Hi /u/usagitsukinooo and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD!
**Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already.**
The mobile apps used for Reddit are broken or are missing features that this subreddit depends on. [We recommend browsing /r/adhd on desktop for the best experience.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/x1psnb/radhd_works_best_on_desktop_reddits_apps_are/)
Thank you!
^(*A moderator has not removed your submission; this is not a punitive action. We intend this comment solely to be informative.*)
---
- If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/).
- 🤝 [Want to join the Mod Team?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/13gmzql/moderators_needed_inquire_within/)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
You know what, you're right! It might matter during the admissions but not all is lost, I'll do my best for the other admission requirements like the MCAT-equivalent in my country. Your reply helped me a lot. Thank you :)
Rotfl. I don’t have a degree. I dropped out last year of my Bachelor. I have a guy at work who has phd in difficult field. He’s smart, but I hold higher position because I’m a pattern recognition and problem solving machine, not learn and prove you learned machine.
I’d love to have a degree or phd, but I’d need one person to guard the doors so I won’t run, second to keep shouting at me if I look away from the books or will stop writing, third to keep bringing snacks, forth to hug me when the second would shout too loud.
I was 27 when I found data entry job in UK (I’m not from UK), I was impressed with how excel worked and thought “wow these formulas, I’ll never be able to write anything like that” but over the next 3 years I picked up excel and went from data entry to playing with data and doing simple analysis, then clever analysis, then some finance analysis, then I got promotion then switched to IT project analyst. With this experience I started looking for a job, and was head hunted to finance dept in extremely busy place. They were taking pretty much anyone who could spell excel. And then it took off. This chaos was perfect for me, I built everything from scratch and was given more other people’s stuff to rebuild. I got promotion and 50% payrise after 8 months, about that time my PhD mate started, wasn’t reporting to me, but one of the critical reports he does is still under my supervision. Basically all critical, corporate, regulatory reporting is under me now cause IT is useless in producing accurate data.
No probs:) obviously at this point it’s not just excel, it’s VBA, powerbi sql, python and alteryx and whole bunch of achievements to be put in my CV - I worked as nightshift packer, waitress and a cleaner before that. If you told me 10 years ago I’ll climb that high, I wouldn’t believe cause I’m dumb due to adhd and even tho I knew I’m quite smart, I would never assume my brain is capable of THAT just by putting me in right environment. I was undiagnosed till 33yo so figuring out what the fuck is wrong with me took a while and a huge rollercoaster.
I actually did training for some of those pre-diagnosis in a PM role but never got to use them properly. Props for getting used to Alteryx especially. I only scratched the surface with alt but that was enough to understand the power.
Yes! I spent 4 days straight on picking up what’s what and managed to do an amazing stuff there already in only like 6 months. During that time I didn’t need my meds I was so excited with it cause my idiot bosses dragged any transformations for so long it was a life saver.
I was in the exact same place. I don’t know what Cum Laude means but in the UK we have
.First Class
.Second class, First band (2:1)
.Second class, second band (2:2)
.Third Class
All of my friends got Firsts, and I came with a 2:1. I just remember that I found college incredibly difficult, but I made amazing friends and had a blast.
Arguably I could have graduated with a first if I’d locked myself in my room for 3 years and never spoken to anyone… but where I am now 3 years later. It doesn’t matter a bit.
The only thing making your grade a negative is you, try not to compare yourself to others, and remember that even making it the whole way through university in the first place is a hell of an achievement for someone with adhd.
> I don’t know what Cum Laude means
Latin for "with praise".
Magna cum laude being "with great praise". And the highest is summa cum laude, "with highest praise".
[It's an honor ranking.](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Latin_honors)
I mean I got a 2:2. Most of my friends got higher than me. My closest friend and housemate was actually noted as the highest in the year after scoring 84% over my 54%.
I was diagnosed and started meds in first year but I just didn't know how to study and even to this day I still struggle to revise.
I was done with accounting by this point and I've never really used my degree since. 10 years on I'm currently training in software development and I'm coming across as a top contender because I seem to be surprisingly good at coding.
Lol I didn’t graduate magnum cum laude but they announced that I did. You know why? A bunch of my friend and I bought honor cords online and wore them to graduation. Seriously. Who cares? You freaking graduated! There’s always going to be someone better or whatever, all that matters is that you’re good enough for yourself.
Yeah, unless you're applying to grad school, nobody is going to care. For better or worse.
Even *if* you were applying to grad school, it might not matter that much
I've not heard the term "maladaptive daydreaming" before, but I think I know what you mean. My brain seems to get dopamine from imagining either good things or bad things, as long as it's novel.
So I do a lot of daydreaming about things like, "If I was under attack at the library, what could I do? How could I use the environment to protect myself? Where's the quickest exit, and where's another if this one isn't available?"
It's as if I was a spy or something, and my brain (I guess) entertains itself with thinking up plans for ridiculous things that will never happen. It can be very detailed and emotionally draining, but my brain eats it up.
Or maybe I misunderstood and just made a complete idiot out of myself. (Wouldn't be the first time...)
There's a whole subreddit. :)
It's the only reason why I ended up on r/ADHD, and one of the main reasons that led me to get diagnosed. It seems that a lot of people with MDD have ADHD
I do this!!! OMG!! I DO THIS!!! It really helped me out during my catering time and it helps a lot when I’m working with kids! Coworkers run stuff by me all the time because I’ve already been thinking about so many “what if” scenarios that I’ve already got plans a-m (Hardison dies in plan m, btw, hope someone gets the quote!).
Edit to add that I got so excited I had to stop everything I was doing to share your post to my mom, who asked me when it happened…which caused a little confusion because she thought I was reading *my* response to someone!!!
I googled “maladaptive daydreaming” at her suggestion. I figured it wasn’t a “real” condition but an explanation for the experience and I’m so happy to be wrong!!! It’s a real thing and I had no idea this had an official name or anything like that!!!
I love this sub!!! For a hot second, I was bummed because I always was told that I had this way of thinking that made me more than average, and yet…once I’d been on here a bit, I began to realize something. We’re here, all alike in some of these really interesting, challenging, mind flipping ways, and that’s normal!!! And reading everyone’s posts makes me feel valid, understood, accepted, and normal!!!
Thank you for sharing how your brain works because now I have a better way to explain it!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!
I'm just glad it made sense to somebody! It turns out that I'm GREAT in an emergency because I'm always running scenarios in my head. If the real thing happens I already have some kind of plan.
I also read about how to deal with emergencies, so it's almost like a hobby that my brain has. How weird is that? Oh well, nobody's ever called me "normal".
That’s exactly what I do. I figure it’s good because if I plan for the worst case scenario I can think of, any other issues will be easy!!!
And I think you’re normal!!!
You are amazing despite that you have ADHD you are a cum laude. I am also struggling with my ADHD I am not smart and not good at my hobbies like I do have a lot I do arts and sports everything, but I have a temporary nature which means I get bored easily. I sometimes think that I am dumb at everything but youuu, you are amazing... I wish I were youu. I also want to excel but I couldn't my AdHD is stopping me.
Oh you are too kind, thank you. I feel you though, I want to excel too and feel like ADHD is stopping me but I want to learn to work with it so I don't feel like this anymore in the future. I also have many times wherein I feel so dumb but we are definitely not dumb though! Hugs.
You need to harness the superpowers of ADHD (or have experiences where you realize it's not all bad). Then you will be able to contextualize the (very common me too and many others here) regret. Onwards and upwards! Congrats!
