Many students think of junior year and the first semester of senior year as uphill battles. While junior year comes with its own challenges, during the first semester of senior year, students face high pressures to maintain perfect grades, succeed in their activities, and figure out their post-secondary plans. As a result, the first semester of senior year can take a toll on students’ mental health. But once the second semester rolls around and this pressure subsides, all students should feel better, right?
Unfortunately, even for the highest achievers, this is not the case. The second semester can lift the weight of college admissions off of seniors’ shoulders, but many of them encounter impostor syndrome shortly after. As defined by the National Institutes of Health, impostor syndrome is a behavioral health phenomenon that causes feelings of doubt in one’s accomplishments, skills, or intellect. It is most commonly displayed in high-functioning and high-achieving individuals, but it can affect anyone.
Unsurprisingly enough, the high-pressure college admissions market results in impostor syndrome becoming rife within seniors. The high achievers that are accepted into top universities and appear to have it all externally are most likely to suffer.
Senior Claire Watz struggled with impostor syndrome when her top school admitted her. “When I’m looking at the people who applied [to] my top school, I feel like I didn’t deserve to get in. Especially when I see people around me with these perfect grades getting rejected from prestigious schools, I just feel like I shouldn’t have ever gotten in there in the first place,” she said.
Impostor syndrome, however, is not limited to seniors. Edina High School students may have encountered it at some point in their high school career already. “If you take a lot of hard classes, you’re gonna meet a ton of smart people, and I think it’s natural to feel that you’re not good enough or that you don’t belong there. I feel like everyone feels it in a way,” senior Sadie Slobin said.
Impostor syndrome can manifest uniquely for each individual. However, for many, it centers around feelings of unworthiness.
“Sometimes when you’re watching a movie, the characters are given superhuman abilities and you just think, like, wow, that’s insane. [Impostor syndrome] feels like that, where everyone around you has these crazy [abilities] and is crazy smart, crazy athletic, etc. Whatever situation you’re in, they’re 10 times better than you and it seems like you’ll never reach that level,” senior Mina Bhargava said.
In addition, because there are many high achievers at EHS, students often fall down the slippery slope of self-comparison. “I think that really does come from a place of insecurity and feeling like you’ll never be able to catch up. It’s a fixed mindset of ‘I’ll never be as good as they are,’” Bhargava said.
Thankfully, each senior had advice for other students to combat impostor syndrome. Slobin and Watz emphasized the importance of students familiarizing themselves with the concept of impostor syndrome and understanding its ubiquity.
“I would say, to the students who think they’re too good for it, ultimately they’re the ones who are going to suffer from it,” Watz said.
“You would have to have a really, really high level of confidence to not feel imposter syndrome at certain points, because you only hear your own thoughts, and you’re judging yourself way harder than you’re judging everyone else,” Slobin said.
Bhargava advised students to shift their mindset from self-critical to one based on growth. “I think my top advice would be that you just have to change [your] mindset, because when you look around you, you realize that everyone has struggled in one way or another, no matter what it seems like in your class, your sport, or anything,” she said, “You have to adopt that growth mindset [and believe] that you can reach that level, you can be even better, and it’s all in your head.”
Watz and Slobin suggested that students find a way to define themselves outside of school. Slobin also recommends connecting with people outside of Edina. “Try and get outside of the Edina bubble because it can be very stressful, especially during college applications if you’re constantly surrounded by [people in the same situation],” she said.
Because shifting one’s mindset can take time, Bhargava also encouraged students to focus on the good things in their lives. For example, favorite classes, fun activities, and the people you love can be some of the best escapes.
“I think that really helps because it grounds you into what you are good at, what your strengths in life are, and what you have to be grateful for, which is something that, you know, imposter syndrome can easily black out,” she said.
Lastly, Watz recommended that students with impostor syndrome focus mainly on repairing their self-image. “Imposter syndrome is really centered around what others think about you. [At] the end of the day, the most important relationship in your life is you, because you’re gonna be stuck with you for the rest of your life. So I would say focus on how you’re perceiving yourself and what you think about yourself rather than what others think,” she said.
This piece was originally published in Zephyrus’ print edition on May 20, 2025
