<p>Does anyone else find all this college admission pressure to be out of control? I mean there are so many kids (myself included in the past) who freak out so much and study so much just to get in to a top school. Since when does a Yale or MIT degree guarantee success or happiness in life? Why not live while we are young and let the chips fall as they may?<br>
Am I the only one who sees it this way?</p>
<p>I think you have the right idea partially. It should be somewhat of a mix of working and just letting life unfold, but you have to work to achieve what you want.</p>
<p>I don't think it's out of control except maybe at the very top level of applicants (i.e. CC). I was an infrequent lurker/poster on the old CC and didn't really start posting until Nov. of my senior year. Consequently, I knew relatively little about admissions. I hadn't heard of RSI/SHARP/etc. and only did one summer program the entire four years of high school. Prior to my senior year, I had only taken two AP exams and two IB exams, none of which were terribly difficult or got credit. I only applied to 8 schools, and I completed the applications (except one) in a day or less. My SAT II's were very low for CC (only took them once), and I never took the ACT. My extracurriculars were good but certainly not anything special (nothing at the state or national level). My counselor was brand new and didn't really know me.</p>
<p>My point is it only gets out of control if you let it. I had a rather naive view of admissions, and it never really crossed my mind that I would be rejected anywhere. I enjoyed learning for its own sake, and I did my relatively few ec's because I genuinely had fun with them. Looking ahead to college is ok, but dealing with the present is a lot more important. I feel sorry for the people who feel the need to retake the SAT to improve that 2300, or think they're not doing enough ec's, or take physics instead of art even though they hate science. The truth is they won't get much further than some who enjoyed the ride. Some of the people I know here have gone to private schools since birth (only slight exaggeration) and have been groomed for a top school. They don't do any better than those of us who had a normal life in a mediocre public school.</p>
<p>yeah i agree warblers. thinking back to high school i wasnt that stressed out until the time that decisions were actually coming, I didnt go in to high school trying to rack up as many EC's and APs as I could to help my app.
However, there seem to be an abundance of those kids posting here on CC, and since coming to Tufts I have experienced a lot more of those kids too. I still just wish high schoolers would realize that everything really will be okay, and that many many many many many many happy and successful people didnt even take ANY AP's in high school and went to a state university. its more about you as a person whether or not you will be successful in life.</p>