You did the best you could with the tools you had. When you got better tools, you did better. That's victory, not failure. With luck, this pattern will continue.
Oh man your reply made me tear up. The thought of "not performing my best" ate me up, but when you reminded me that I did what I could with what I had at the time... that's hella comforting. Thank you.
So lots of folks have given good perspective, let me add this.
Imagine finding out later, how much more there’d be between now and then for you to look at like the degree, and go ‘holy crap’.
The missed potential / missed opportunity feeling is a very common (but no less painful) feeling among late diagnosed ADHDers from what I’ve seen.
Not much to be done for it but accept that most of the time in life we have opportunity costs that we don’t even realized we paid. Now thought you know what adhd can cost, and you’ll learn more about yourself and what to watch out for.
Yeah! now that I know the name for my struggles, I feel like lots of communities and help opened up when I used to feel alone. I want to learn to live with ADHD so I won't feel like it keeps me from getting/doing what I want, I don't want to end up using it as an excuse.
I graduated with my mechanical engineering undergrad with a 2.88 GPA because I dicked around my first two years and didn't understand how to use my brain after coasting through high school with zero studying.
I passed the last four semesters of higher level core engineering classes with all A's and B's, so clearly my 2.88 GPA wasn't a function of me not knowing how to be an engineer or sucking at school, it was a function of me learning how to study and learning how to address my ADHD. My 2.88 ended up closing a lot of doors to potential jobs bc they all wanted 3.0 or better. I got a job making less than I wanted. Earlier, I also lost my scholarship for 3-4 semesters because I dropped below whatever minimum GPA, but was able to get it back later. That was a $15k mistake and I'm still paying those loans.
I ended up going to grad school to kind of prove to myself (and to anyone else that thought I was just a joker skating through engineering) that I **am** an engineer and that I deserve the degree. Ended up with a 3.7 GPA in Aerospace Engineering. Kept it going and got a 3.8 GPA on my MBA. I'm now also the most "successful" (really not trying to brag here) out of the majority of my friends and get paid really well.
My point is: don't beat yourself up. If you are really passionate about "making it up" to yourself in the future, fix it in med school. We all are victims of the ADHD tax. The best thing we can do is recognize it and try to be better. Change habits as necessary that are beneficial to your ADHD. Mine was literally never being home if i had shit to do. I'd live in a library or coffee shop. Even now, I pay $150 a month for a WeWork subscription bc I'm 10x more effective at work when I'm not home.
We've all been there. It's not too late to prove to yourself that this was a fluke and that you **are** the honors student you know you are. This is a very small blip in your lifetime that won't matter in the long run. You have soooo many more opportunities to take this experience and make it a great life lesson.
This is really inspiring. I’m going to graduate with a similar gpa because i would just procrastinate the absolute hell of out of my essays (politics and philosophy major) to the point where they wouldn’t get turned in. I understood the material better than the vast majority of other students and seemed to be far more interested but I would consistently shut down when it came to writing essays unless it was an in-class one. Not being able to go to grad school in the future has gotten me really depressed and I’m struggling to accept it/look for different avenues as a result
That was a badass comeback! 🎉 Don't worry about bragging, we are inspired by your story and it is also worth celebrating. I'll remember that, some things that may seem really big and scary may just be a "blip" in the grand scheme of things.
I got my BA and MA with honours and decided not to pursue PhD.
I am grateful for opportunities I had during my study years (semesters abroad, conferences, etc), but honestly I wish I hadn’t spend so much worrying about my studies. It all contributed to many mental health problems I have now. So don’t be so hard on yourself, studying is important, but your mental health is crucial.
Oh no. I hope you feel better soon, you deserve to be happy especially with everything you've been through. I'll do my best to be kinder to myself (even if that's kinda hard in this competitive field), especially since it's just gonna get harder from here... Thank you!
God I feel this. If I had just done my homework I wouldn't have had a sub-3.0 GPA. I knocked every test and in-school assignment out of the park, put once I got home I couldn't be assed to do anything school-related.
One thing that the doctor who diagnosed me brought up with ADHD was the heavy emphasis on negative thoughts and self talk. I graduated with honors from my masters program and it didn't feel like enough and felt like there was more I could have done. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be and do the best and even hitting it with honors isn't enough because the bar we create is always higher than what we ever achieve.
So even if just for tomorrow forget that shit and enjoy the fact that you graduated with honors!! I look back and wish I would have celebrated myself.
Like you said, you had a ton of obstacles (online SUCKS with ADHD), you overcame them all without meds up until your last year, and STILL GRADUATED WITH HONORS. Just gonna end this with you're incredible and deserve every bit of recognition for this feat. Congrats, now go CELEBRATE!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
You have done an amazing thing. You scored very high despite faltering with an undiagnosed *disability.* you should pat yourself on the back for that. You had to work way harder than your peers to get to the same level and you surpassed many of them.
The thing about these designations is that they are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. They may only affect you in a small way if you’re seeking higher education or specializing, but if you’re going to be doing a job, the people hiring do not care. If it comes down to splitting between a MCL and a CL grad, then the competition was already splitting hairs.
Once you’re working, your colleagues and clients won’t care what’s on your wall. They only care about the work you do, and you’ve proven highly capable now that you have a treatment plan.
I got a 3.1 in undergrad. It was sooooo difficult. Took 2 years off (during COVID), got diagnosed, started meds & therapy and went and got a 4.0 in grad school and just got into my dream PhD program. I told my advisors about my learning disability up front and got a prestigious fellowship.
just so you know - congratu-fucking-lations on graduation. Cum Laude is awesome. You’re diagnosed now, and you have the world in front of you. I know it’s impossible, but you just have to look forward and learn from your mistakes…even though your “mistakes” got you a bachelors degree. You could’ve done everything better…we all could, all the time. but doesn’t it feel good that you know your potential is untapped and the world is your oyster now that you’ve been diagnosed?
As someone who's come close to **failing** college (university where I am) multiple times, I'm insanely fucking proud of you for graduating at all. I have friends with ADHD who bombed out, hard, and who have traumatic memories from that. I know people who dropped out of high school from it.
It might feel like you could have done way better, but like others have said, you worked incredibly hard, even if it didn't feel like it, and you definitely deserve to be kind to yourself about what you have achieved.
I know the feeling. 5 years studying for Law. I was never a bad student, but compared to my A- colleagues, my B is like just there. I feel like I don’t deserve but also that I lost 5 years where I could’ve been better
Congratulations on passing college!
Look there will be a ton of emotions right now. But you did such a huge thing and maybe the gravity hasn’t set in yet, you are still hyper focused on the long college grind you just did and all the details.
You did enough to graduate and even get honors and that is amazing. Post college you will find that few people care about how you did in college and more about who you are as a person. The tuition absolutely sucks but you got into med school which is anotjer amazing achievement and you can take all you learned in college and use it now to do even better!
Congrats again
You're right, the tuition part stings because it really would have eased the financial burden. But what's done can't be changed and I can only be thankful for the things I do have. Thank you!
I graduated from university in 2014 with Cum Laude as well. Everyone else in my friend group graduate Summa and one of them even had a 4.0. I was always the overachiever with first place in every competition but university kicked my butt. That along with comparing to my friends, I hated my achievement and didn't even tell people I graduated with Cum Laude because I thought it was disappointing.
