Stress, Panic, and Illogic: The College Application Process

For the last few weeks, I’ve been thinking a lot about college. And it’s not just me – many of the people around me are going through the same thing, to the point where I (quite literally) can’t even have a conversation about the weather without talking about college. So I suppose it’s only fitting that this post be about that topic.

Of course, all of that agony is making me wonder: why are we all so worried about college? Of course, there are the obvious reasons: a major step away from home, a very important part of our future, will likely determine our careers, very competitive, and so on.

But I’m always reminded of what my biology teacher mentioned last year. When he was in high school, just a few decades ago, he never thought much about the standardized tests, the top colleges didn’t have such low acceptance rates, the cost of tuition wasn’t so high, and in general, the process was not as stressful as it is for us now. That’s a sentiment I’ve heard from more than just him. So the question is: why do we find the process so much more stressful?

The simple answer, many say, is supply and demand. Over time, the number of people trying to enter college has increased significantly, while the number of seats, especially at the top universities, have not increased nearly as significantly, resulting in far lower admission rates. There are many reasons, of course, for this, but regardless, college is becoming more and more necessary for today’s workforce, and thus, demand for a college education continues to skyrocket.

Of course, that’s a major change, and like with all major changes, there are people who have to deal with them. In this case, that’s mostly the people who now have to deal with applying to the schools. We see that the situation has changed and that getting into college will be much harder for us than for students in the past. So how do we react to this change?

In large part, the reaction is an increase in stress. A great example is the online forum College Confidential, in which people largely seem to come together to have a constant and collective freak-out about the entire admissions process. People go ahead and do the craziest things to get into these schools. Test prep suddenly becomes a big deal, and being well-rounded doesn’t happen for the sake of being well-rounded, but for looking good to the admissions staff.

And, as with many of the changes we’ve discussed in this blog, this reaction can also lead to an overreaction; people who get rejected from their top choices start thinking that there’s no good place for them and that there must be something inherently wrong with them. Of course, as with most overreactions that we’ve seen, this simply isn’t true, but the idea takes root.

Unlike the other changes we’ve talked about in this blog, this is a reaction to a major shift in society that I can’t step back from and look at objectively, simply because I’m so caught up in it right now as well. But it is interesting to note once again that a major change invites reaction and overreaction.