Why Comparing Yourself to Other IMAT Candidates Backfires

Prep forums and group chats are full of candidates posting scores, and it's genuinely hard not to measure yourself against them. It's also, honestly, one of the more corrosive habits we see candidates fall into.

Why the comparison is misleading in the first place

Short answer: you don't know how long that person has been studying, what their starting point was, whether they're being honest about their score, or how their specific weak sections compare to yours. A single number, stripped of all that context, tells you almost nothing useful, even though it feels informative in the moment.

What it actually does to your studying

Constant comparison tends to produce one of two unhelpful reactions: false confidence when you're ahead of the posted numbers, or panic when you're behind them, neither of which is based on an accurate read of your own actual trajectory. Both pull attention away from the one thing that actually determines your outcome, your own consistent progress.

What to track instead

Your own mock scores over time, compared against your own earlier mock scores, not against anyone else's. That's the only comparison that actually tells you whether your current approach is working.

A practical way to reduce the exposure

You don't need to quit every forum or group chat, but it's worth being deliberate about how much time you spend scrolling score comparisons versus actually studying. If a specific group chat consistently leaves you more anxious than informed, that's a reasonable signal to mute it during your prep window.

The honest reframe

This isn't a race against other candidates in the way it feels like one. It's closer to a threshold you're trying to clear, based on your own preparation. Someone else clearing it faster doesn't lower the bar or raise it for you.

Your own trajectory is the only one that actually determines your outcome. Everyone else's numbers are just noise dressed up as information.