Hysteria and Elite College Admissions: A Cultural Phenomenon

<p>Here is the paper I wrote in anthropology, it could be about any topic related to culture really and I chose college admissions. Granted I broke one of the cardinal rules of anthropology and wrote about something that I was emotionally invested in, and also was writing about how students spend so much time prepping for tests... which was ironic because I really need to study for my SAT-IIs, but I think I came up with some good points (I could be wrong though, I'm INCREDIBLY tired...). If anyone has the time/desire to read it I'd greatly appreciate it! </p>

<p>PS- I mentioned CC in it! I said "it has become an entire online community devoted to the hysteria of college admissions."---too true ;)</p>

<pre><code> Hysteria and Elite College Admissions: A Cultural Phenomenon
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<p>Each fall, the twelfth-graders of the United States go through the western equivalent of the Maasai circumcision rite. Although significantly less physically painful, this American coming-of-age rite is often more emotionally taxing. Often seen as the culmination and measure of one’s adolescent life, it is no wonder that it leads to disillusionment and disappointment. Even though the foundations of this coming of age ceremony are older than the foundations of the American government itself, it is still often regarded with a sense of mystery and surrounded by hysteria. What is this mysterious trial, this sacrosanct path to adulthood? The answer might surprise you- college admissions.</p>

<p>Although college is not the path chosen by all high school seniors, on a national whole, it is the most popular. Out of the majority of graduating seniors planning on attending college, it is a stressful time for comparatively few. Less than twenty-five percent of US colleges take less than fifty percent of applicants and over seventy five percent of students get into their top choice school. Granted, application essays and fees are universally hated, but the real stress is on students applying to the increasingly-selective top universities. For the top ten percent or so of American students, the college admissions game is difficult, and continued to get increasingly harder. </p>

<pre><code> What is an Elite College?
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<p>In order for us to understand the hysteria revolving around elite college admissions, we must first examine what constitutes an “elite” college. There are over 4,000 two and four year, public and private, colleges and universities in the United States . Most would only consider the top 40 or so of these “elite” colleges. Often, what makes these colleges “elite” in the eyes of applicants and the general populace, has very little to do with teaching or educational quality. At many of these “elite” colleges, undergraduates take a second seat to graduate students and professional research while at smaller schools (though considered less “elite”) the undergraduate would receive a much more personal and fulfilling education. The most important factors in the public eye in determining an “elite” college is its prestige and media exposure.</p>

<p>The concept of prestige is very complicated itself. The primary factor in prestige is a college’s history. As counter productive as it may seem in our day and age of rapid progress and change, many in the United States associate age with quality. The more history behind a brand name, the more experience a politician has, the better it or he is considered. Consequently, Harvard, the oldest university in the United States, is perceived as one of the best, if not the best, university in the United States. Closely related to this that many “old money”, blue blood families have legacy ties to colonial colleges and therefore many prestigious, old colleges have a history of producing wealthy alumni with powerful ties. In fact, nineteen of the forty three (44%) US presidents studied at one of the nine schools chartered in colonial times (Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, University of Pennsylvania, Columbia University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, William & Mary and Rutgers University) at some point in their lives . It is no coincidence that the schools on this list of nine are considered among the most prestigious.</p>

<p>Along with the prestige, media coverage plays an important role in public perception of colleges. Since many older, prestigious schools produce newsworthy alumni (and indeed children and grandchildren of newsworthy alumni), they naturally they receive media attention. However, a large and newsworthy alumni base is not the only way colleges receive media attention. Collegiate sports are a multi-billion dollar business in the United States and many schools not only benefit from this financially, they benefit from the increased public notoriety and perception of the school as and elite university. Indeed, the most famous group of prestigious colleges, the Ivy League (whose name has become synonymous with elite colleges) started off as an athletic league. Another role the media plays in public perception of colleges is the publishing of rankings. Rankings, such as the US News and World Report “Best College Rankings”, inherently flawed as they may be (taking into account easily manipulated or sometimes ridiculous criteria, such as “alumni giving rate”, into their methodology) are the only contact many out side of the ivory tower have with higher education and are treated as gospel by some. The same Universities are perpetually ranked at the top and thus are perpetually perceived as the most desirable because the media says so.</p>