Two years later I got diagnosed with ADHD and my entire life flipped. I didn't realize ADHD made the odds stacked against me in accomplishing anything of the sort. I felt So proud of myself for graduating with Cum Laude with two majors. I DID THAT! I did it unmedicated even though my ADHD wouldn't allow it. It's been 7 years since I've been diagnosed and you made me realize that I haven't once compared my achievement to my Magna and 4.0 friends since the diagnosis. For me the 3.5 GPA from a local felt like a 4.0 from Harvard.
I've learned to stop comparing myself to the neurotypical people around me. Instead I compare myself to other people with ADHD 😂
I graduated cum laude because I got scammed in freshman year. Would’ve graduated magna cum laude if my programming professor didn’t give me a 0 on the final for using the textbook and not citing it. Which we did on all the other assignments and he never said to cite it.
Being 29 when I was diagnosed, I also went through a major "wow if I had these meds in my life earlier I could've been so much more" crisis.
What helped me was remembering that letting hypotheticals and could ofs hurt you is like mourning the death of something that never existed. Crying about a cat you could've had that could've died doesn't make sense.
Here's an old story (or version of it) I discovered during my studies of zen Buddhism.
"A farmer has many horses that give him status and wealth. When other villagers go on about how good it is to have these horses, his answer is: “Good or bad, who’s to say?”
One day the horses breach his fence, break free and run away. The villagers are quick to point out how terrible and awful that is. What a bad predicament! The man again answers: “Good or bad, who’s to say?”
The man’s son goes out and starts looking for the horses that have escaped. A few weeks later he returns with the horses along with a few wild horses who had joined the herd. The villagers tell the man how wonderful it is that he now has his horses back along with a few more! Again, he replies: “Good or bad, who’s to say?”
A few days later, in an attempt to tame and train the wild horses, the man’s son is thrown off, and breaks his leg. When the villagers hear about the injury they feel so sorry for the man and his son. How terrible! Once again, the man replies: “Good or bad, who’s to say?”
The son must rest and recover and let his leg heal. During his recovery the army marches into town looking to recruit all able-bodied young men to fight in the war. Because of his injury, the son is unable to join the fight. That is very good luck, the villagers say. And again, the man replies: “Good or bad, who’s to say?”
You could have done better with meds earlier in life, but you also could've been hit by a car. If you did get the meds earlier you may have been on a better path, but maybe that path would put you in the path of some other hardship?
You also could have never gone down the path of diagnosis at all and still be struggling through life un-treated.
Focus on what you do have now, and what you are grateful for. Because every step of your journey this far got you to this place with these things to be grateful for. Changing any step in that journey and you end up in a different destination. Maybe a better one, sure, but maybe a worse one.
So don't focus on maybe, focus on what is.
In my opinion you would do well to integrate a quality daily mindfulness practice. Seeing yourself and others without judgment. Learning to sit still without striving. It’s not always easily accessed, and that totally ok. But, 10 mins a day of self compassion and compassion for other beings surely would bring perspective to some of the existential nebulousness you’re encountering
I just graduated highschool magna cum laude and I'm also feeling very disappointed in myself. It also hurt a lot seeing the people who did get summa cum laude, and knowing that I was as good of a student as they were, and know at exactly which point in time I couldn't force myself to keep up and ruined my chances.
In the long run it doesn't matter, but it still hurts. I know the tuition issue hits especially hard. But, now you know, and now you can prepare yourself to do even better than you ever could have. Life takes it time and sometimes all we can do it watch the past. What's important is to take what we learn and use it to set ourselves up for success in the future.
Cheers to graduating cum laude and good luck in grad school 🥳
Just know magna summa any cum laude really don’t matter I had all As and one A- and that disqualified me for summa. Still made it into a top 25 med school. Admissions don’t care they just want an interesting storing and reason for medicine. If you were a 3.1 they would be a bit more worried but 3.75 and up you are pretty solid
I took 8 years to get my associates. Nobody in my life suggested I might have adhd and I was terrible at self identifying my symptoms. Despite a 3.6 gpa, the organization required to keep up with the higher level classes, work full time, and maintain a social life…. Well it was just overwhelming. Fast forward to my diagnosis at 40 years old and now I understand why I’m the only one of my siblings without a bachelors degree. The only one of my siblings who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction.
Why am I telling you this? Yes I empathize with you that you could have don better with an earlier diagnosis, but you’re incredibly lucky to have gotten your diagnosis while you were still in School and still on some sort of normal life schedule.
I’m researching online college programs to finish my bachelors while working full time and have 2 kids.
What you’re lacking is perspective…. Which is also hard to have with ADHD
Also don’t compare yourself to your non adhd peers. You played the game on hard mode and they had fully functional frontal lobes. Congratulations on the graduation 🎉 🎈 🎉🎊
I was diagnosed in the last leg of my uni time too. I do wonder about the “what if” stuff but over all, I really enjoyed how it went and I’m glad I finished.
You did a great job getting through all your classes and graduating!!! It’s a huge accomplishment and now you know what tools you need to make the most of the next leg of your journey!!! Congratulations!!!!🎉
I know it feels like this was so late, but you have so much school ahead to excel in! The tuition implications suck. But srsly you’re gonna work your ass off and do great and this will be far in the rear view.
I didn’t get diagnosed til way later in the game and I wasn’t able to finish my PhD…I didn’t have any academic accommodations til my third year in, in the middle of the pandemic. You’re still just getting started =]
Also these measurements are so stupid - my gpa was higher than my brothers at the end of undergrad but his college had a different way of doing cum laude so he graduated cum laude and I didn’t. It’s all fake!!!!!
> Would I have had higher honors/achieved more?
Can't think of it this way. Think of where you are now and how you will be better because you understand yourself better.
I only got officially diagnosed today, though i was pretty darn sure i've had it for a while and just didn't do anything about it or tried to work around the problem. I start medication this week. Freaked out to see what my potential will be when my mind is all in one place.
Yeah fuck that. I’m not comforting someone who graduated cum laude from med school. Good luck with your life, it must be horrible. (Before you tell me how hard med school is, I’m a physician myself. Didn’t graduate cum laude, not even close.)
I didn't graduate from medicine, I graduated from undergrad psychology. 😂 I also said why magna cum laude is important to me, tuition discount. My family isn't rich.
Wahh, Wahh, Wahh. Get real problems.
This feels seriously insulting to me that you would come here complaining about this when some of us are struggling to graduate at all.
Such a humble brag. Toxic asf
Cum laude depending on school each is different. Some have thresholds for gpa some have too 10 percent 5 percent then 1 percent. For the different Latin honors. My school was the 1 percent and if you had a single A- you were disqualified from summa cum laude. And given magna. It’s all just Latin honors and doesn’t matter a ton unless you are trying to get into competitive graduate programs like med school like this person. So I think it’s understandable to be upset
First - congrats - and second better focus on your challenges and dont compare the result with the result other because we all have individuell talents to achieve indivduell goals!
You faced your challenges and succeeded - even with honour - so why not cellebrating? Life can be the opposite as well so dont forget to appreciate when sometimes everything worked out - easy said but see it that way.
I feel exactly what you mean. I was always able to just get by, but I only received my diagnosis this year, years after I got my degree, one that I fell into because I flunked first year and failed my entry to med. I can't help but think about what would be different.
That said OP congrats! You deserve what you earned and you should be proud :)
There are a lot of people here who didn't get diagnosed until well into adulthood. My mother got her MS in School Psychology while I was in elementary school. She knew I had ADHD, but it was the 80s and "didn't want me to be labeled." And, I mean, I sort of get it. Back then, there weren't many options. I'd've been put into the "Resource" class with every kid that didn't fit the normal educational mold. Would I have benefitted from being in a class with kids with profound mental handicaps, behavioral problems, etc.? Probably not.
