An Open Letter/Rant to the College Application Process
I hate the College Application Process
Very hot take, I know. But why I think the application process is so unbelievably broken and contrived goes far beyond just the amount of stress it causes(which is a lot).
I hate the fact that I feel like my whole life has been structured around winning the “get accepted by a big name university” game.
Now this may not be true for all who read this, but from my life experience, it would be hard to deny this fact. All my extracurricular activities, the classes I took, the reason why my parents moved to Naperville and pushed me in the way that they have: My parents did it all so that they could give me the best chance to go to the best university, the first step of securing a better future. Now while this is very admirable on the behalf of my parents, it does not take away from the rather sad reality that everything I do with my time is not based on whether I want to or not. It’s a matter of whether it is worth my time doing a certain activity at the expense of doing something else that could look better on a college application.
Perhaps it’s a product of the hypercompetitive environment that I was raised in with my parents wanting me to be just as high achieving as those around me. Perhaps it’s a result of kids who founded businesses at 13 or created nuclear reactors in their garage getting into MIT or Harvard which pushed a narrative of needing to be insanely intelligent to have a chance of getting into a hyper selective university. Perhaps it’s a result of these big name universities feeding into a marketing strategy that preys on the weak, feeble, and incredibly stressed out minds of adolescents and their parents while simultaneously rejecting thousands of applicants to give the aura of “prestige”. Or maybe it’s a combination of all of those, along with a list of potentially hundreds of other reasons.
Either way the reasons for why I (and many of my peers) have ended up in the situation of the present day doesn’t change the reality of what we are: rats in maze, begging to be picked by a hand that ultimately takes hundreds of thousands of dollars from us in exchange for an overpriced education and the “opportunity” to make important connections and potentially land a well paying job.
This may sound very tin-foil hat-like, and honestly it is. Regardless, it doesn’t change the fact that I’ve been a player in the game, I am still a player, and I won’t get to “leave” until I finally commit to a university.
The decisions I have made, and still currently are making, are purely for the purpose of looking as good on an application and fluffing up my resume. But the fact that having a resume that looks like that of a working adult at 17 is expected is ridiculous. As for the essays, it would be a joke to think that what I have written in my college essays are honest and legit, written with any other intention than to get me into university.
All those reasons, however, are nothing compared to the part I have the most issue with: I don’t even know what’s going to happen after I get into college. The deepest understanding of it that I have is that I go through schooling, hopefully apply for a bunch of jobs, maybe find one that accepts me and pays a decent amount of money, then work for the rest of my life. Maybe it’s because I’m the oldest child in my family and my parents are immigrants and that’s the only narrative I’ve been fed. Maybe it’s because I just don’t socialize enough. Maybe it’s because I just haven’t lived long enough or had enough experience, but the fact of the matter is that this has always been the path that I have been told to go down, and who am I to say no.
Of course, universities being the businesses that they are, jump into this narrative, claiming their doors are the shining golden pathways to a better future, and perhaps they are. But whatever rational or promise of the future doesn’t help eb the absolute misery that is the College Application Process.
Thank you for reading my uncalled for, very biased and childish rant. I need to go write more college essays, and I’m sure you do too.
Hey, Alec, I agree with a lot of the points you’re making. I’ve never had as intense of an amount of pressure as you and a lot of other people, but I can see how it can be extremely stressful when you’re applying to a lot and have to write good-quality essays for each of them all the while balancing extracurriculars and school work. And yeah, it’s pretty annoying how parents always compare their own kids to other kids who are one in a million and have like a 1590 SAT score. It doesn’t help our self-esteem much. I especially like the part where you said, “But the fact that having a resume that looks like that of a working adult at 17 is expected is ridiculous,” I feel that sometimes it’s really easy to get so absorbed and swept up into everything that we forget that we are not really adults yet and we don’t have to be so serious; we’re still kids who are learning and growing and want to have fun. You did a really great job with your rant and I could relate to many aspects of it. I wish you all the best on the rest of your college application journey! Don’t forget to take a break every once in a while 🙂
Hi Alec! I can totally relate to the immense amount of stress you are feeling during these few months and towards the college application process. I agree that it can be extremely unfair to judge a teenage applicant based on a bunch of numbers, numbers that may or may not even be fairly earned, and numbers that are sure to change over time. What’s helped me calm down about this whole process though, is that our numbers and essays are probably the only feasible way for colleges to gauge thousands of applicants each year, and that everyone nationwide is being held to the same standards. Also, I admire that you are thinking past college. I think this alone puts you far ahead of the majority of high schoolers, many of whom are solely focused on the immediate next step. But also, you are so smart, and I’m sure you will get into an amazing college, so maybe it will be better if you stopped worrying so much every once in a while. Finally, I loved how you mentioned your parents’ sacrifices to give you the best opportunity possible, because I think so many of our peers forget that, especially when it’s something we should be thankful for (even though it may be hard at times to appreciate the hypercompetitive nature of Naperville). Overall, reading your blog helped calm me down by serving as a reminder that many others are experiencing just as much stress, so thank you for sharing, and good luck in your college application process!!
Alec, a piece has never resonated with me more. I, just like you, hate the college application process – and for many of the same reasons. It frustrates me to no end when I see classmates just doing THINGS for college. People get four hours of sleep, take on unreasonably difficult workloads, start organizations just to say they’re president of something, etc. We’re no longer people with lives, we’re empty vessels carrying nothing but a perfect resume.
