In the end acceptance of yourself and your abilities is one of life's greatest lessons- and often a painful one. Maybe straight A's was easy for 8 years or 10 years but then end of high school or at uni suddenly they were not. You went from a school to a selective private school where the work was more challenging than you were accustomed to- maybe it is too much to expect straight A's now, maybe you just need to catch up to those that have been in that tier for all of school. If you are going to a very selective university where getting in requires great grades, great SAT's, and lots of extracurricular then you will find a LOT of people that are used to be being on top that now are only average. Not saying that is you, not saying it is not- nobody knows until they get there.
I have a fair amount of experience of going through ever more difficult courses and seeing people that excelled at one level be barely average or not make the cut at the new level. The real truth is though it does not matter where you come out on a grading curve or anything else for an artificial measure of success in life. The true measure of success in life is how you perform not in an academic environment but in the real world and that success is only measured by you as the person living the life. If you spend your life comparing yourself to others you are either going to become depressed and jealous or a complete obnoxious self centered tool. Some actually manage to do both...
Perform for yourself, get grades for yourself, and whatever the result do not give yourself a reason to look back with regret saying you could've if you would've. You owe yourself your best effort and and owe nothing to anybody else. Learning to accept yourself and your abilities as good enough for you because you do not feel like you could have been better but chose not to put forth your best effort is the way to ensure a chance at a decent life. If you are sure you are doing what you can it is pretty easy to accept the results - maybe harder in school and while young, but as you get older you realize there is always somebody smarter , richer, more successful- and always somebody less- and neither effects you in the least unless you let it.
