They say the only person you can change is yourself. But when certain people are imbedded in your life and are frustrating you to no end, what can you do?

Say you’re in a group of people very unlike yourself (although they are in your age range).
The rest of the group doesn’t really acknowledge your existence.
They don’t talk to you or include you in anything.
You feel like the shunned kindergartener on the playground, again, for no reason at all.
But it’s more than the social aspect; the group meets for academic purposes, and they ruin it for the few who actually try to get something out of the meetings.
As much as this group frustrates you, you can’t leave. For one reason or another, these people are imbedded into your life and you can’t do anything about it.

What do you do?
Do you try to fit in?
Do you go with the flow, getting out of it what you can?
If there were a higher authority in this situation, would you go to the top?