One thing left out in conversations about elite/selective college admissions anxiety.
A large part of this anxiety is due to employment trends where an undergrad degree has increasingly been viewed as the absolute minimum qualification for most entry level jobs. Even ones which a generation or two ago would have hired someone with a HS diploma or less.
This combined with the lack of viable alternative paths for middle/upper-middle class supporting jobs with few exceptions of ones requiring high levels of physical fitness and a willingness to face the possibility of having one’s body be subjected to some serious punishment due to the nature of the occupation (i.e. many areas of the military, hvac technicians, construction jobs in some areas*, etc) means college has been increasingly viewed as the only viable path to even have a fighting chance at getting a middle/upper-middle class supporting job.
I’m doubtful the level of anxiety would be nearly as high if we had more viable alternatives such as vocational schools/apprenticeships leading to well-paying middle/upper-middle class jobs without necessitating a college/university degree than we do at present such as what exists in Germany and several Western European countries.
In fact, according to some friends/colleagues/relatives who came from/worked for several years in those countries, the vocational school/apprenticeship graduate can sometimes EARN MORE than university graduates if financial ROI is the main concern.
Only differentiation that comes through is some elite/prestigious social networking/fields would be closed or severely restricted to non-university graduates. However, that may be lessening and that’s only if one’s desire goes beyond making a middle/upper-middle class living.
- I know of one 20something construction worker who is currently trying to earn his undergrad degree while working because he's trying to move out of the construction field so he doesn't end up having to go on disability in his mid-late 30s like several of his former older colleagues because of the punishing nature of the work on their bodies.