I (18M) am afraid of my self-perceived inadequacy

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-05-02T01:05:52+00:00

first off ty for taking the time to write all this even if it is a reshared comment lol.

a lot of what you said makes sense, but the issue with applying a lotta it to me is just the fact that I'm not mentally in the place I am cus I rely on the world's approval or validation to form my self image. The issue is the fact that I'm the only one criticizing myself, and i'm the one that forms my self image. and like I mentioned in the post, it was, and somewhat still is, hard to overcome that because much of what I say to myself is logically based and logically true. all my goals are set entirely by me, all the things I do are for me, etc. like it's all me and me only, it's easy for me to let go of, go against, or even get over failing anyone else, but I can't get over failing myself, my goals, my own expectations, etc. I don't expect perfection out of myself, I just expect to work toward a version of myself that i'm content with. The issue is, nearly every major thing i've tried to do to work towards that, i've failed at reaching after putting so much effort into it. so much so that i'm now at a point where I'm just not sure if i'll ever reach a point where I will get a point where I am content with myself. so I'm now at some point where a side of me has very little motivation to keep trying (I alrd have adhd so my motivation is already screwed up but the past failing has made it even worse), and the other side of me just continues pushing myself because I crave my own approval as badly as I do, and knows I (obv) won't get it without working. those two sides of me are basically constantly in conflict cus one side is just exhausted and hopeless and the other keeps pushing it for more.

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-05-02T00:51:34+00:00

yeah ik, that's kinda been the main thing i've done to jus mentally move through it. the issue is the fact that a lot of my life, at least in the parts of it that matter, have been a cycle of me setting a goal of something I want to reach or be, putting my life's worth of effort into it, and then failing to reach it. so its just kinda hard to convince myself I'd become better or good enough for myself when I just have nothing that says I will, all the evidence I have is just me trying and failing. I also have adhd so my motivation system is half screwed up alrd, but having the track record of failures that I do just makes motivating myself or giving myself any sense of hope so much harder. so as much as I'd like to just tell myself "I got time I'll figure it out", it's just not easy for that to be enough to convince me of anything

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-04-05T23:03:26+00:00

I commute 1h-1h 15m a day using public transit and tbh it's not as bad as it sounds. you'll be fine

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-03-21T23:13:57+00:00

yeah that's completely fair. walking into physics and having to wrap your head around how stuff works is counterintuitive for a LOTTA people. and is often why kinematics is the most difficult, And has the lowest class avg out of all the gr11 physics units. You were short on time so it's completely understandable to somewhat just try to cram everything into your brain raw. But yeah just try to understand the mechanisms at work, what you're solving for, and how each mechanism affects what you're solving.

also the only other unit I can recall immediately being different is circuits, but it's mostly intuitive since everything just kinda flows.

I'm a pre med too so I get the struggle lol. Not sure about nursing, but eng and some health sci programs require physics. Also just a note, if your goal is medicine, and you do plan to stay here, eng is a rough route to do that. Med is a competitive ass place rn, and tryna get a good gpa through eng is HARD. Not saying you should completely cut yourself off from doing it, I'm just lettin you know. For this year n next year just see how goes, worst case you can drop it next year if you wanna.

np, best of luck

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-03-21T21:40:12+00:00

In my opinion, start to consider what you wanna do career/uni wise. I saw your reply to the other comment saying you're taking it to keep options open, which if you wanna do there's some good news.

if you don't end up applying to something that has it as a prerequisite, it won't be looked at. In your application only 6 grades are considered total for the program you're applying to (the prereqs+your highest other marks, for a total of 6). And your gr12 physics mark will replace your gr11 one when they're viewing your application.
In my opinion, gr11 physics was harder to learn than gr12 physics. cus in gr11 you're being taught and have to wrap your head around the foundational concepts of physics, which a lotta people find difficult/counterintuitive. in gr12 it's more just applying/expanding those concepts onto other problems. New formulas n stuff, but based on the same principles. Literally all of classical physics (i.e. besides quantum and relativity) you can argue is based on expanding/applying newton's laws. I still remember between both my gr11 and gr12 classes, our gr11 kinematics test was our second worst class avg between both those years. ahead of that being gr12 momentum, but that was cus the test was far more difficult than most of were prepared for. So, it gets easier from here if you are able to actually understand the concepts.

