Melanie Wallner was a Huffington Post summer intern and is in the process of applying for college. She has been describing her experiences as an applicant in the competitive, stressful and demanding process of applying to college in an ongoing series as she goes through it.
Uh-Oh. Last week's New York magazine tackled the competitive college application process, rating some of the city's "Super-Applicants" and assessing their chances of getting in to the schools of their choice. (No doubt this is another prestigious honor that they can add to their endless, extremely impressive list on the common application.) I've written before of how stressful this process can be; if you doubt it, take a look at how the CEO of application-consultant firm IvyWise grades high school senior Vadim Shteyler, with a 94.4% GPA, 1960 SATs and extracurricular work at a lab studying pancreatic carcinoma: "Yale, Cornell and Columbia might be a stretch...he seems to be a serial joiner. A red flag is the Ping-Pong club, given the fact that he has little community service."
Talk about an anxiety-ridden article, though I personally thank author Marisa Meltzer for the warning. But the truth is, the article doesn't say it all. There were a few crucial things were missing: Who has connections and who doesn't? Who is a legacy and who's not? Who has donated and who hasn't? These questions matter.
According to the article, there are about 36,000 students ranked first in their class. Of those students, many of them have at least close to perfect SAT scores, outstanding academic honors, and an overwhelming amount of extracurricular activities. How does Harvard know which "one in four applicants with a perfect 2400" to reject? How do Penn and Duke know which two in three valedictorians to reject? Sure, the schools carefully compare applications, but think about it: with thousands of applications piling up for each school, admissions directors only have about 10 to 15 minutes to read each application. There is not enough time in a day to sit with a microscope, zooming in on each tiny difference between the "overqualified" applicants. So, connections, legacies, and donations count.
The article simply displayed how amazing these students are on paper, but what are they like in real life? Do they have lives? Look, I shouldn't judge. But, when you read about a student with a 97 GPA, 2340 SAT score, four exceptional academic honors, and a bunch of extracurricular activities that would be remarkable for even a 40-year-old to participate in, you may wonder. (Though, I know many seniors who lead a successful academic career and social life.) It's just too bad that the article did not briefly describe each student's personality. While this may seem irrelevant, it's actually vital, especially for students applying to liberal arts colleges, like Williams. At smaller schools, personality fit is crucial.
The article could have discussed how the students chose their desired schools. Each student included in this article is either applying to an Ivy League or top liberal arts school. Names. Names. Names. Is there an underlying message here? If you are at least close to perfect on paper, you should apply to at least a close to perfectly ranked school? For many, the answer would be "Absolutely!" But, we should not forget about the other schools - schools that may not be ranked number 1 in U.S. News and World Report. These "other" schools may be better fits. And, going to these schools, students may have better opportunities to become financially successful as research showed from my post "Small Fish, Big Decisions: When Choosing A College, The Pond Matters."
Truth be told, the article made a valid point: It is competitive out there. And, every year feels as if there are more "super applicants" swarming the country. So, in order to remain sane throughout this college application process, maybe it is best to be a little selfish. Maybe it's just not healthy to worry where others are applying or obsess about the level of "superness" that these super applicants possess. Maybe we should just face the fact: we did what we did over these past four years and colleges need to accept that. Let's just hope for the best.