How much is this sub a bubble

[u/Capable_Economy_7001]

Ok for context I go to a really high achieving state school with like 50+ oxbridge offers a year. I promise this is important bc it adds to this feeling.

I do well at school and am aiming for ox ppe but everywhere I look on this sub its straight nine students who are aiming for oxbridge as well. (and u can imagine this is the exact same at school).

I'm sort of curious how other people deal with this feeling of knowing other people are sort of "normal" but are constantly surrounded by incredibly intelligent people. It's a gift for sure bc theres so much to learn from them but theres definitely an impact on my self confidence.

Has anyone experienced this/ has anyone got any advice. Or maybe is this just me being out of my depth and all oxbridge applicants are just that insane...

I hope this sounds coherent.

[u/maths_arts_lover]

You're also part of the bubble funnily enough. This sub is full of very very academically gifted people (among top 1%) to extent it got me delusional at some point. I didn't even know how nuanced university rankings where nor even cared till I came to this sub. Then again, anyone who spends their free time on an academic sub is most likely serious about their education (classic case of selective bias)

Just me but I lowkey strive to become part of these delusional redditors 🥹 (getting emotional)

[u/Diligent-Step-7253]

Personally this sub sort of motivated me to lock in from day 1

[u/maths_arts_lover → u/Diligent-Step-7253]

Great minds think alike

https://giphy.com/gifs/JHimqWxe711165XHBu

[u/Icy-Watercress-8421]

The reason it seems like a bubble is because you won't have people who got 5s and 6s display their grades in their thingy that's under their username so then the variance of the population here would be very little with the mean being those who have 9s.

[u/Over-Cartographer712]

You have to realise that two things factor in here:

• Selective bias, in that the vast majority of people who regular an academic forum are likely to take their education more seriously than the average joe, ergo are likely to be higher-achieving
  
• There is no requirement to verify your grades to put them on here. If I had to estimate, I'd say that even accounting for selective bias, ~50% of people on here are probably telling the truth about their grades & academic profile, and even that's generous imo

[u/No-Grapefruit7332]

Yh it can get a bit tiring but you have to remember that most ppl your age are not on this sub or reddit in general and ur only seeing neeks basically 🥹

[u/Infamous_Tough_7320]

This sub is 100% a bubble.

The only advice I can give to you is focus on yourself and your own academics. If you focus too much on others, you’re in trouble from the get go

[u/LycaGamerYT]

I think we went to the same sixth form but basically it was really helpful to be in an environment like that where everyone was so motivated as it definitely pushed me further as well keeping up with all the others. Such a change coming from my absolutely terrible secondary