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

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]The Ivies and other selective colleges have always had challenging academics, but not the grind, cutthroat mentality more typically found today. The grind factor is new and has become more typical over the past 15 years. I think this reflects the increase in STEM majors and students from families/cultures that accept/promote grind culture. [/quote]

I think you are exactly right.

Princeton has been rigorous for many years, but in the past I think more of the kids who were there really wanted to be there, and overall had a better experience.  Now there seem to be more kids who are there because it's what their parents want for them, and then they gravitate towards grueling STEM majors like CS and EE because they think it's the only path to a high-paying job and a successful life.

I graduated decades ago.  I have no doubt that the vast majority of my classmates had a good experience and that even some of the students who found it exhausting at the time now look back on it more fondly.  I looked at our senior yearbook and found a few quotes from students that were the versions of the You Tube video, but they were in the minority:

"Princeton, to say the least, has been a trying experience for me. I think it was just the case of attempting to place a square peg in a round hole or vice versa.  Princeton was simply not for me."

"Princeton is like a mop.  You come here to soak up everything it has to offer and leave totally wrung out, only to realize the job can never be finished."

"On an individual level, the people I have met at Princeton are as nice as any I've come across anywhere.  But on the whole, since coming to Princeton, I now know what it feels like to hate myself, to feel vastly inferior to anyone else I encounter, and simply to be unhappy.  These lessons will be hard to unlearn, but I'm going to try."

Of course there were then hundreds of quotes from graduates looking back on all the fun they had, or all they learned, or what other famous quotes inspired them, but these quotes seem more poignant.  [/quote]

I bet CS wasn't even in the Top 20 majors 20 years ago...and now it is the #1 major by a fair amount.

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