how do you (personally) deal with insecurity surrounding your intelligence?(vce)

[jmas123456]

Hey,

Just wanted to mention that Latrobe's biomed degree only requires a 20 study score in an English subject: https://www.latrobe.edu.au/courses/bachelor-of-biomedicine

hi snow leopard ! 

wow!!!! i never looked into latrobes biomed course but that is really reassuring!!!!! thank you so much for sending me this link.... i was always under the impression that most melbourne unis had pretty extensive prerequisites. looking into this made me extremely interested.

thank you for linking me this option, much appreciated!
-j

[jmas123456]

Hi Jmas123456 and a belated welcome to AN!
 I did all these subjects back in the day (cough, Class of 2014, cough), except Biology.
 To me, this sounds like a mixture between a severe case of imposter syndrome mixed with a want to compare yourself against others. I've experienced both to varying extents across my life. It's really easy to forget that other people are struggling and putting in the hard yards behind the scenes too. It's also super easy to fall into the toxic mindset of "what did you get" like others have mentioned above. However, it's great to see that you're actively trying to do something about it. Admitting you have an issue to begin with is the first step to actually changing the situation.
 Have you considered a biomed course that doesn't have the Methods prereq e.g. Deakin Biomed? It will allow you to do the same thing, just at a "smaller" uni. And if you're deadset on going to "bigger unis" like Monash or UoM later on, you can try transferring later on assuming you have the prereqs, like Lm said. If you're motivated enough, you'll find a pathway that suits you or gets you to where you want to be eventually. As K888 said, it's not a race into the workforce and it's not a race to finish your degree the fastest.   
 I don't necessarily have much advice, but I did want to point out that I really liked this quote back in Year 12 and it feels eerily similar to CorkedBoard's advice ("keep moving forward"). The quote was: "You can't change the past, but you can always change the future." I interpret this quote as more of a "I can't change what happened already, so what can I do realistically now that can change what happens next?" because crying over spilt milk e.g. regretting those seemingly obvious mistakes you made on that SAC you just did, will benefit no one. In order to "keep moving forward", you also need to realise that feeling terrible now isn't going to do you much good or going to change anything unless you do something about your own situation.
 If it's imposter syndrome, then it's likely you won't ever feel "competent" ever, but you can change your mindset and attitude towards it as long as you recognise it exists. I know plenty of people (including PhD candidates and professors) who feel insecure or like they know nothing despite being literal experts in their field (I definitely did back in Honours). However, how they dealt with it was what mattered. Often, it was dealing with it head on: they changed their thoughts when comparing themselves to others to something more positive by adding an achievement of their own, or they would work harder to learn more to become better and use this as their motivation. As you grow older, you will find your own way to deal with these sorts of matters. Until then, you can read up and try other people's methods and find ways that work better for you, or modify others' methods so that it works better for you.

hi and thank u for your welcome angelwings!

AN is a great place 2 be  ! upon reading your suggestion of imposter syndrome i almost had an epiphany... there is a name for this feeling is some way, and i looked at some youtube videos about it before writing this reply, and it really helped to know that even brilliant people feel this way sometimes. i guess it is not an alien feeling afterall! since getting all these replies from so many awesome people with various tips etc. ive become a lot more relaxed! im ready to take on the rest of the year, and if i feel terribly bad again, ill come back to this thread and focus my energy again haha

 i have considered courses at deakin etc where the unis are "smaller" and it doesnt bother me that id be undertaking those courses. i am however reconsidering uni pathways altogether, in a sense, since i dont believe id be able to cope doing biomed with my current capabilities. ill see where the road takes me. you all are right, if you want it enough, you can pursue  it!

youre  completely right about the moving forward thing, and corkedboards quote really resonated with me too! i will continue to remind myself of that. as i grow older and go into uni, like you are doing right now, ill learn how to handle this stuff even better through experience etc. im glad. it seems it all gets better eventually. im not quite sure why i feel the way i do; could be so many things, but i know now im not alone in this feeling& i can get through it!

thanks a heap for ur advice!
-j

[AngelWings]

AN is a great place 2 be  ! upon reading your suggestion of imposter syndrome i almost had an epiphany... there is a name for this feeling is some way, and i looked at some youtube videos about it before writing this reply, and it really helped to know that even brilliant people feel this way sometimes. i guess it is not an alien feeling afterall! since getting all these replies from so many awesome people with various tips etc. ive become a lot more relaxed! im ready to take on the rest of the year, and if i feel terribly bad again, ill come back to this thread and focus my energy again haha

Glad you feel this way!

i have considered courses at deakin etc where the unis are "smaller" and it doesnt bother me that id be undertaking those courses. i am however reconsidering uni pathways altogether, in a sense, since i dont believe id be able to cope doing biomed with my current capabilities. ill see where the road takes me. you all are right, if you want it enough, you can pursue  it!

If you need a list of Open Days to sus out some courses, feel free to check out this thread I compiled a few weeks ago, which will allow you to talk directly with the unis you're interested in. Alternatively, feel free to ask in the appropriate boards e.g. the individual unis you're interested in, General Uni Discussion board or the Uni Faculties board, which has some general areas that there are courses around e.g. science, biomed, law.

FYI: VTAC, the guys who help you get a uni offer, allow you to have 8 different course preferences (currently, as far as I know), so you don't necessarily have to stick to one area e.g. you can have your first (and most wanted) course preference as Bachelor of Biomed at LaTrobe, but your 2nd to 8th preferences do not have to also be Biomed if you want more variety in there. This means that you can have 8 completely different courses with completely different areas if you wanted to. (I remember I had science, arts, commerce, environments and architecture at a number of unis in my course preferences way back when!)

[jmas123456]

Glad you feel this way!
 If you need a list of Open Days to sus out some courses, feel free to check out this thread I compiled a few weeks ago, which will allow you to talk directly with the unis you're interested in. Alternatively, feel free to ask in the appropriate boards e.g. the individual unis you're interested in, General Uni Discussion board or the Uni Faculties board, which has some general areas that there are courses around e.g. science, biomed, law.

FYI: VTAC, the guys who help you get a uni offer, allow you to have 8 different course preferences (currently, as far as I know), so you don't necessarily have to stick to one area e.g. you can have your first (and most wanted) course preference as Bachelor of Biomed at LaTrobe, but your 2nd to 8th preferences do not have to also be Biomed if you want more variety in there. This means that you can have 8 completely different courses with completely different areas if you wanted to. (I remember I had science, arts, commerce, environments and architecture at a number of unis in my course preferences way back when!)

wow angelwings, this is so helpful, thank u for taking the time to link me these, and also taking the time to collate these files for the community. super super cool! i will take a diligent look.

its always good to be accustomed to options, and these forums look suuuper helpful!
thank you so so so so much, i hope youre doing well!

p.s. i was super happy when i saw u did the same subjects as me haha i hope i can do as well as u did and overcome my insecurities. i still have time!

thank u so much angel! 
-j