<pre><code> What is the Hysteria?
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<p>Many top applicants to US universities have a “do or die” attitude about college admissions. Some students- and parents- will stop at nothing to make sure they get into the most prestigious university possible. Students will invest countless dollars and hours into getting in to the “best” university. The admissions and test-prep industries are multi-billion dollar industries, with students and their parents all too willing to pay for anything that will help them get into top universities.</p>

<p>One of the most obvious examples of this spending culture is the hiring of private college counselors. There is a long-standing belief that connections are the key to elite college admissions and some will pay dearly for insider advice and connections. The internet revolution has made it easier than ever for students with the wish, and means, for private counseling to find an agency. A simple Google search returned dozens of internet based college counseling businesses offering everything from an evaluation of your ‘chances’ for admissions at schools ($89), to admissions essay help and editing ($250), to the exorbitant “Ivy Guaranteed Acceptance Program” ($15,000). The latter program, the “Ivy Guaranteed Acceptance Program”, which guarantees acceptance to any college or university- or your money back, is a prime example of how out of control admissions have become. In order to be eligible for participation in the “IGAP” program, you must first pass a preliminary screening to see if you have the credentials for the Ivy League. It is only then that the company will take your 15,000 dollars. In short, this means that they will only accept students into the program that they believe will be accepted into the Ivy League regardless of their services, essentially safeguarding their time investment. But, students and their parents still continue to pay for help they don’t need just for the assurance that they will end up at an “elite college”. </p>

<p>While extensive private college counseling obviously caters towards a specific (very wealthy) clientele, testing and test prep is a universal bane. Often required, and always hated, the SAT admissions test has been around since 1901. The SAT is a four hour multiple choice exam testing in critical reading, mathematics and writing. However, this extensive test is only one of the many standardized tests that are often required at elite universities. Many applicants to elite universities also take SAT subject tests (tests in one specific academic discipline) and/or the ACT (yet another standardized admissions exam). While some would consider it hysterical just to sit for a four hour exam, for many highly motivated students, the time spent on the exam is just the tip of the iceberg. Countless hours- and again, dollars- are spent on test prep. For the majority of students, test prep consists of a book and good, old-fashioned hard work. But again a select few have the resources to afford a $3399 private SAT prep course . Even yet, once is not enough for some students. The masochists and perfectionists have taken it to the next level. Many students take and prep for admissions exams more than once to try for that perfect score. </p>

<p>Testing is but only one front of the admissions war. Many applicants also try to boost their records on the home front. Sadly, some of the methods used are quite outside of the rules of gentlemanly conduct. Cheating has become rampant in high schools across the country. Sharing answers on tests and plagiarism, once again facilitated by modern technology, especially cell phones, is all too commonplace. In addition to cheating at school, some students applying to selective universities will even lie on their applications. They will elaborate or even fabricate their extra-curricular involvement. Likewise, many students will become “serial joiners” their senior year and join numerous unrelated clubs and sports to try to improve their application. Some students will undermine their morals, cheating and lying their way into Harvard, and some will waste time at chess, science, tech, literature, and drama clubs just to make themselves appear to be a better applicant.</p>

<p>Finally, hysteria is present in the actual application process. Or should I say processes. Thirty, even twenty years ago, most students applied to three, maybe four schools. Most college counselors and those in the industry still recommend applying to three schools-safety schools that is- along with three match schools and three reach schools, which brings the total to nine schools. But even though good spread of nine schools is now standard, we still have students applying to ten-plus schools. According to one internet study 37 percent of students applied to ten or more schools. In hopes of bettering their odds, students cast the net wider. Ironically, this lowers the acceptance rate at schools. When people apply to too many schools, there are more applicants per spot and thus more rejections. The elite college applicant community has thus adopted a highly maladaptive process and pushed themselves into a state of precarious negative equilibrium. All would be better off if they only applied to schools they seriously liked, and refrained from applying to schools merely to “better their odds” in their eyes. </p>

