BoredSatan]

oh god I laughed so hard when you guys described the great Thushan

[Lolly]

 .....In all seriousness though guys this brings me to a related gripe: I think hero worship is a problem here on AN.
It's not that it isn't amazing for people to achieve brilliant scores, or that Thushan's track record isn't astounding, or that people shouldn't be praised for being general awesome individuals,  but I honestly believe that excessive admiration can become unhealthy and ultimately detrimental to the community and individuals.

Although it's not the intended effect, a lot of people feel incompetent or inferior because they see high achievers  on this forum, and feel that it is impossible for them to achieve anything near that level. I've definitely felt this way in the past. Conversely, people may feel uncomfortable as expectations ramp up because of their high level of achievement. I've felt that too.

What do you think?

Just my $0.02.

[brenden]

Yeah I'd mirror you wholeheartedly, Loz. Even though Thushan is bionic and I love him 4evz.
I know a lot of people who stalk the forums but don't post because they're intimidated by the grandeur (hence my sig)

[michak]

.....In all seriousness though guys this brings me to a related gripe: I think hero worship is a problem here on AN.
It's not that it isn't amazing for people to achieve brilliant scores, or that Thushan's track record isn't astounding, or that people shouldn't be praised for being general awesome individuals,  but I honestly believe that excessive admiration can become unhealthy and ultimately detrimental to the community and individuals.

Although it's not the intended effect, a lot of people feel incompetent or inferior because they see high achievers  on this forum, and feel that it is impossible for them to achieve anything near that level. I've definitely felt this way in the past. Conversely, people may feel uncomfortable as expectations ramp up because of their high level of achievement. I've felt that too.

What do you think?

Just my $0.02.

Yeah i understand where you are coming from, especially if someone if viewing this site for the first time it can be quite intimadating.
This is actually how I felt at the start. I was not expecting to get anywhere near the ATAR i got so i dont know, i originally felt weird about posting so i didnt do it for months.
Eventually did and realised that the people with the very high marks dont care what you get they just care about the fact that you are willing to seek help and help others in the process.

It is daunting to see the amount of people on here that 99+ but dont let it make you feel inferior.

[alondouek]

.....In all seriousness though guys this brings me to a related gripe: I think hero worship is a problem here on AN.
It's not that it isn't amazing for people to achieve brilliant scores, or that Thushan's track record isn't astounding, or that people shouldn't be praised for being general awesome individuals,  but I honestly believe that excessive admiration can become unhealthy and ultimately detrimental to the community and individuals.

Although it's not the intended effect, a lot of people feel incompetent or inferior because they see high achievers  on this forum, and feel that it is impossible for them to achieve anything near that level. I've definitely felt this way in the past. Conversely, people may feel uncomfortable as expectations ramp up because of their high level of achievement. I've felt that too.

What do you think?

Just my $0.02.

This is a fair point to make. I only really became active in AN post-VCE, so I can't talk about any effect that seeing so many high-achievers around would have on me. Obviously, I'd like to think that there wouldn't be an issue (seeing as the school I attended provided plenty of pressure to achieve), but in all honesty I can certainly see how some people might find the collective degree of achievement here intimidating.

However - and this might be a bit of a harsh point to make - this kind of reflects somewhat poorly on the individual should be a cause for individual reflection (cheers Brenden). If one feels inadequate in the work they do and the effort they put in just because some other people did superbly well, then it just betrays potential underlying issues with self-confidence. These, as I'm sure we can all agree, can be very limiting in myriad ways - hence I'd posit that it's just another tribulation of VCE that needs to be worked through.

EDIT: Sorry for the prolix response, I lapse into verbosity when I'm tired

[brenden]

Also the reason I was sure to include "failed" in my sig (as well as it being an important part of my VCE journey), because it just shows that we're all normal. I also didn't want to draw big attention to my English score but felt I needed some legitimacy for people to trust me, and I don't think many people would think anything of x/60 at first glance.



