We are officially in November, which means one thing and one thing only: "Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life" is only a few weeks away. I. AM. PUMPED! My husband and I are re-watching the series right now, and we're about halfway through season seven. I'm also listening to The Gilmore Guys podcast on Spotify. And while this is keeping my love of the show on the front burner, it's also making me realize some not-so-great things about my favorite character, Rory.

It seems to me that while we're constantly told that Rory is incredibly intelligent, accomplished, talented and kind...she rarely lives up to those accolades.

First off, we're told almost immediately in the pilot episode that Rory's dream is to go to Harvard, and she has been accepted into Chilton Prep. Lorelei humbles herself enough to ask her parents for financial help, which is a big deal for the Gilmores, who have had an estranged relationship for the past 16 years or so. But Lorelei does it because Rory going to this prep school will give her the best chance at getting accepted into an Ivy League university... and then Rory throws a fit about going at all. All because she met Dean Worst-Boyfriend-Ever Forester. I mean, for someone as intelligent and level-headed as we're told Rory is, this seems out of character.

Then, at the end of season one she seems genuinely surprised when Paris mentions that good grades aren't enough to get into a good school. Rory's supposed to be a genius, how does she not know that?

Season two starts off with Paris asking Rory to be her running mate in the student body president election. Rory, who wants "to be Christiane Amanpour" is annoyed by the idea because it means she'll have to spend her summer in Washington D.C. discussing politics and rubbing elbows with members of Congress. I don't know about anyone else, but I would have killed for an opportunity like that in high school (or now...) and Rory turns up her nose to it.

Later, Rory randomly hops on a bus to New York to see Jess (while she's dating Dean) and ends up missing Lorelei's college graduation because she doesn't know how bus schedules and traffic work. Read: she misses her mom's graduation while spending the day in the city with a guy who is not her boyfriend. I mean I can't stand Dean, but that's slimy...

At the end of season three, Rory is made valedictorian. My question is HOW ON EARTH DID THIS HAPPEN? I'm certain Paris receiving anything lower than an A would have been a plot point on the show, but we don't see that, so I assume it never happens. Rory, however, spends an entire episode freaking out over a D she received in Max Medina's class. She was also the vice president to Paris' president, newspaper staffer to Paris' editor, and had far less volunteer hours than Paris. Rory's GPA has to be slightly lower, and her academic/social achievements don't match Paris'. This doesn't make any sense.

In the same vein, Paris is rejected by Harvard but Rory gets in...see above for why that makes no sense.

In season four, Rory goes to Yale and for awhile she seems like the Rory we've all heard so much about. She's doing well at the Daily News, and her problems are all standard issue college freshman stuff. All is well, until the season finale where SHE SLEEPS WITH HER MARRIED EX BOYFRIEND. Cheating is wrong, plain and simple, but Rory doesn't seem to get that? "He's not a married guy. He's Dean -- my Dean." No, honey, he is a married guy. And he's Lindsey's Dean. Chill.

Season five, she whines a lot about not having an internship or doing anything productive the summer before (though she did get to spend two months in Europe...) but doesn't seem to really put in any effort to do anything about that. When she gets an internship, it's because Logan's dad felt bad that his wife was rude to Rory at a dinner. And when it all goes to hell, Rory does what any incredibly intelligent, accomplished, talented and kind person would do... she grabs her boyfriend and they steal a boat. And drops out of Yale. And doesn't talk to her mom for months.

She also gets really mad at Logan for "cheating" (they were clearly on a break) in this season... but she's the one who ended a marriage. So... Oh, and then she goes to Philadelphia to see Jess so she can maybe get back at Logan. It's awesome and great.

And then season seven is just a mess of Rory not knowing what to do with her life, which is completely valid, but I feel that it drives this point home. We think Rory Gilmore is a gifted, driven, intelligent amazing person because that's what other characters say about her. In reality, she doesn't really live up to the standard given to her at all. She's well read and was probably a very gifted child, but as all gifted children grow up to learn, prodigies tend to grow into average-at-best adults.