Why are my classmates so competitive?????

Nursing Students General Students

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have anyone, or does anyone have to deal with the competitiveness, cattyness and unbearable melting pot of personalities of fellow nursing classmates?

at times my teacher broadcasts the grades of those who scored the highest on exams and quizzes,and i wonder if this adds to the atmosphere of competition and inadequacy. though i get decent grades i know that at times when i've "fallen short" i have questioned my brainpower.

we have enough stressors this competition thing really disgusts me.:angryfire

I've never seen any cattiness while in my pre-req classes, and not too much competition, but then grades were never broadcast. Grades are personal, and shouldn't be broadcast by the professors or anyone else. I'm a straight A student (so far) with a GPA of 4.0, but I would HATE it if my grades were given out, it would embarrass me so much. I'm not competitive against other people, but I am competitive against myself - if I think that I have the ability to get an A, then I work hard to acheive that, because if I don't and get a B, then I'm disappointed with myself - but the grades I get don't have anything to do with wanting to be 'better' than anyone else, and I'm realistic enough to know that part of the reason I get those grades is that I don't go out to work, and I've only been taking 2 or 3 courses at a time. Those grades WILL go down when I'm on the nursing course proper, because I'm not superhuman! - my motto the last couple of years has been "B is not an option", but for the next two years it will be "B's and C's get degrees".

What I found in my classes was an overall atmosphere of support, those of us who 'got it' would do everything in their power to help those students who were struggling. I sincerely hope that continues into nursing school, because I can't stand b*t*hiness or cattiness :(

Best wishes, Paint.

Oh yes, and it's not just females: In our first A&P class we had a guy who was getting 98 to 100% in EVERY exam (we know because he and another guy who was getting straight A's were in competition with each other and kept telling their scores after every exam), and so some of us asked him if he had a method of studying and what it was - he wouldn't tell us, then we asked him if he would join our study group and he refused with a blunt "I don't do study groups", he was just a really unsociable self-centred type of guy who didn't want to help anybody Gggrrrrrrr!

Paint.

Well just for sake of the argument: If this straight and very high 'A' student were to join the study group, what would he get out of it exactly? Would it be a waste of his time? True, he could do it to benefit the rest of the group, some of whom were probably stuggling. A selfless act to benefit his classmates. But I doubt that the rest of you are in the group out of a sense of selfless giving. Presumably the rest of you were in the group because you hoped it would improve your performance. His performance was already top notch.

No, as I explained - I'm already a straight A student, but I still join study groups - the benefits don't always have to be higher grades! I got some great study ideas, and ideas for mnemonics from the other students (one was a B student and the other two were struggling to retain a C), I got social interaction, made some great friends who I still keep in touch with, AND got the satisfaction that I had helped a few people who were struggling with certain concepts. The ONLY slightly negative aspect was that I have a certain personal study schedule, based on Tony Buzan's ideas, and I use mind-mapping also, which didn't always fit in with what I was studying in the groups, so occasionally I was a bit pushed to fit both schedules into my day, but the benefits of being part of the group far, far outweighed any negatives. I got to munch on lots of Pecan Pie & Ice-cream too LOL!

Paint.

at times my teacher broadcasts the grades of those who scored the highest on exams and quizzes

you should ask your teacher if he/she has ever heard of ferpa, the family educational rights and privacy act!!!! if i am not mistaken, it is illegal for her to publicize people's grades! (besides the fact that it's tacky and unproductive of him/her to do so!)

found these on a quick google search:

http://registrar.wisc.edu/ferpa/faculty/what_is_ferpa.php

http://www.news.wisc.edu/8900.html

http://www3.niu.edu/provost/facpers/grades.htm

even if she gets those top students' consent, i think you could make the argument that by broadcasting the top grades only, she is also broadcasting information about the other students' grades by omission.

(if john doe always makes the top grade, and suddenly doesn't on one particular exam, the other students would notice -- and the teacher would be sharing information about john doe's grade without his consent).

Well just for sake of the argument: If this straight and very high 'A' student were to join the study group, what would he get out of it exactly?
Sounds like this particular student could benefit from brushing up on his social skills, hence participation in a group would be good. Not a book subject, but every bit as relevant in nursing. :)

I do fairly well in nursing school and I still do study groups with the C students. Even though I do good on nursing exams, I am horrible at math. So, those C students that I help out with for lecture exams are the same ones supporting me and helping me out with the dosage calcutions exams. The key to a good study group is to know your stuff before you get together and then go over each others weak points, compare notes, and brainstorm for possible test questions. Works great for me.

Hmmm. I'm not in it for the competition. As long as I have good enough grades to get me into grad school, I couldn't care any less about what everyone else is doing. There used to be a few people who were really into that "Look at me, I got an 'A' " stuff at the beginning, but not anymore. In my humble opinion, nursing isn't all about getting A's, and there's no research that proves that nurses who got straight A's all through nursing school deliver better professional nursing care than nurses who did not.

I don't know if I'd describe the behavior of that guy mentioned a few comments earlier as "catty" or "witchy". I've sometimes not done too well with study groups in the past either, not because I think I'm better than others in the group but because it never fails that some people either come unprepared to contribute anything to the group or they come and waste time talking about things that have nothing at all to do with what we're supposed to be studying.

to be competitive if you want to call it that gives me that extra drive to get something done and to do it well. however, mine is kept within. two or three of us will take a test. if i did the best then i say it was just my lucky day but when one of the others in the group does better i think i have to study harder for the next one. but i say congrats or we see who was burning the night oil for this one. i think we feed off of each other more than anything else. but we have not began the nursing classes yet so it may change. but i hope not:)

I have a pretty stellar GPA and have always helped out my classmates with notes, clarifications, extra textbooks, etc. One day last semester I accidently slept through my alarm for an 8:00am class. When I arrived late for class and asked a girl whom I had previously provided notes for to please let me borrow the notes I had missed she said no because I always make better grades than the rest of the class. I was shocked! I ended up approaching three students before someone let me have them. Since then, I am very stingy about providing any info, notes, etc. Get this, the same girl who wouldn't let me see the notes has actually called me several times recently about getting help writing papers and finding research material! I am always polite, but state I'm too busy. :rotfl: :rotfl:

i guess i compete with myself. I like to do well and i try to push myself to do the best that i can on assignments and exams etc.. so in a sense i compete with myself to top previous accomplishments, i wasn't alwyas like this when i was youngerbut now that i am an older student i see the value in learning whatever i can, and push for the best out of myself. I DO NOT like the people who are always trying to compare their accomplishments to everyone elses. I keep my grades and things of that nature to myself when at all possible. Anything else just causes problems in my opinion.

Specializes in Med-Surg.
Some people just have to have the front seat in everything.

Actually some of us who are sitting in the front seat aren't there because we feel the need to be ahead of everyone else, but because we are striving to do our personal best and are just ending up there. I just about cringe when someone asks me what I got on a test and then always do the stupid, girl thing of downplaying it.. sometimes it feels like high school when everyone's trying to make you feel like a nerd for getting good grades.

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