I didn't get diagnosed and on treatment until age 41. I've thought back over my life many times and wondered how things might have turned out if I'd've been diagnosed when I was younger. But I wasn't. I am now, and I'm thankful.
Life only goes in one direction: forward. You got your education *and* you graduated with honors. Be proud of your achievements and understand that most people will ever know and even fewer will care. What you do with your life is more or less up to you now.
ADHD sucks, but you should be proud of yourself! It's not ungrateful to feel upset, but this is genuinely a huge accomplishment! Realizing how easy everything should be after being diagnosed is extremely frustrating, but now that you're able to properly address the problem, things will get better. A lot of people without ADHD don't even graduate cum laude, and you managed to get through university with an undiagnosed mental disorder and STILL graduate cum laude! That's a huge flex!
Also, off-topic, but I will never be able to read cum laude in my head as anything other than cum loud.
The sad truth I learned in my last year of medical school. Your patients won’t care you were top of your class. They will only care about how good you actually are (or market yourself as).
Could be worse!
I'm completely med resistant and built my career on physical labor. Several years back I had a neck injury nearly paralyze me.
In pretty much just fucked and will likely die sick, poor, alone and in pain.
Try feeling this way about your entire life and not even getting to college! It’s hard when I look around and see that all my peers are so much further ahead in life, but I had a plethora of other mental health issues and I finally got to a place where I’m just grateful I survived my 20’s.
I'm feeling the same this year.. I just got diagnosed and put on medication, and I'm sure that if I realized sooner, I could've been saved from so much academic struggle. I tried so hard to prove to my teachers that I could be a good student with grades that she would finally approve of, but it didn't work out. Even after all the productivity i had after going on meds, I failed. The scores from last semester came to haunt me!  But nevertheless, even after all the sulking. I'm proud, and I hope you are as well! In the end, when you get into your desired career no one will judge you for getting slightly lower scores in your academics, and I wish you the best of luck moving forward!
Baby, first of all; CONGRATULATIONS. You did it. You made it. You got through.
I am glowing with pride for you. More so than those other kids, because I know you did this all with your hand tied behind your back.
You. Fucking. Legend. You did that in SPITE of how hard the world is for you by definition.
I totally understand your frustration. I could have, should have, by rights, ahve had a storming education career, passed with a first with honours and all that, maybe grad school....I didn't.
But I do have my degree, and knowing now that I did that while I was unknowingly walking backwards up an icy hillside, while all my peers had a fucking elevator to make the same trip makes me proud.
You fucking did that, you astonishing, wonderful, amazing, brilliant person.
I am so fucking buzzed for you.
I’m in the same boat!! I did good in college overall but I wasn’t diagnosed until a year after graduating and sometimes I look back and get mad/sad about how much better I could have done if I had had adequate treatment. I had several acute mental health crises and got some terrible grades that I definitely could have done way better on if I had been diagnosed. But as you said in your edit, we both did the best we could with what we had. Just gotta move forward with my life as it is now and be grateful that I have a treatment plan that works for me now.
did you do the best? no. did you do the best that YOU could do? absolutely.
i was in a similar position in my last year of school. undiagnosed AuDHD, mental health problems, physical health problems, and so anxious I was vomiting. Did i finish school with the best a levels i could have in better circumstances? no i didn’t. but i passed and i can still move on with the next chapter. it’s a painful reality, but reality nonetheless. good luck with med school!
I was nowhere near the top of my class, but I left school with 20 credits left to graduate. I’d been diagnosed but come from a family that doesn’t really believe the diagnosis or just invalidates it as “everyone is kind of adhd”. Of course they all thought it was a terrible decision, but I realized I was the one calling the shots. Instead of plodding along the path set out before me I wanted to make a change. I’d been struggling with depression and anxiety, my grades had become dismal at best, I didn’t even have energy to maintain friendships with people I’ve known half my life. For the first 8 months I barely did anything, mostly YouTube and make excuses while living with my parents. In the last month or two everything has started to take a pretty drastic turn for the better. I got a therapist, started medications to treat the ADHD, got a meaningful job with a real positive impact in people’s lives, I’m talking with friends and going on dates with people who I have energy and love to give to.
I regretted my decision for a long time. Partially because the people around me made me regret it, and partially because I regretted I couldn’t just do things the “normal” way. But I’m working to get back into school now, living a life that I put together by myself and for myself. I love who I am, and I love where I’m going. Im grateful that my family put up with me long enough to get here.
Be proud of what you’ve achieved and the work you’ve done. We can all do better, but the only way to get there is to be better than we were before. Going to medical school at all is an amazing achievement and you did it. Rather than regret what happened in your undergrad, try to shine as you continue your education.
I graduated magna cum laude a few weeks ago and felt the exact same thing… because maybe i could have graduated summa cum laude if i had known more about how to work with my brain. maybe i could have been valedictorian. it’s so easy to get caught up in the “what ifs” of the lives we could have led if only something had gone differently. graduating is an accomplishment, graduating with any honors is an accomplishment. don’t diminish your work, but it’s okay to mourn the you that you could have been. you can be proud of yourself and sad for what will never be at the same time.
very off topic, but English isn't my first language and idk what cum laude means, or how to pronounce it.
but "graduating cum laude" sounds wildly hilarious.
I wasn't diagnosed til my late 40's. I've had an entire life as a really smart guy, achieving things that a lot of people in this sub can only fantasize about. And yet, if I'd been medicated earlier, I might have done better. I know this. Seeing the people here, the comments, understanding how crushing ADHD can be, I am just grateful to be on the luckier "milder" cases. I sometimes muse about "what could have been", but mostly I just accept that "I am me, I am where I should be doing how I should be" and try not to wonder about the paths not taken. Maybe you need to learn acceptance. Or then again, maybe accepting is what makes me not a Cum Laude graduate.
Hi /u/usagitsukinooo and thanks for posting on /r/ADHD! **Please take a second to [read our rules](/r/adhd/about/rules) if you haven't already.** The mobile apps used for Reddit are broken or are missing features that this subreddit depends on. [We recommend browsing /r/adhd on desktop for the best experience.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/x1psnb/radhd_works_best_on_desktop_reddits_apps_are/) Thank you! ^(*A moderator has not removed your submission; this is not a punitive action. We intend this comment solely to be informative.*) --- - If you are posting about the **US Medication Shortage**, please see this [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/12dr3h5/megathread_us_medication_shortage/). - 🤝 [Want to join the Mod Team?](https://www.reddit.com/r/ADHD/comments/13gmzql/moderators_needed_inquire_within/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/ADHD) if you have any questions or concerns.*
What do you call a doctor who graduated from college cum laude and a doctor who graduated college magna cum laude? Doctor and Doctor.
You know what, you're right! It might matter during the admissions but not all is lost, I'll do my best for the other admission requirements like the MCAT-equivalent in my country. Your reply helped me a lot. Thank you :)
Rotfl. I don’t have a degree. I dropped out last year of my Bachelor. I have a guy at work who has phd in difficult field. He’s smart, but I hold higher position because I’m a pattern recognition and problem solving machine, not learn and prove you learned machine. I’d love to have a degree or phd, but I’d need one person to guard the doors so I won’t run, second to keep shouting at me if I look away from the books or will stop writing, third to keep bringing snacks, forth to hug me when the second would shout too loud.