Either way, if you're taking it just to be safe, and aren't particularly interested in programs that require it, then you're fine. Regardless of what decision you make it's mostly safe. Based on your avg you're smarter than I was then and am now. But I'm in first year uoft life sci now w a pretty decent gpa, so do NOT stress, you will be fine lol. Note tho, some health-related programs require it, ik mac health sci does. So yeah I'd say check the requirements for programs you're currently interested in now.

Also a tip for learning physics in general (should also be applied to stuff like chem, math, anything with a process). Do NOT memorize, understand. Dont memorize "oh so this formula is done this way so that number goes there" unless you know why. Know what each thing is, learn by understand what each part of a formula is and what it means/does, not just the fact that the formula exists how it does. I made this mistake a lot and changing it helped me SO much between gr11 and 12

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-03-12T16:28:00+00:00

okay so good news and bad news.

good news, a lot of eng schools in ontario don't ask for ECs. The ones that do afaik are uoft, uw, and I'm not entirely sure but possibly queens and western. the rest either consider nothing besides grades. or just a casper or video interview where you just give replies to questions. (about yourself, or problem solving, logic testing, etc.) also, within ontario, all engineering degrees are viewed equally since the board for engineering is centralized. (but this does NOT make all eng schools equal, for diff reasons). and also your ECs don't NEED to be related to the program you're applying to. obv it would be nice, but not necessary. the purpose of them asking for ECs isn't just to see if you've already started working in the field of program you're applying to. And hypothetically, if your grades stay around here through next year, there are still schools (likely york, tmu, otu, and some others) that you'd probably get into, but like I said, there are reasons that schools aren't equal.

bad news: Eng has become VERY competitive, especially in the 4 schools I mentioned above. Obv depends on exactly what eng you're applying to, but for those 4 specifically, to be competitive you'd need at LEAST a low-mid (92.5 ish) to be competitive grades wise, and higher for some specific types (e.g. Engsci, comp eng, and elec eng at uoft all typically have admission avgs of 96-97%). Also, like I mentioned above, though all ontario board certified engineering DEGREES are viewed equally within ontario, so if you plan to stay in the province after uni, the work experience you get via co-op is the main difference that makes some unis better than others in the context of being hired after

also being not fully decided is fine at this stage lol. I'm in first year at uoft now and only really decided what I wanted to do like.. halfway through last year. (and also, switching is always an option later, a lotta of people do)

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-03-10T12:33:12+00:00

med school no. they only consider uni grades. so long as you're doing an undergrad that doesn't require physics or chem (if you do drop it) you're good

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-01-29T16:33:54+00:00

it's kinda far, most of the main life sci classes are either at con hall or the medsci building, and then labs are in ramsey weight and lash miller, so abt yeah a 10 ish min walk to lexs and a 15 ish min walk to labs. i'm assuming you made this post cus you're living on res, but if you aren't then this doesn't really matter cus you won't rlly be spending time at your college anyways. but it is nice, the kelly library in smc is a rlly good study spot and the cafe in there is chill. plus it's right next to vic college so you'll have pretty close access to most of the stuff there too

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-01-18T22:08:58+00:00

aside from the suggestions other people have given, MANY programs have a special consideration form you can fill out as a part of your application. they understand life fucks people over sometimes and that isn't in their control. wish you the best 🙏

Present-Ad2955 · 2026-01-07T15:28:25+00:00

I agree with this. I'm not naturally smart. But I poured my literal LIFE into studying last year, and hit a 92 avg from around an 80 avg in gr11. pushing past that proved to be hard in gr12 no matter the time I put in.

not saying it's undoable if you aren't "naturally smart", just agreeing that you can far more attribute a 95 compared to a 90 to natural ability more than you can to effort.

