How to differentiate "imposter syndrome" from actual lack of suitability for grad. school/academia? A lot of graduate students/applicants, it seems, suffer from &quot;imposter syndrome.&quot; Typically, these are bright, high-achieving students, who nonetheless doubt their ability, and this most likely stems from the competitive and selective nature of grad. school and academia. However, how can one tell if they're suffering from &quot;imposter syndrome&quot; or if they're really not cut out for graduate school/academia?
The difference that I see (between myself and these students) is that their professors believe in them, wrote them letters of recommendation, plus they have good research skills (even if they don't see it in themselves, others do). Despite doing well in my coursework (which doesn't even indicate much given rampant grade inflation), I could tell that most of my professors lacked confidence in me (at least I think). For example, when I initially applied to my alma mater last year (before everything happened with the professor), one of my other professors wrote me a letter of recommendation that seemed almost sarcastic in its praise. For example, he described a paper I wrote as being among the &quot;top 10 papers he's ever seen from a student in his 20 years of teaching.&quot; The paper, however, was only around 10 pages (that was the requirement), plus I used some dubious sources (i.e. newspaper and online articles etc.) because I was in a rush. (There were no requirements on sources, and I received an A on the paper, but once one gets to upper division classes, they should know to only use scholarly sources.) Thus, this couldn't have been one of the top ten papers he's ever read. (Or he's taught some pretty weak students!) (And he didn't even qualify it with &quot;top 10 undergraduate papers,&quot; which also confirms that he was probably being sarcastic.)
This is only one example, but I can tell that others don't believe in me. So I wanted to ask if I could be suffering from imposter syndrome or if I'm one who really isn't cut out for academia? That might be too much of an individualistic question, so I'll instead ask how can one tell if they're suffering from imposter syndrome or if they really are an &quot;imposter?&quot;
Edit- Re: the above mentioned paper, the requirements were to use 2-3 sources. I did have a couple of scholarly articles but wanting to far exceed the requirements,and given a short amount of time, I turned to weaker/less credible sources. In retrospect, I would have been better off using fewer but higher quality sources.
Edit- Even if no one believes in me (including the professor I admired), I'm still going to pursue graduate school. However, it's disheartening to see others receive support/encouragement whereas everyone seems to doubt me. I feel that I received high grades due to grade inflation but these professors, who can recognize aptitude in others, don't see it in me. I don't know if that's a product of my anxiety or if I'm really just not &quot;smart&quot; enough for graduate school, but I'm going to give it my best shot.
For what it's worth, some of my research ideas have been received positively (i.e my proposal being accepted to the conference, feedback from the new potential advisor etc.). So maybe there's some hope for me, but it's still nerve-wracking seeing how much more competitive others seem, and I wanted to know if this was imposter syndrome or if I'm an &quot;imposter?&quot;
We can’t tell from what you write how promising you really are.  But I can say you’re showing many classic signs of impostor syndrome.
Believe the assessments you receive from instructors.
At least in my experience (the US and NW Europe), “sarcasm” is very rare, and considered quite unprofessional.  I would certainly be shocked to see it used in a letter of recommendation, or a formal course report, or anything like that.  It might be used in informal personal feedback, but this would be unusual, and considered by most academics today as inappropriate and unprofessional, or (at best) regrettably old-fashioned.
Grade inflation is a realistic concern to some extent, as is “praise inflation” in letters of recommendation.  But it sounds like you’re taking this concern far over the top — don’t discount grades or praise entirely.  If your instructor praised the paper, it really does mean he was impressed by it.  Sure, you are aware of the flaws in it — but he saw those flaws, and nonetheless remembered it as very impressive overall.  (Incidentally, it isn’t at all unusual for a paper to have some sloppiness, but still be extremely impressive by showing good insights, knowledge, or exposition.)  Which brings me to:
Don’t judge yourself by a double standard compared to your peers.
There’s a saying: “We compare our own behind-the-scenes to everybody else’s highlight reels.”  Everything you write sounds like what that describes: When you get praise or positive feedback, you are looking for reasons to discount it; but you are taking your peers’ positive feedback at face value.  At the same time, you say you see lack of confidence in you from professors, but everything concrete you mention is positive.
These are all massive red flags for impostor syndrome.  It’s always hard to judge our own capabilities, but when in doubt, look at the most concrete feedback you’ve received from people whose judgement you trust, and take it at face value, especially compared to the feedback they give your peers.  If you look for specific reasons to discount it, you’ll always find some, because you know your own life and flaws better than anyone else.  (Just like when an arrogant person looks for reasons to discount criticism, they can always find some good excuse.)  So, fight any tendencies to discount feedback, either positive or negative.  Try to believe your professors’ assessments and feedback, praise and criticism, and take both on board.  Good luck!