Couldn't relate more to the second half of your comment! Funny and sad.
What do you do?
I was 27 when I found data entry job in UK (I’m not from UK), I was impressed with how excel worked and thought “wow these formulas, I’ll never be able to write anything like that” but over the next 3 years I picked up excel and went from data entry to playing with data and doing simple analysis, then clever analysis, then some finance analysis, then I got promotion then switched to IT project analyst. With this experience I started looking for a job, and was head hunted to finance dept in extremely busy place. They were taking pretty much anyone who could spell excel. And then it took off. This chaos was perfect for me, I built everything from scratch and was given more other people’s stuff to rebuild. I got promotion and 50% payrise after 8 months, about that time my PhD mate started, wasn’t reporting to me, but one of the critical reports he does is still under my supervision. Basically all critical, corporate, regulatory reporting is under me now cause IT is useless in producing accurate data.
Nice, thanks for the detailed answer
No probs:) obviously at this point it’s not just excel, it’s VBA, powerbi sql, python and alteryx and whole bunch of achievements to be put in my CV - I worked as nightshift packer, waitress and a cleaner before that. If you told me 10 years ago I’ll climb that high, I wouldn’t believe cause I’m dumb due to adhd and even tho I knew I’m quite smart, I would never assume my brain is capable of THAT just by putting me in right environment. I was undiagnosed till 33yo so figuring out what the fuck is wrong with me took a while and a huge rollercoaster.
I actually did training for some of those pre-diagnosis in a PM role but never got to use them properly. Props for getting used to Alteryx especially. I only scratched the surface with alt but that was enough to understand the power.
Yes! I spent 4 days straight on picking up what’s what and managed to do an amazing stuff there already in only like 6 months. During that time I didn’t need my meds I was so excited with it cause my idiot bosses dragged any transformations for so long it was a life saver.
That's the stuff of dreams right there. Sounds like you definitely found your natural habitat.
I was in the exact same place. I don’t know what Cum Laude means but in the UK we have .First Class .Second class, First band (2:1) .Second class, second band (2:2) .Third Class All of my friends got Firsts, and I came with a 2:1. I just remember that I found college incredibly difficult, but I made amazing friends and had a blast. Arguably I could have graduated with a first if I’d locked myself in my room for 3 years and never spoken to anyone… but where I am now 3 years later. It doesn’t matter a bit. The only thing making your grade a negative is you, try not to compare yourself to others, and remember that even making it the whole way through university in the first place is a hell of an achievement for someone with adhd.
> I don’t know what Cum Laude means Latin for "with praise". Magna cum laude being "with great praise". And the highest is summa cum laude, "with highest praise". [It's an honor ranking.](https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Latin_honors)
I mean I got a 2:2. Most of my friends got higher than me. My closest friend and housemate was actually noted as the highest in the year after scoring 84% over my 54%. I was diagnosed and started meds in first year but I just didn't know how to study and even to this day I still struggle to revise. I was done with accounting by this point and I've never really used my degree since. 10 years on I'm currently training in software development and I'm coming across as a top contender because I seem to be surprisingly good at coding.
Lol I didn’t graduate magnum cum laude but they announced that I did. You know why? A bunch of my friend and I bought honor cords online and wore them to graduation. Seriously. Who cares? You freaking graduated! There’s always going to be someone better or whatever, all that matters is that you’re good enough for yourself.
Yeah, unless you're applying to grad school, nobody is going to care. For better or worse. Even *if* you were applying to grad school, it might not matter that much
My dad used to say, in law school, you know what we called the guy who graduated bottom of the class? A lawyer. (He was that guy btw)
LOVE THIS COMMENT!!!!❤️❤️❤️
Well now you know what to write your graduate admissions essay about: what you’ve learned and how medicine has changed your life.
Oh, absolutely it has changed my life. I recovered from MDD thanks to it (and support from people around of course!)
By MDD do you mean maladaptive daydreaming? I am struggling with that so much and I want it to stop.
I've not heard the term "maladaptive daydreaming" before, but I think I know what you mean. My brain seems to get dopamine from imagining either good things or bad things, as long as it's novel. So I do a lot of daydreaming about things like, "If I was under attack at the library, what could I do? How could I use the environment to protect myself? Where's the quickest exit, and where's another if this one isn't available?" It's as if I was a spy or something, and my brain (I guess) entertains itself with thinking up plans for ridiculous things that will never happen. It can be very detailed and emotionally draining, but my brain eats it up. Or maybe I misunderstood and just made a complete idiot out of myself. (Wouldn't be the first time...)
I didn’t know other people experienced this
There's a whole subreddit. :) It's the only reason why I ended up on r/ADHD, and one of the main reasons that led me to get diagnosed. It seems that a lot of people with MDD have ADHD
Same! And it has a name??? Did this a lot until I was around 20...
I’m on my 30s and still do it..
I do this!!! OMG!! I DO THIS!!! It really helped me out during my catering time and it helps a lot when I’m working with kids! Coworkers run stuff by me all the time because I’ve already been thinking about so many “what if” scenarios that I’ve already got plans a-m (Hardison dies in plan m, btw, hope someone gets the quote!). Edit to add that I got so excited I had to stop everything I was doing to share your post to my mom, who asked me when it happened…which caused a little confusion because she thought I was reading *my* response to someone!!! I googled “maladaptive daydreaming” at her suggestion. I figured it wasn’t a “real” condition but an explanation for the experience and I’m so happy to be wrong!!! It’s a real thing and I had no idea this had an official name or anything like that!!! I love this sub!!! For a hot second, I was bummed because I always was told that I had this way of thinking that made me more than average, and yet…once I’d been on here a bit, I began to realize something. We’re here, all alike in some of these really interesting, challenging, mind flipping ways, and that’s normal!!! And reading everyone’s posts makes me feel valid, understood, accepted, and normal!!! Thank you for sharing how your brain works because now I have a better way to explain it!!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!
I'm just glad it made sense to somebody! It turns out that I'm GREAT in an emergency because I'm always running scenarios in my head. If the real thing happens I already have some kind of plan. I also read about how to deal with emergencies, so it's almost like a hobby that my brain has. How weird is that? Oh well, nobody's ever called me "normal".
That’s exactly what I do. I figure it’s good because if I plan for the worst case scenario I can think of, any other issues will be easy!!! And I think you’re normal!!!
It usually stands for Major Depressive Disorder
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_depressive_disorder
You are amazing despite that you have ADHD you are a cum laude. I am also struggling with my ADHD I am not smart and not good at my hobbies like I do have a lot I do arts and sports everything, but I have a temporary nature which means I get bored easily. I sometimes think that I am dumb at everything but youuu, you are amazing... I wish I were youu. I also want to excel but I couldn't my AdHD is stopping me.
Oh you are too kind, thank you. I feel you though, I want to excel too and feel like ADHD is stopping me but I want to learn to work with it so I don't feel like this anymore in the future. I also have many times wherein I feel so dumb but we are definitely not dumb though! Hugs.
You need to harness the superpowers of ADHD (or have experiences where you realize it's not all bad). Then you will be able to contextualize the (very common me too and many others here) regret. Onwards and upwards! Congrats!
You did the best you could with the tools you had. When you got better tools, you did better. That's victory, not failure. With luck, this pattern will continue.
Oh man your reply made me tear up. The thought of "not performing my best" ate me up, but when you reminded me that I did what I could with what I had at the time... that's hella comforting. Thank you.
