u/ConsciousYak6881

Every Scholarship route I see after O and A levels ends up being a competition hellhole with extremely limited seats. I know that it is by design to choose the cream of the crop, but even if someone gains all 8 A*s in O levels and all 3/4 A*s in A levels, he is competing against several others who have same qualifications. Most scholarships do not count your MUNs or School level activities, as such, any successful scholarship(full) winner I see states how he/she ran this NGO, won 4 Olympiads, raised and sold startups, interned at Microsoft, etc.

Is that my competition? I don't even know the route to Olympiad, and if I focus on all those, how will I win in studies?

Or am I just delusional or sore loser before the competition even began?