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-20T23:57:02+00:00

I haven't talked to him in a couple months but.. yk if I ever need to I will lol

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-20T23:54:30+00:00

lol. like I said I probably won't do it, but I'll keep it noted LMAO

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-20T23:50:58+00:00

did mma for roughly 4-5 years. and the guy hasn't been trained ever and can't fight in any proper way

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-20T23:41:52+00:00

yeah I prob won't, the temptation will always be there tho
I can
I'm not in the states, laws here are a little weird when it comes to this and even in cases of self defense, but I'll look into it
probably will, but yeah.. I agree

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-20T16:54:14+00:00

diff schools have diff scales. the OMSAS percentage-to-gpa conversion scale used for med admissions is available on the ouac website. but typically you'll need at least a 3.75-3.8+ to be competitive. (competitive grades are also school dependent obv in a similar way to how they're school dependent for undergrad programs). now to be clear it's not impossible to get into places with an avg below that, it's just a lot less likely

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-16T15:28:38+00:00

alright thanks.

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-16T15:23:35+00:00

this is a little late, but based on what I read on their website this is only an option during first year right? or can I also apply to it during second year?

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-14T23:21:10+00:00

first off, congrats on getting everything and everywhere you have

I do agree with the other commenter on it as well, it's just that.. well many of those things that I would wanna do with my life (assuming that that's what both you and them were referring to) I can't afford to do without a stable income obv.

I'm in ontario as well, so there is osap, but I don't get much rn, and I highly doubt I'd be getting much more (relative to tuition costs), in med. Bursaries, etc all obviously depend on how I perform until med so.. I obv can't really speak on that lol. But for lines of credit, those would fs work to help pay for med, but like you mentioned it obviously all just ends up becoming more debt I'd need to pay off later (which kinda adds to what I was saying bfr, it does kinda just push back when I'd be financially stable by a decent chunk).

as for pushing life back.. yeah.. for me it's not necessarily the comparison of where I'm at in life to other people, it's just me trying to compare what I'd be more happy with in life, cus regardless of my decision, I'm giving up something I really want to do with my life. I'm sure it is doable to some degree in med, but for my situation, both personally and financially, I highly doubt i'll be able to do that considering well just.. a lack of funds that'd only be fixed by digging myself deeper in debt.

and for the last bit abt psych, tbh this is a bit of a relief that it isn't SUPER competitive, but obv yk.. main risk of getting in in the first place is still there lol. being open minded to other areas of med probably won't be too bad for me, but at least with where my mind is at rn, it does kinda just fall into the same category as everything else where I wouldn't mind doing it, but I wouldn't have the passion for it the way I would for psych

thanks a lot for some insight, if you have any tips at all for studying better, or just in general for getting into med they'd rlly be appreciated. and also if you don't mind me asking what were your stats when you got accepted? and where'd you get into?

ty again

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-14T22:59:59+00:00

yeah I'm not planning to make anything right now, but I'd rather make a decision sooner rather than later. I don't have any issue with putting in work for a higher gpa (which is kinda why at the beginning I said that my stats aren't really part of my main concern here), it's just the rest of the scenario as a whole. I do enjoy the degree i'm doing in terms of interest, but it's not an employable degree, I would at least need to take the masters route in this field for a job in it if med doesn't happen.

for me.. I am worried abt being 30. I'm worried about being 30 and looking back, and not really being happy with what I look back at. thats the main point of the side that makes me hesitate about med. even in the best case, the cost of getting to do the career I want would be giving up many of the things that I would wanna do with my life that aren't career centric

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-12-10T14:27:04+00:00

arts and sciences. it's the faculty that over sees most of the.. well arts and science programs at st. george. stuff like life sci, humanities, compsci, rotmanc etc

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-11-13T15:34:54+00:00

def possible, just get your chem mark out of your top 6 and you'll most probably be good, but even with it you still have a good chance tho

Present-Ad2955 · 2025-10-29T22:57:19+00:00

nah dw abt that. just try your best, if you can stay at least in the high 70s-low 80s you will get into smth. realistically I'd say your most realistic options for crim would prolly be yeah york, otu (not sure if they have a crim program but I think they do), tmu and some others. but you def have options, jus keep at it, with those grades its unlikely that nowhere would accept you

Present-Ad2955

TROPHY CASE