Confessions of a Rankings Junkie

http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200109/flanagan


It's called "Confessions of a College Councilor" and definitley worth the read. I can't really remember how I came across it, but it's pretty thought provoking, and brought up a lot of good old application frenzy nostalgia.

It gives some interesting perspective on college applications, and just what makes some schools more appealing than others (Yes, parents want the best for their kids, but a lot of them also want to brag about their children's days at Princeton like it's a country club. And if education is so important, state schools often have five times the number of truly well qualified professors than flashy places like Duke or Yale.) It also points out how colleges sell themselves, trying to get as many applications as they can soley so they can reject them just to look more prestigious. (Jerks) There was something else odd about reading it too. The paper referenced and criticized a lot of big name institutions, especially a certain neighbour of mine. You'd think that I would revere this institution, idolize it and be slightly fascinated by it's students who found a way passed its daunting admissions odds. Nope, not really. I've been there, it's sorta the same. (I've also heard they're suckers for ED apps, maybe that explains it)

Hitting more close to home, it talks about a book written by a Yale student who fell in love with the campus on one visit after five minutes, and then worked his as off like no other to get in. (Hmm...sound familiar? Though the infatuation only took about that long, I had known the place since I could walk.) That's another thing colleges seem to really be cashing in on these days- a sortof legitimate romantic attachment hormonally driven teens develop with their top choice. Student faculty ratios and excellent facilities are rarely our real top reason for choosing a college, they're just side bars we can add in to reassure ourselves that we're making a responsible, grown up decision. Oh no, It's "the feel." It's being able to picture yourself on the campus enjoying happy (often overrated, if you ask me) collegiate life. In short, they're selling the dream.

I know about this better than anyone, because I fell for it hook line and sinker. I put up with a prep school that I (at the time) detested, I became an overacheiving, perky, freaked out caffiene addict, I did everything I could, and I still didn't get the thick envelope. Should I be ashamed, then? That I let myself be played by an industry? That I was one in a sea of thousands of brighteyed, hardworking hopefuls who just really, inexplicably wanted to go to Harvard or Brown? Should I have been more savvy than the rest of society and their psycho-obsessive parents? I suppose it's too late for that. Hey, I wanted something, I went for it best I could, there's no shame in that. No one's never a fool. (Though maybe that extra essay was a mistake...) Maybe it's because it's the only I've actually wanted the same thing as a certain unnamed parent, for essentially just the same silly reasons I often criticize him for using with everything else. OK, maybe I should be at least a little embarassed.

As you might have guessed, I didn't get into my top choice college. I love where I am now, and on a recent visit to a certain unnamed Cambridge instituiton I'm hella glad I didn't get in, But I'm still sorta bitter. When I recieved my acceptance to the school I'm at now I opened the package, unfolded the letter half way to glimpse at the first word, then threw it on my bed with the rest of my crap before going to eat lunch. Enthralling moment, really. I actually feel more like I was deprived of that awesome moment everyone should have than heartbroken by the actual rejection letters themselves. (Which, oddly enough, didn't bother me at all last March, but will probably become the major focus of a shrink session when I'm 35.)

Oh Now I remember why I had this all on my mind today. I was in the Career Development Office watching them tear my beautiful sappling of a resume to shreds, when I eyed a "Pre Law" magazine and picked it up. I read that though 80,000 students will apply to Law School in the US, only about 40,000 will get in. Anywhere. I was just entering a mild panic mode and wondering how to incorporate LSAT studying into my sophomore routine when I thought to myself "Oh Crap, are we seriously going through this again?"