Every spring, juniors suddenly feel the college crunch. College visits, college night, adviser meetings and standardized tests all set the stage for the frenzy of what is known as the “College Admissions Process.” Juniors also bear witness to the “College Acceptance Process” of the senior class, knowing they will go through it in less than a year. A few seniors gained their acceptance through the early decision route in December, while the majority of the class received its decisions this spring. As juniors, thinking about this usually gives juniors feelings of trepidation and anxiety because we the next at bat. In prior years, the period of college acceptance has put smiles on the faces of many happy seniors because, although they may not have gotten an acceptance letter to their top choice, they have received acceptances from one of their desired schools. These smiles also breed lots of hope and encouragement amongst the juniors that every student will gain acceptance to a college that is the correct fit for them. This year, however, my junior classmates and I can sum up this process with one word: uncertainty.
In years past, college admissions appeared to be a seamless process. As early as freshman orientation, students are told to work hard, push yourself in difficult classes, join a team, choose extracurricular activities and show leadership. Nowadays, this formula might not be good enough to even get into a college that is considered a ‘safety school. As Gabi Potter ’20 says, “All across the country, students are applying with the same credentials in all fields. A college might get 1,000 kids taking the same courses with the same clubs, and in this climate it’s hard to stand out.”
To make matters worse, the major college admissions scandal that broke last month involving cheating, bribery and falsified athletic prowess left us juniors wondering if there is any correct way to gain admission to college. The newspapers flooded with schemes to obtain extra testing time, which made one think that if you take tests in the standard, allotted time, that you were actually getting less time. As Hannah Doft ’20 says, “The lengths people go to in order to get into college didn’t surprise me.”
This year, the acceptance process appeared more of an exercise in how to deal with rejection. Numerous students reported that they did not get admitted to any of their ‘reach’ or ‘target’ schools, although a few seniors were content with their outcomes. The day after many decisions were released was met with an eerie silence in the hallways of Ramaz when the majority of the senior class did not show up to school in protest of these decisions. It also appeared that many high school seniors from schools other than Ramaz have reported similar stories of friends who did not fare well in the admissions process.
The application dilemma felt by many juniors also revolves around the realization that, although there are numerous colleges out there to apply broadly, there are only a minority with a vibrant Jewish life. As Elizabeth Newman Corre ’20 says, “If religion is important in your life you need a support system to help encourage your Jewish connection, so when choosing a college to consider, I think a large Jewish community is important.”
It’s important to maintain perspective and for the juniors to not feel overwhelmed and divided by this process. We only have one more year left in high school and we should enjoy this year together as a class. The fact is that we are all trying our best. Unfortunately, many schools have acceptance rates in the single digits and other schools once seen as an easy ‘in’ are getting more competitive, as witnessed by this year’s college acceptances. We have to remember that it’s not the college that you get into that defines you, but rather what you do with your college education.