I don't think it reflects poorly on the individual at all. Consider how you would feel alon, if you went to a school where the dux last year was 85, and the next highest 79. People have to believe something is possible before they can even decide on their confidence.

[alondouek]

Also the reason I was sure to include "failed" in my sig (as well as it being an important part of my VCE journey), because it just shows that we're all normal. I also didn't want to draw big attention to my English score but felt I needed some legitimacy for people to trust me, and I don't think many people would think anything of x/60 at first glance.



I don't think it reflects poorly on the individual at all. Consider how you would feel alon, if you went to a school where the dux last year was 85, and the next highest 79. People have to believe something is possible before they can even decide on their confidence.

You're right, to say it reflects poorly is incorrect and doesn't express what I mean. What I intended to say is that it simply demonstrates the vaccilating nature of confidence depending on situation. In essence, if I attend a school with a weak cohort and excel there, then my confidence is reinforced. But if I were to maintain that level of academic ability in an entirely different environment where many people achieve highly, then my confidence is shaken, even shattered. It's all relative - and the most important thing is not to get caught up in it, and appreciate your own successes and abilities. You treat these as a foundation, and build from there.

[brenden]

Seconded .

[nacho]

[brenden]

Shut up, Nacho.

[pi]

What do you think?

I don't mind it, as long as it doesn't become obsessive

When I joined, it was more "inspiring" rather than me feeling "incompetent" in any way. I guess it's really up to the individual though, but I'm not one who gets sad when I see someone else's scores: that's good for them and I'll do my own thing.


On the note of scores in signatures:
I've now removed mine, I think that post-VCE, they play no relevance at all. If someone wants to know, they can politely ask me.

However, mid last year I tried something. I was getting a /lot/ of PMs from random users regarding study tips, UMAT, etc etc. Maybe 2-3 PMs per day, which was frustrating as they could have posted a thread or searched the forums for answers -_-

So, I decided to change the scores on my sig without changing anything else (same username, mod level, etc):

2011: VCE, ATAR: 41.35 (90.4 Aggregate) - English (10), ?Physics (15), Hebrew (44), Industry and Enterprise (22)
2012-2016: [on exchange] B.Employment (Underwater basket weaving) - North Carolina State University
2016-: [aim] To get the Guinness World Record for most swag, and then rely on your taxes for future life

I don't let my ATAR of 41.35 define who I am, and nor should you for yours. Be proud!

Guess what? I got 1 PM for the next month (which ironically was praising me for using that last line in my sig, after that PM I changed back to my current sig in guilt). Just that simple change, and suddenly next to no PMs.

So I guess my main issue is how blatantly judgmental some users can be. That aspect of AN is not cool.

[nacho]

So I guess my main issue is how blatantly judgmental some users can be. That aspect of AN is not cool.

this is completely incorrect.

No one was judging you when you changed your signature to lower scores, it's just the fact that if someone wants high scores, they're going to ask the higher scoring students how they did so..that's logical.
It's not like people were making impressions of your true intellect based on ATAR.
I don't see why you, nay anyone would expect to receive quality advice on how to score high on their ATAR from someone who received a 41.35

[pi]

this is completely incorrect.

No one was judging you when you changed your signature to lower scores, it's just the fact that if someone wants high scores, they're going to ask the higher scoring students how they did so..that's logical.
It's not like people were making impressions of your true intellect based on ATAR.
I don't see why you, nay anyone would expect to receive quality advice on how to score high on their ATAR from someone who received a 41.35

The point I was trying to make was that the same people who were PM-ing me before immediately stopped, even though everything except my sig (which was quite sarcastic and troll in itself) was the same. Of course new users would follow your train of logic.

[Planck's constant]

(Image removed from quote.)

TRUETEARS > ALL

I have been reading this forum for a while now, and it occurred to me that you are the only person who claims to have actually met TrueTears.

Personally, I do not believe that TrueTears exists.
I saw his Semester 2 results, and they don't look like the work of a human being to me.
If TrueTeears exists at all, he is more likely than not, a machine