I think it would be very unusual for a highly competitive person to wind up in a department where he is by far the worst academically. This is because a highly competitive person cannot be used for service like some people can and thus is of little use if he is academically sterile.

I think it would be very unusual for a highly competitive person to wind up in a department where he is by far the worst academically. This is because a highly competitive person cannot be used for service like some people can and thus is of little use if he is academically sterile. Therefore it follows that if your competitiveness is limited to your department you should not be too depressed about it. Plus you can specifically pick a department weaker than you to make you feel good about yourself.