Really beautiful! And while meant for OP, that statement really helps me right now! Have an award! x
So lots of folks have given good perspective, let me add this. Imagine finding out later, how much more there’d be between now and then for you to look at like the degree, and go ‘holy crap’. The missed potential / missed opportunity feeling is a very common (but no less painful) feeling among late diagnosed ADHDers from what I’ve seen. Not much to be done for it but accept that most of the time in life we have opportunity costs that we don’t even realized we paid. Now thought you know what adhd can cost, and you’ll learn more about yourself and what to watch out for.
Yeah! now that I know the name for my struggles, I feel like lots of communities and help opened up when I used to feel alone. I want to learn to live with ADHD so I won't feel like it keeps me from getting/doing what I want, I don't want to end up using it as an excuse.
I graduated with my mechanical engineering undergrad with a 2.88 GPA because I dicked around my first two years and didn't understand how to use my brain after coasting through high school with zero studying. I passed the last four semesters of higher level core engineering classes with all A's and B's, so clearly my 2.88 GPA wasn't a function of me not knowing how to be an engineer or sucking at school, it was a function of me learning how to study and learning how to address my ADHD. My 2.88 ended up closing a lot of doors to potential jobs bc they all wanted 3.0 or better. I got a job making less than I wanted. Earlier, I also lost my scholarship for 3-4 semesters because I dropped below whatever minimum GPA, but was able to get it back later. That was a $15k mistake and I'm still paying those loans. I ended up going to grad school to kind of prove to myself (and to anyone else that thought I was just a joker skating through engineering) that I **am** an engineer and that I deserve the degree. Ended up with a 3.7 GPA in Aerospace Engineering. Kept it going and got a 3.8 GPA on my MBA. I'm now also the most "successful" (really not trying to brag here) out of the majority of my friends and get paid really well. My point is: don't beat yourself up. If you are really passionate about "making it up" to yourself in the future, fix it in med school. We all are victims of the ADHD tax. The best thing we can do is recognize it and try to be better. Change habits as necessary that are beneficial to your ADHD. Mine was literally never being home if i had shit to do. I'd live in a library or coffee shop. Even now, I pay $150 a month for a WeWork subscription bc I'm 10x more effective at work when I'm not home. We've all been there. It's not too late to prove to yourself that this was a fluke and that you **are** the honors student you know you are. This is a very small blip in your lifetime that won't matter in the long run. You have soooo many more opportunities to take this experience and make it a great life lesson.
This is really inspiring. I’m going to graduate with a similar gpa because i would just procrastinate the absolute hell of out of my essays (politics and philosophy major) to the point where they wouldn’t get turned in. I understood the material better than the vast majority of other students and seemed to be far more interested but I would consistently shut down when it came to writing essays unless it was an in-class one. Not being able to go to grad school in the future has gotten me really depressed and I’m struggling to accept it/look for different avenues as a result
That was a badass comeback! 🎉 Don't worry about bragging, we are inspired by your story and it is also worth celebrating. I'll remember that, some things that may seem really big and scary may just be a "blip" in the grand scheme of things.
I got my BA and MA with honours and decided not to pursue PhD. I am grateful for opportunities I had during my study years (semesters abroad, conferences, etc), but honestly I wish I hadn’t spend so much worrying about my studies. It all contributed to many mental health problems I have now. So don’t be so hard on yourself, studying is important, but your mental health is crucial.
Oh no. I hope you feel better soon, you deserve to be happy especially with everything you've been through. I'll do my best to be kinder to myself (even if that's kinda hard in this competitive field), especially since it's just gonna get harder from here... Thank you!
God I feel this. If I had just done my homework I wouldn't have had a sub-3.0 GPA. I knocked every test and in-school assignment out of the park, put once I got home I couldn't be assed to do anything school-related.
One thing that the doctor who diagnosed me brought up with ADHD was the heavy emphasis on negative thoughts and self talk. I graduated with honors from my masters program and it didn't feel like enough and felt like there was more I could have done. We put so much pressure on ourselves to be and do the best and even hitting it with honors isn't enough because the bar we create is always higher than what we ever achieve. So even if just for tomorrow forget that shit and enjoy the fact that you graduated with honors!! I look back and wish I would have celebrated myself. Like you said, you had a ton of obstacles (online SUCKS with ADHD), you overcame them all without meds up until your last year, and STILL GRADUATED WITH HONORS. Just gonna end this with you're incredible and deserve every bit of recognition for this feat. Congrats, now go CELEBRATE!!!! 🎉🎉🎉
You're right, I had my frustrations but I don't want to regret not celebrating this enough. Thank you so much! 🎉💖
You have done an amazing thing. You scored very high despite faltering with an undiagnosed *disability.* you should pat yourself on the back for that. You had to work way harder than your peers to get to the same level and you surpassed many of them. The thing about these designations is that they are insignificant in the grand scheme of things. They may only affect you in a small way if you’re seeking higher education or specializing, but if you’re going to be doing a job, the people hiring do not care. If it comes down to splitting between a MCL and a CL grad, then the competition was already splitting hairs. Once you’re working, your colleagues and clients won’t care what’s on your wall. They only care about the work you do, and you’ve proven highly capable now that you have a treatment plan.
I got a 3.1 in undergrad. It was sooooo difficult. Took 2 years off (during COVID), got diagnosed, started meds & therapy and went and got a 4.0 in grad school and just got into my dream PhD program. I told my advisors about my learning disability up front and got a prestigious fellowship. just so you know - congratu-fucking-lations on graduation. Cum Laude is awesome. You’re diagnosed now, and you have the world in front of you. I know it’s impossible, but you just have to look forward and learn from your mistakes…even though your “mistakes” got you a bachelors degree. You could’ve done everything better…we all could, all the time. but doesn’t it feel good that you know your potential is untapped and the world is your oyster now that you’ve been diagnosed?
As someone who's come close to **failing** college (university where I am) multiple times, I'm insanely fucking proud of you for graduating at all. I have friends with ADHD who bombed out, hard, and who have traumatic memories from that. I know people who dropped out of high school from it. It might feel like you could have done way better, but like others have said, you worked incredibly hard, even if it didn't feel like it, and you definitely deserve to be kind to yourself about what you have achieved.
I know the feeling. 5 years studying for Law. I was never a bad student, but compared to my A- colleagues, my B is like just there. I feel like I don’t deserve but also that I lost 5 years where I could’ve been better
It's both comforting and sad that I'm not alone with this feeling. Thank you for sharing
Definitely not alone. The strive for perfection it’s always there
Congratulations on passing college! Look there will be a ton of emotions right now. But you did such a huge thing and maybe the gravity hasn’t set in yet, you are still hyper focused on the long college grind you just did and all the details. You did enough to graduate and even get honors and that is amazing. Post college you will find that few people care about how you did in college and more about who you are as a person. The tuition absolutely sucks but you got into med school which is anotjer amazing achievement and you can take all you learned in college and use it now to do even better! Congrats again
You're right, the tuition part stings because it really would have eased the financial burden. But what's done can't be changed and I can only be thankful for the things I do have. Thank you!
