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<p>I strongly disagree.</p>
<p>You bring up one of the most difficult issues that arises from the college admissions process: human worth. It’s understandable why young men and women, and their parents, would find themselves at a loss facing potential or actual rejection. Years of accomplishments and hard work, and the most intimate details of one’s personal life are scrutinized and closely examined by an assembly of apparently faceless and heartless human beings. A “YES” signifies the ultimate fruit of one’s labors whereas a “NO” or “MAYBE” fills one with terrible self-doubt and uncertainty as to one’s worth as a human being, and as to the worth of those deeds that make up the very core of one’s identity. </p>
<p>However, the complete contrary is the case. There are so many deeply passionate, and unique, men and women applying to colleges like Amherst every year, and the situation is further aggravated by the fact that the applicant pools of LACs like those of Amherst happen to be exceedingly self-selecting. When nearly 8000 people apply for 465 seats, it is certain that more than 465 of those applicants are going to be people of exceptional talent, intellect, and promise. Thus, we have to depend on fallible and uncertain, sentimental human beings to make potentially heartrending, life-changing decisions. In the end, all we can do is hope for the best.</p>