There’s this unspoken pressure. Scratch that. It’s spoken, too. Every time I have a conversation with somebody about college, it’s “Oh my gosh, I got a 4 on my AP exam. It’s going to ruin my chances of getting into [insert Ivy League].” I want to scream at them and tell them that they’re not helping themselves, that in 30 years nobody is going to care about it.
Maybe I’m just extremely cynical. Maybe I should actually start working on my own college apps. But I’m just so sick and tired of the never ending race.
I really hope that you find a true purpose to the things you do in life, other than for the college applications. I have faith in you *insert thumbs up emoji*
Reading this blog, I can relate to your frustration and concerns about the college application process. I too am at this stage in my high school year of college applications and I too am investing time and effort on writing my college essays. This process is very stressful and I too can not predict my future. I agree with you that it is extremely stressful. I think this blog is well written in that it captures the inner thoughts of what you consider is the college process-it gives your open opinion. I think that you need to continue to stay strong and keep writing, never to stop. I think that it is unfortunate that colleges put so much stress on us students and that this whole process has so much anxiety attached with it. However, talking to my older brother makes me recognize that even he went through what I am going through now. Even though I have an older sibling, my only sibling, I still have excessive stress like you. I still have to spend time and effort churning out essays while I balance my weighted classes and extracurriculars. I wonder what other countries do for their process and I wonder if this is a universal stressor for all high school students.
Hi Alec,
Hope you’re doing well. I wanted to start by saying that I’m certain your blog is something that a lot of people in today’s day and age can relate to, and I loved the incorporation of your personal examples to help develop your argument/rant. One interesting point I wanted to bring up that sort of tangents your main argument is the idea of what the college applications process is like both overseas and several years prior to today’s age. I’ve had many random conversations with my dad, who said when he was looking at schools in the late 1980’s, college applications were based purely on two things: your grades and your SAT score. Purely statistical numbers that can’t be made up in any way. Although that may not have been representative of a person’s entire ‘portfolio’ or who they truly are, considering the time period (a time when things were supposedly very one-dimensional rather than ‘passion oriented’) I believe this method of review held more value in the regard of simply receiving admission to a prestigious school. I’ve seen similar processes take place to this day, especially in regards to foreign countries. All that said, that is not to say that I agree with that point in any way. At the end of the day, I agree with all the points you made, and you definitely developed a compelling argument that many similar readers may likely agree with.
After reading your post, I wholeheartedly agree with your thoughts on the college admissions process. I can relate to the majority of your points, including the pressure left by parents and schools to do as much as you can to get to the best universities. I can attest to this through my personal experiences with my parents, as the college process seems to bring the worst of them at times, particularly my father. (Just because you went to top colleges in both China and the United States doesn’t justify you constantly punching down on others including me; these degrees don’t automatically give you the moral high ground over others and you come off as more of a jerk than being remotely helpful/I hope the benign shadows leave a more serious effect on you). I especially agree with your analogy of the process to be rats in a maze, constantly being poked and prodded to get to a “more desirable” state for college, and that you’re simultaneously expected to have the skills of a fully grown adult yet still being treated as a child with little input. ( Yet from my observations from my older sibling, when you do turn the age of 18 and become a legal adult, they find it okay to berate you and break you down, constantly shoving their “life achievements” as if they expect you to do it in the next few years when even the best of them takes half their lives to reach those levels). Sorry for the rambly tone of my comment, but your post really spoke out to me about what I hate about the college admissions process. (And to an extent, what I hate about my parents and the greater culture that I was born into and had no choice of being part of)
Hi Alec, I really enjoyed your piece. I completely agree with your take on the college application process. I feel like I too have been forced to do so many things I would rather not do just to get into a prestigious university. And getting into a prestigious university is impressive and all, but in the end it won’t make or break you; state schools can teach you just as much and can prepare you for a career just as well as any Ivy League institution with a fraction of the stress. Last year for AP Psychology I learned about the overjustification effect, where a reward for an action or behavior leads to a decrease in your intrinsic desire to behave well. From my own experiences and talking to my friends, I think it is a very real possibility that using college as the “cheese at the end of the maze” is ironically hurting student’s study ethic and just leading to more burnout. It’s funny because getting into a good college used to be my dream but now that college applications are here I find that I don’t really care all that much (although I might just be coping).
I like how you acknowledge that what you’re writing about is a common opinion but you go beyond that by arguing that there’s far more to it than what people think. It’s very true that the student’s life has been shaped not for a major but for getting accepted into a university. Personally I can’t completely relate to how your parents pushed you because mine are a lot more chill about it yet I’m still pushed to do so by the people around me. However, I don’t believe that going to the best university is necessary for a better future as it doesn’t define what job you’re gonna have but rather just a part of your credibility which sure is helpful but isn’t everything. I feel like it isn’t fair to be compared to other people as you should just be taken for who you are and shouldn’t be expected to match up with high achievers. I like how you made the distinction that while going to a good university gives you the opportunity to get a job, it doesn’t give you the job itself. I can definitely relate to deciding to do something just to look good on a college application, but not all my decisions are for that. I completely agree that you shouldn’t be expected to have great achievements at the young age of 17. However, I believe that college essays can be honest and legit if you’re truly passionate about what you’re writing.
Such a great post–very relevant!