Op-Ed: Taking The Pressure Off College Admissions
Banners in the college counseling office. Gator file photo.
The college admissions process. At one point or another, you’ve heard about it from friends, family members, or faculty at your school. You may have a general idea of it, but junior and senior year is where the college application process truly begins for most high school students.
Until they’ve gone through this process, most people can’t understand what it is like for these students. The tedious journey of applying, writing essays, acquiring recommendation letters, and working tirelessly hasn’t occurred in a student’s life before. Unsurprisingly, college admissions are usually a leading topic of stress and conversations for students who eagerly await their letters that will determine their fate.
However, all this work is only one part of what makes the college process so nerve-wracking to so many people. According to a Washington Post article, two-thirds of all concerned high schoolers often or always feel worried about getting into their chosen college. One simple word can describe why millions of high school students stress and work so much during their final years to get into their top schools: competition.
Yes, that’s right; competition is a massive factor contributing to college admissions stress. Nowadays, the most important thing for many is to get into one of the “top” or “most prestigious” colleges available. News sources produce thousands of rankings every year to help these students choose the school they consider “best,” namely U.S. News and Forbes.
Competition and “Comparing” Schools
Let’s make a quick comparison of two notable schools. First, take a well-known, prestigious Ivy League school like Brown University. Now, let’s look at a lesser-known but still excellent state school, the University of Michigan. Both are schools that offer a wide variety of courses and programs that will benefit a student on their path through life in multiple ways.
However, a student who graduates from Brown will be recognized as somewhat “better,” slightly more sophisticated, or more educated. All because people recognize the name? Because it’s part of The Ivy League? That name recognition could also be the same factor that lands that Brown student a spot over a Michigan student, even if they have the same qualifications. It is a fundamental flaw within our society today.
Competition can indeed drive many students to work hard, but it can also produce a feeling of spite or jealousy after seeing someone else be accepted into a “better” school than you did. But there shouldn’t be a need for excess competition—each college has its pros and cons for each student. A student may succeed better at Michigan than Brown, and people shouldn’t see them as lesser because of that.
It is important to note that the students are not entirely to blame in this scenario. They will always face constant pressure from family and friends close to them, even if it’s not visible on the surface level. Not to blame them either; they are simply pushing for what they see as “best” for the students while inadvertently applying pressure to their lives.
My College Journey
I want to take myself as an example for this particular situation. I see myself as a hardworking and overall academically strong student. I recently began the official College Counseling process here at the School, but ideas of the “most prestigious schools” had been set in my mind long before.
I come from a family in which there are pretty high academic expectations. My parents and brother have all gone to what many consider “Top Ten” colleges in the country, so there remains a fair amount of pressure on me to follow in their footsteps. Since they are caring and loving people, they have told me repeatedly that they are willing to support me no matter where I go. But, it’s not as easy as that.
I truly don’t want to be a disappointment to them, and while I know they’ll never see me like that, getting into a “lesser” college might be seen as a bit of a letdown—for me, at the very least. This is an idea I have been struggling with for a long time, and I think I’ve finally come up with an answer that satisfies me, at least somewhat.
I am ready to work as hard as I need to get into a university that I want to go to, one that I know I can thrive at. It shouldn’t matter what other people think of my college choices at the end of the day. It’s about how we, as students, see every college as beneficial to our own selves.
It is of the utmost importance that we stave off ideas of jealousy, anger, and excess competition, and focus on what is truly best for us, the students who are actually the ones applying. Once we can look past these superficial ideas and emotions, we can become the people who we most want to be and choose the university that most benefits us, not the voices that are constantly swirling every day.
