By Amy Hesselroth ’16

As a high school senior neck-deep in the college application process, I have found myself answering the same question for the last six months. Whenever adults or peers find out I am in my last year of high school, inevitably they ask “Where are you applying?” after which they expect a list of every school where I have submitted an application, along with explanations of why I chose each school, and which one I would like to attend most and least. Others want to know my GPA, a breakdown of my SAT score, and the topics of my essays. It seems everyone has something to say when students start to make plans for after graduation.

We have turned high school into a competition for who has the most polished resume and most challenging course schedule. Students are under immense pressure to get into the best school, pick the best major, get the best internships, and enter the best job—which too often means the highest-paying job. Parents and students overlook the fact that what’s best is not always to be the best. High school is no longer about learning, but how many awards students can accumulate in four years. Emily Hoeven, director of the University of Pennsylvania Student Life Committee, notes that “high school is viewed less as an experience to be valued in itself and more as a mere stepping stone to college … nothing but a series of boxes that you need to check off in order to arrive at the desired endpoint.” My classmates constantly make statements like “I’m just joining this club because it looks good on apps,” or “I need another AP or I’ll never get into college.” Students register for classes and clubs they have no interest in, hoping to impress admissions officers. Whoever attributes this behavior to the fact “college is sold to high school students as the light at the end of the tunnel: If you follow the basic pattern of success now, you’ll be able to branch out and try new things later. Students are afraid to explore … to fail in high school because they’re afraid one unchecked box—or the substitution of one box for another—on their checklist will keep them from getting into the college of their dreams.” This mindset urges students to obtain the highest GPA, pushing them to take difficult courses they cannot handle, or lower-level classes where they know they will succeed.

Students aiming for top universities mistake prestige for what these kids are really looking for: validation. To them, an acceptance at their top choice means all the work of the past eighteen years was worth it, that they are successful and will continue to be throughout their life; a rejection indicates they wasted their time and will not achieve anything of value. These false messages result from students equating GPAs, SAT scores and acceptance letters to their worth as a person, reinforced by falling admission rates and the assumption students must rely on the name of their college for a job, rather than skills and knowledge cultivated there. Universities aren’t the ones answering questions at job interviews. It is not where you go after high school, but what you do with your education that matters in the end.