College Admissions

    I agree with the essay in that it is such a stress in worrying about schools and admissions. I also agree that it is getting ridiculous how the costs are so much. Now, they have summer camps, as the essay mentioned, that could cost $3,000 for two weeks. Plus some people overwork and hire personal tutors, take extra classes, etc. I found it interesting that the essay mentioned the students taking easier classes so they are good and can get easy A’s in order to look smarter. I kind of agree with this because I did not even realize that this year I took a class that I knew would be an easy A. I’m not sure if I did it to get an A but rather I think I did it to enjoy my senior year a little more. This quote describes it perfectly, “They sacrifice risk-taking and intellectual curiosity on the altar of demonstrable success.” (Schwartz) Later on in the article, it mentions how this time of the year could cause depression, etc. That is somewhat true because I can see that happening. “Students trying to get into the best college, and colleges trying to admit the best students, are both on a fool's errand. They are assuming a level of precision of assessment that is unattainable.” (Schwartz) Overall, to some level I agree with what he is saying based on the way he presents it. “But plenty of high school superstars turn out to be supernovas who burn out while at college.” (Schwartz) This is true, because you succeed in high school, does not mean you will make it in the ‘real world’. That is where college comes in; it prepares you from the real world. However, how else would the schools accept students? They pick what they believe are the best of the best. There is no way the colleges can know you on pieces of paper. Some schools, especially the ‘best’ require interviews and that is a good solution from getting to know an applicant. As for high school and grades go, I think that better schools should search for better applicants. However if a student gets denied they should not take it as the end of the world. Just because they are not right NOW, or don’t have the grades or resume NOW, does not mean they will not succeed in life. I think it is dumb that if you don’t have straight A’s in high school people automatically think you will go nowhere in life. Everyone has potential, right now we are all kids. We need to be able to unlock our potential and become who we want to be. If we find in college what we want to do, we will have more motivation rather then sitting through classes where you do to think or realize you need. Once pushed, we all have potential. I also think that because a college is cheaper than others, does not mean it is a bad school or it will not prepare you well. Still, if the student is that stubborn and goes to a ‘less great’ school for the first year, they could then unlock their potential, work hard, and switch schools. Even go to a better Grad School.

Comments

[Katie Gibney]

Alex I think that you are totally right about the stress. Kids are worrying so much about admissions and costs that they can not enjoy the process of applying to college. Many people are also spending thousands of dollars on tutoring or other classes to help their grades and to look good on applications. I thought that the author made a good point when he said that people are taking certain classes just to get to an easy grade rather than taking classes that challenge them. This is sometimes unfair to people who apply to highly competitive schools or programs. This makes the colleges pick students who are not prepared or do not take the course or school serious. As a result some kids who deserve to be in those schools or programs do not get in. I know a lot of people that took classes because they were easy or took classes because the teacher was easy. As a result they got higher grades and made them look good. This made it tough for people who took challenging class that they would need but did not do as well as others who took the easy classes. Also I think that colleges expect way too much from their applicants. During the week many kids have school work, work, and extra circular work. This makes it hard to fit in extra things that they might want to see in an applicant. If high school students did all the things that colleges were looking for and did them well then more students would have burnout. I think your right that getting straight A’s isn’t everything. The best thing to do it to get the best grades you can and enjoy life because if not life is just going to be miserable. I think colleges so accept more kids with differ grades instead of just all A students.