<pre><code> Why is there the Hysteria?
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<p>For us to evaluate the cause for this hysteria, we need to revisit the Maasai boy on his journey to manhood. What makes the western rite of college admissions so different? Why is there the hysteria? </p>

<p>The first cause of the hysteria is choice. Above almost all else choice is valued in western culture. Not so among the Maasai and other cultures. Essentially, the Maasai youth had the decision made for him- to refuse circumcision would result in him being expelled from the tribe. In western culture, youth have many, many more choices. They can choose to go to college or enter the workforce. If they choose to attend college they have another choice. Actually make that about 4,000 other choices. The process of narrowing choices can be quite overwhelming for students. Thus, since a choice isn’t made for them directly, then turn to what society deems as an appropriate standard. What society views as a good school -often regional universities close to the applicants home or national “elite” colleges, rarely a school with out local name recognition- is taken as a proxy. Therefore, many qualified students are applying to the same schools with name recognition and prestige and driving acceptance down and hysteria up.</p>

<p>Another factor in the hysteria is the advent of the technology age. The internet has revolutionized the application process to universities and colleges. The Common Application, which is accepted at 321 institutions of higher learning, makes it easier than ever for students to roll the dice and test their odds. One click of a mouse and your application is off to Harvard and twelve other schools, further inflating application numbers and driving down acceptances. Also, the internet has led to the rise of a “college admissions culture”. Many websites cater to the student applying to college; indeed, in our information age a student need never leave his computer to gain knowledge of a school. Collegeconfidential.com, a discussion forum, takes it even further. Here people devote countless hours to researching schools, asking people to evaluate their chances and asking college admissions questions. Geared mostly toward the high-achieving ambitious student, it has become an entire online community devoted to the hysteria of college admissions.</p>

<p>The mystery and uncertainty of admissions also plays an important role in the hysteria. The Maasai boy knows exactly what is going to happen to him and what the result will be. He will participate in a ceremony, undergo a painful surgery, and then will rise and be accepted as a full warrior and man of his tribe, with all the responsibilities and rights of a thirty year old. The college applicant knows not what to expect. He puts in his applications and waits to hear what the sum total of his life so far has been. In addition, even though the first college of the colonies predates the creation of our government, there is still an element of mystery in the acceptance processes of selective universities. No amount of perfect scores can get you in to anywhere- many elite universities reject valedictorians with perfect standardized tests. When universities have eight times as many academically qualified applicants as they have spots, the emphasis is places on intangible qualities, essays and other unquantifiables. The process has become arbitrary and along with the uncertainty of what the results will be it is no wonder the process leads to hysteria.</p>

<p>We finally come to the foremost reasons for the hysteria and biggest difference between western culture and Maasai culture- material wealth, power over others and prestige. In Maasai culture, there are two ranks in life for males: boy and man. Boy can only become man through waiting and a set of prescribed rituals. Essentially, the Maasai are an egalitarian culture with little difference in wealth, power and prestige among adults. There is no desire or need for anything more than what one already has. Contrast this to western culture. In western culture, there is no clear dichotomy between stations of life. There are no rituals to facilitate movement from one level of society to another and there is most defiantly a desire for what one doesn’t have. The multitude of professions and positions, and lack of organized rituals and boundaries between them means that in life only way to improve ones status in life and material possessions is to work for it. Unfortunately, many see college as a shortcut to wealth, power and prestige. Certainly, some diplomas carry more prestige than others, employers often prefer graduates from certain schools and many powerful people went to the same group of schools, but is that what an education is about? Too many people have the mentality that if they try their best, stop at nothing and get into an “elite university” that they will be set for life. Until this mentality that a college degree from a certain school being a shortcut to success is eradicated, the hysteria will persist. Until an education is seen as an education, not an express ticket to wealth, power and prestige, students will still pay $15,000 to be guaranteed their acceptance, will still take the SAT five times, and will still lie and cheat to get their shot at the “good life”.</p>