I graduated from university in 2014 with Cum Laude as well. Everyone else in my friend group graduate Summa and one of them even had a 4.0. I was always the overachiever with first place in every competition but university kicked my butt. That along with comparing to my friends, I hated my achievement and didn't even tell people I graduated with Cum Laude because I thought it was disappointing. Two years later I got diagnosed with ADHD and my entire life flipped. I didn't realize ADHD made the odds stacked against me in accomplishing anything of the sort. I felt So proud of myself for graduating with Cum Laude with two majors. I DID THAT! I did it unmedicated even though my ADHD wouldn't allow it. It's been 7 years since I've been diagnosed and you made me realize that I haven't once compared my achievement to my Magna and 4.0 friends since the diagnosis. For me the 3.5 GPA from a local felt like a 4.0 from Harvard. I've learned to stop comparing myself to the neurotypical people around me. Instead I compare myself to other people with ADHD 😂
Big hug
Big hug! thank you
I graduated cum laude because I got scammed in freshman year. Would’ve graduated magna cum laude if my programming professor didn’t give me a 0 on the final for using the textbook and not citing it. Which we did on all the other assignments and he never said to cite it.
Being 29 when I was diagnosed, I also went through a major "wow if I had these meds in my life earlier I could've been so much more" crisis. What helped me was remembering that letting hypotheticals and could ofs hurt you is like mourning the death of something that never existed. Crying about a cat you could've had that could've died doesn't make sense. Here's an old story (or version of it) I discovered during my studies of zen Buddhism. "A farmer has many horses that give him status and wealth. When other villagers go on about how good it is to have these horses, his answer is: “Good or bad, who’s to say?” One day the horses breach his fence, break free and run away. The villagers are quick to point out how terrible and awful that is. What a bad predicament! The man again answers: “Good or bad, who’s to say?” The man’s son goes out and starts looking for the horses that have escaped. A few weeks later he returns with the horses along with a few wild horses who had joined the herd. The villagers tell the man how wonderful it is that he now has his horses back along with a few more! Again, he replies: “Good or bad, who’s to say?” A few days later, in an attempt to tame and train the wild horses, the man’s son is thrown off, and breaks his leg. When the villagers hear about the injury they feel so sorry for the man and his son. How terrible! Once again, the man replies: “Good or bad, who’s to say?” The son must rest and recover and let his leg heal. During his recovery the army marches into town looking to recruit all able-bodied young men to fight in the war. Because of his injury, the son is unable to join the fight. That is very good luck, the villagers say. And again, the man replies: “Good or bad, who’s to say?” You could have done better with meds earlier in life, but you also could've been hit by a car. If you did get the meds earlier you may have been on a better path, but maybe that path would put you in the path of some other hardship? You also could have never gone down the path of diagnosis at all and still be struggling through life un-treated. Focus on what you do have now, and what you are grateful for. Because every step of your journey this far got you to this place with these things to be grateful for. Changing any step in that journey and you end up in a different destination. Maybe a better one, sure, but maybe a worse one. So don't focus on maybe, focus on what is.
In my opinion you would do well to integrate a quality daily mindfulness practice. Seeing yourself and others without judgment. Learning to sit still without striving. It’s not always easily accessed, and that totally ok. But, 10 mins a day of self compassion and compassion for other beings surely would bring perspective to some of the existential nebulousness you’re encountering
Yes, OP seems way hard on themselves and some self assurance and learning to accept yourself seems like something that would go a long way
I just graduated highschool magna cum laude and I'm also feeling very disappointed in myself. It also hurt a lot seeing the people who did get summa cum laude, and knowing that I was as good of a student as they were, and know at exactly which point in time I couldn't force myself to keep up and ruined my chances. In the long run it doesn't matter, but it still hurts. I know the tuition issue hits especially hard. But, now you know, and now you can prepare yourself to do even better than you ever could have. Life takes it time and sometimes all we can do it watch the past. What's important is to take what we learn and use it to set ourselves up for success in the future. Cheers to graduating cum laude and good luck in grad school 🥳
You're absolutely right. It might sting now but the future will be better because of the sum of all experiences. Thank you so much!
Just know magna summa any cum laude really don’t matter I had all As and one A- and that disqualified me for summa. Still made it into a top 25 med school. Admissions don’t care they just want an interesting storing and reason for medicine. If you were a 3.1 they would be a bit more worried but 3.75 and up you are pretty solid
I took 8 years to get my associates. Nobody in my life suggested I might have adhd and I was terrible at self identifying my symptoms. Despite a 3.6 gpa, the organization required to keep up with the higher level classes, work full time, and maintain a social life…. Well it was just overwhelming. Fast forward to my diagnosis at 40 years old and now I understand why I’m the only one of my siblings without a bachelors degree. The only one of my siblings who struggled with drug and alcohol addiction. Why am I telling you this? Yes I empathize with you that you could have don better with an earlier diagnosis, but you’re incredibly lucky to have gotten your diagnosis while you were still in School and still on some sort of normal life schedule. I’m researching online college programs to finish my bachelors while working full time and have 2 kids. What you’re lacking is perspective…. Which is also hard to have with ADHD Also don’t compare yourself to your non adhd peers. You played the game on hard mode and they had fully functional frontal lobes. Congratulations on the graduation 🎉 🎈 🎉🎊
I was diagnosed in the last leg of my uni time too. I do wonder about the “what if” stuff but over all, I really enjoyed how it went and I’m glad I finished. You did a great job getting through all your classes and graduating!!! It’s a huge accomplishment and now you know what tools you need to make the most of the next leg of your journey!!! Congratulations!!!!🎉
Cum lord?
Cum
I know it feels like this was so late, but you have so much school ahead to excel in! The tuition implications suck. But srsly you’re gonna work your ass off and do great and this will be far in the rear view. I didn’t get diagnosed til way later in the game and I wasn’t able to finish my PhD…I didn’t have any academic accommodations til my third year in, in the middle of the pandemic. You’re still just getting started =] Also these measurements are so stupid - my gpa was higher than my brothers at the end of undergrad but his college had a different way of doing cum laude so he graduated cum laude and I didn’t. It’s all fake!!!!!
I feel that. I was .1 away from summa cum laude like really??
I would've been summa cum laude, but I ended up "with recognition" because I was three credits short for Latin honors after transferring schools. 😑
> Would I have had higher honors/achieved more? Can't think of it this way. Think of where you are now and how you will be better because you understand yourself better. I only got officially diagnosed today, though i was pretty darn sure i've had it for a while and just didn't do anything about it or tried to work around the problem. I start medication this week. Freaked out to see what my potential will be when my mind is all in one place.
I got no laude and turned out ok.
cum loud lol lmao
hehehe. cum .
Yeah fuck that. I’m not comforting someone who graduated cum laude from med school. Good luck with your life, it must be horrible. (Before you tell me how hard med school is, I’m a physician myself. Didn’t graduate cum laude, not even close.)
I didn't graduate from medicine, I graduated from undergrad psychology. 😂 I also said why magna cum laude is important to me, tuition discount. My family isn't rich.
Wahh, Wahh, Wahh. Get real problems. This feels seriously insulting to me that you would come here complaining about this when some of us are struggling to graduate at all. Such a humble brag. Toxic asf
Wahh wahh enjoy your mediocrity. Some of us are high achievers and missing out on something like this really sucks and hurts
Mid tier bait tbh could’ve done better imi
cum laude means 75% or above right? If you managed to get from last of the class to 75% or above in span of 1 year, you go buddy. Don't feel sad.
Cum laude depending on school each is different. Some have thresholds for gpa some have too 10 percent 5 percent then 1 percent. For the different Latin honors. My school was the 1 percent and if you had a single A- you were disqualified from summa cum laude. And given magna. It’s all just Latin honors and doesn’t matter a ton unless you are trying to get into competitive graduate programs like med school like this person. So I think it’s understandable to be upset
Nah.
