Reply to a final warning to high school students in the college admissions game

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Could some of this issue (or most of it) be caused by the test optional trend of the last 4 years?

I imagined if you were an average or slightly above average student with an inflated GPA who got into one of these intense schools via test optional, starting behind everyone else from the get go would be very stressful and demoralizing.[/quote]

The problem is that high school students who are really into college prestige and rankings are often vicious people.

I saw this when I went to Brown’s program for high school students. Terrific program. Some lovely students. But about half of the students were like characters out of a movie about evil students. Truly nasty people. [/quote]

I was on the verge of being that kid when I arrived at my elite college 20+ years ago.

Bless my parents, but they were the absolute cliche first-generation-out-of-poverty types. Their values were super scrappy and survival-based, but not always pro-social or kind. Everything focused on upward mobility, including my “achieving” admission to an elite college. And I was taught life was a zero sum competition - there’s only one “best,” you need to do whatever you can to get it.

Thankfully (!!!) I intuitively knew that their values were stunted, to say the least, and I wanted to be a different type of person when I got to college and beyond. I met incredible friends - thoughtful, kind, and brilliant beyond belief - and together we learned to be better versions of ourselves, back then and now, to this day. I’m probably still the jerk of the group, relatively speaking 😂 but I’ve come a long, long way!!

To me, this was the greatest gift of my college years. I had non-stop experiences and relationships that expanded my world view, mind, and heart.

The classes were stimulating on so many levels, and pretty much every one taught me to be a better critical thinker. Philosophy, government, literature, economic theory, art history, even my struggles with advanced math - they ALL helped me grow. And my friends, acquaintances, and romantic partners all did the same. I learned to collaborate, disagree with kindness, and view the world as bountiful and fun rather than a dog-eat-dog competition. Plus I started down the road to a phenomenal career, just as my parents had hoped. 😊

To me, THIS is the value of a college education. To step into an adulthood that is larger, deeper, kinder, and far richer in possibilities than one imagined on day one. That’s what set my life on its current path. All the rest was gravy. [/quote]

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