As many Lafayette Seniors prepare to head off to college in the fall, the college admissions process was a long and difficult process. Exacerbating the existing difficulties of applying to college such as writing a personal essay, applying for financial aid, and meeting deadlines, are concerning trends surrounding admissions. Over the past few years, application rates have soared making colleges harder than ever to be accepted to. Another change was the implementation of the “test-optional” policy that allowed students to opt out of sending standardized test scores. Now, college applications have truly become a lottery, with grades and extracurricular activities being assessed with greater admissions during the college admissions process. The seeming randomness has many students asking: When will it be enough?
Students work for four years– some even more– to attain the necessary grades to attend a top college. Developing the necessary habits, extracurriculars, and maintaining grades is no easy feat. Nowadays, kids kill themselves not only working for top grades, but competing to have the most impressive extracurriculars. Due to the climbing number of applicants with 4.0s and top test scores, admissions officers often have to look other places to find the most qualified and unique applicants. Many students take on rigorous cocurricular in addition to their existing difficult courseload. Many of these activities are similar to those of college students including research or starting an organization. Research and start-ups require leadership and a large time commitment similar to a job depleting students of their free time and further perpetuating the stress of the admissions process.
Reintroducing the testing policy for students would also help colleges to admit the most qualified candidates. While opinions on testing vary, it can help to tell a more cohesive story about an applicant and does predict the success of the student. For schools like the University of Texas at Austin, which was so overrun with applications that they had to postpone decisions, this would distinguish many candidates for admissions.
When students with perfect grades, test scores, and stellar co-curriculars cannot get into the top colleges in America, we know we have a problem. Our college admissions system is broken, but how do we fix it? The first solution would be to limit the number of schools a student can apply to. By limiting the number of applications a student can submit to the twenty allowed by Common App, it makes both colleges and students less overwhelmed. Colleges could also be more transparent and share annual data about their admissions trends. Sharing data about acceptance rates, waitlists, deferrals and demographics would establish trust between applicants and institutions. It could also give students a better sense of their chances of admissions at top colleges given trends of the past several years. Taking care of future higher education students starts in high school. We need to equip students with better resources to cope with all parts of the admissions cycle and the emotions that may accompany it. By providing resources early in the process, students will develop healthier coping skills in both the short and long-run. Ultimately, creating a reformed admissions system where students feel more valued for their accomplishments would help all students applying to college.