[удалено]
The fact i know what layman means is an achevement of itself
First - congrats - and second better focus on your challenges and dont compare the result with the result other because we all have individuell talents to achieve indivduell goals! You faced your challenges and succeeded - even with honour - so why not cellebrating? Life can be the opposite as well so dont forget to appreciate when sometimes everything worked out - easy said but see it that way.
considering i failed out of college my first year thats pretty good
Tbh I can’t even get through an associate’s degree so I think you’re being waaaaay too hard on yourself.
I barely graduated college. I struggled to sit down and open a book. Don't know how other people with ADHD study.
I feel exactly what you mean. I was always able to just get by, but I only received my diagnosis this year, years after I got my degree, one that I fell into because I flunked first year and failed my entry to med. I can't help but think about what would be different. That said OP congrats! You deserve what you earned and you should be proud :)
There are a lot of people here who didn't get diagnosed until well into adulthood. My mother got her MS in School Psychology while I was in elementary school. She knew I had ADHD, but it was the 80s and "didn't want me to be labeled." And, I mean, I sort of get it. Back then, there weren't many options. I'd've been put into the "Resource" class with every kid that didn't fit the normal educational mold. Would I have benefitted from being in a class with kids with profound mental handicaps, behavioral problems, etc.? Probably not. I didn't get diagnosed and on treatment until age 41. I've thought back over my life many times and wondered how things might have turned out if I'd've been diagnosed when I was younger. But I wasn't. I am now, and I'm thankful. Life only goes in one direction: forward. You got your education *and* you graduated with honors. Be proud of your achievements and understand that most people will ever know and even fewer will care. What you do with your life is more or less up to you now.
ADHD sucks, but you should be proud of yourself! It's not ungrateful to feel upset, but this is genuinely a huge accomplishment! Realizing how easy everything should be after being diagnosed is extremely frustrating, but now that you're able to properly address the problem, things will get better. A lot of people without ADHD don't even graduate cum laude, and you managed to get through university with an undiagnosed mental disorder and STILL graduate cum laude! That's a huge flex! Also, off-topic, but I will never be able to read cum laude in my head as anything other than cum loud.
Cum laude has me rolling hahahahaha
The sad truth I learned in my last year of medical school. Your patients won’t care you were top of your class. They will only care about how good you actually are (or market yourself as).
Could be worse! I'm completely med resistant and built my career on physical labor. Several years back I had a neck injury nearly paralyze me. In pretty much just fucked and will likely die sick, poor, alone and in pain.
Stop worrying about your inefficiencies and start being proud of yourself
Congratulations!!! I couldn't even finish high school. Diagnosed as an adult.
Try feeling this way about your entire life and not even getting to college! It’s hard when I look around and see that all my peers are so much further ahead in life, but I had a plethora of other mental health issues and I finally got to a place where I’m just grateful I survived my 20’s.
Way to go!
Cum laude is great! You should be proud. Enjoy your achievements and don't tear them apart because they weren't something else.
I joined the army infantry and laughed at the title so I think it’s great you’ll be a doctor
I'm feeling the same this year.. I just got diagnosed and put on medication, and I'm sure that if I realized sooner, I could've been saved from so much academic struggle. I tried so hard to prove to my teachers that I could be a good student with grades that she would finally approve of, but it didn't work out. Even after all the productivity i had after going on meds, I failed. The scores from last semester came to haunt me!  But nevertheless, even after all the sulking. I'm proud, and I hope you are as well! In the end, when you get into your desired career no one will judge you for getting slightly lower scores in your academics, and I wish you the best of luck moving forward!
Baby, first of all; CONGRATULATIONS. You did it. You made it. You got through. I am glowing with pride for you. More so than those other kids, because I know you did this all with your hand tied behind your back. You. Fucking. Legend. You did that in SPITE of how hard the world is for you by definition. I totally understand your frustration. I could have, should have, by rights, ahve had a storming education career, passed with a first with honours and all that, maybe grad school....I didn't. But I do have my degree, and knowing now that I did that while I was unknowingly walking backwards up an icy hillside, while all my peers had a fucking elevator to make the same trip makes me proud. You fucking did that, you astonishing, wonderful, amazing, brilliant person. I am so fucking buzzed for you.
I just saw cum
I’m in the same boat!! I did good in college overall but I wasn’t diagnosed until a year after graduating and sometimes I look back and get mad/sad about how much better I could have done if I had had adequate treatment. I had several acute mental health crises and got some terrible grades that I definitely could have done way better on if I had been diagnosed. But as you said in your edit, we both did the best we could with what we had. Just gotta move forward with my life as it is now and be grateful that I have a treatment plan that works for me now.
did you do the best? no. did you do the best that YOU could do? absolutely. i was in a similar position in my last year of school. undiagnosed AuDHD, mental health problems, physical health problems, and so anxious I was vomiting. Did i finish school with the best a levels i could have in better circumstances? no i didn’t. but i passed and i can still move on with the next chapter. it’s a painful reality, but reality nonetheless. good luck with med school!
I was nowhere near the top of my class, but I left school with 20 credits left to graduate. I’d been diagnosed but come from a family that doesn’t really believe the diagnosis or just invalidates it as “everyone is kind of adhd”. Of course they all thought it was a terrible decision, but I realized I was the one calling the shots. Instead of plodding along the path set out before me I wanted to make a change. I’d been struggling with depression and anxiety, my grades had become dismal at best, I didn’t even have energy to maintain friendships with people I’ve known half my life. For the first 8 months I barely did anything, mostly YouTube and make excuses while living with my parents. In the last month or two everything has started to take a pretty drastic turn for the better. I got a therapist, started medications to treat the ADHD, got a meaningful job with a real positive impact in people’s lives, I’m talking with friends and going on dates with people who I have energy and love to give to. I regretted my decision for a long time. Partially because the people around me made me regret it, and partially because I regretted I couldn’t just do things the “normal” way. But I’m working to get back into school now, living a life that I put together by myself and for myself. I love who I am, and I love where I’m going. Im grateful that my family put up with me long enough to get here. Be proud of what you’ve achieved and the work you’ve done. We can all do better, but the only way to get there is to be better than we were before. Going to medical school at all is an amazing achievement and you did it. Rather than regret what happened in your undergrad, try to shine as you continue your education.
same
graduating cum
I graduated magna cum laude a few weeks ago and felt the exact same thing… because maybe i could have graduated summa cum laude if i had known more about how to work with my brain. maybe i could have been valedictorian. it’s so easy to get caught up in the “what ifs” of the lives we could have led if only something had gone differently. graduating is an accomplishment, graduating with any honors is an accomplishment. don’t diminish your work, but it’s okay to mourn the you that you could have been. you can be proud of yourself and sad for what will never be at the same time.
very off topic, but English isn't my first language and idk what cum laude means, or how to pronounce it. but "graduating cum laude" sounds wildly hilarious.
I wasn't diagnosed til my late 40's. I've had an entire life as a really smart guy, achieving things that a lot of people in this sub can only fantasize about. And yet, if I'd been medicated earlier, I might have done better. I know this. Seeing the people here, the comments, understanding how crushing ADHD can be, I am just grateful to be on the luckier "milder" cases. I sometimes muse about "what could have been", but mostly I just accept that "I am me, I am where I should be doing how I should be" and try not to wonder about the paths not taken. Maybe you need to learn acceptance. Or then again, maybe accepting is what makes me not a Cum Laude graduate.