# I feel like a fake! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 15, 2009, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-fake/493241 "2009-04-15T23:47:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alastair\_Moonsong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3e96dc/32.png) [@Alastair\_Moonsong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alastair_Moonsong)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-fake/493241/21 "2009-04-18T02:37:40Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Oh yeah? Well, they made me take the SAT’s for the Not Terribly Bright. At least that’s the only way I can reconcile my score (high 1300s in early 1990s) with the fact that I know damn well I am not smarter than 99% of other people. I must have actually taken the special SAT for the Not Terribly Bright. I almost achieved drink-spewing glory when I read this. I felt the EXACT same way - I scored a 1480 on the SAT (1600 point version) with no studying, preparation, or practice - I just showed up, took the test, and walked out. Next thing I know, people are calling me a genius, recommending advanced courses and Honors colleges and stuff, and all i could think was “This has GOT to be a mistake! I’m not smart, really!” I’ve always felt like this though - no matter what I achieve I always feel like I’ve somehow cheated, or it was just luck, or people are only telling me I’m attractive/smart/talented/whatever because it’s not polite to say what they really think. It sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-fake/493241/22 "2009-04-18T03:02:18Z")
I’m almost forty, and every time I get a professional pat on the back, I think, “Fooled them again!” So don’t expect the feeling to go away. ---
**Author:** ![echowit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/59ef9b/32.png) [@echowit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echowit)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-fake/493241/23 "2009-04-18T03:37:35Z")
[quote=“Alastair\_Moonsong, post:21, topic:493241”] I almost achieved drink-spewing glory when I read this. I felt the EXACT same way - I scored a 1480 on the SAT (1600 point version) with no studying, preparation, or practice - I just showed up, took the test, and walked out. Next thing I know, people are calling me a genius, recommending advanced courses and Honors colleges and stuff, and all i could think was “This has GOT to be a mistake! I’m not smart, really!” … rest of moonsong’s quote deleted by echowit for brevity’s sake … QUOTE] I sorta know this feeling too. I really have no idea if I’m “bright” or dim. I just take tests well. Scoring well on tests ( and taking shameless advantage of the oportunities provided by it ) got me through my working life and into retirement. Down side is, a couple of really deserving peers (probably betters, actually) allowed themselves to be cowed by their performances v. mine and did not achieve their true potential. I’ve always felt a little guilty about that. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-fake/493241/24 "2009-04-18T04:37:15Z")
If you are new at it and they know you are new at it, then they don’t expect you to know how to do the job. On the humorous side, I felt you, and you are the real thing! 😉 So you aren’t a very convincing fake. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Carrot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f0a364/32.png) [@Captain\_Carrot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Carrot)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2009, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-fake/493241/25 "2009-04-18T04:45:21Z")
> [@matt\_mcl](#): > > I get this really bad about two weeks into an election. You mean campaign, right? Aren’t elections 1 day even up there in Soviet Canuckistan? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-feel-like-a-fake/493241.md?page=1)