College Selection Process

This past week I went with my daughter to visit a college campus that she is interested in applying to. She is a senior in high school and is going through he process of college selection. I think the competition to get into the top universities is much more intense than when I applied almost 30 years ago. I do not envy her as she goes through this process. If you look at the numbers, there are so many kids with perfect SAT scores, top grades and excellent extra-curriculars it seems a very daunting task to go through this process. So many kids go through intense tutoring and spending their summers in educational pursuits that the bar has been risen to unobtainable heights. These kids are prepped to the exclusion of having a "normal" teenage lives just to be able to get into a particular college. Many of these kids lack adequate and critical social skills which are so important in almost all professions and businesses.

I keep telling her that it is not the most important thing where she goes to school and that she will be happy wherever she attends. I encourage her not to fall in love with a particular school that she can attain her goals regardless of the school she attends. I tell her that ultimately it is the qualities that she possesses, not the university from which she graduates that will dictate her success. Nevertheless, her desire to excel generates pressure on herself to go to a top school and I fear her disappointment if this doesn't occur.

After listening to the admissions officer discuss what the school looks for when making their selections, I think that they get it. They do not only look at the numbers but at the entire package. I don't know how they do it and I think it is a very difficult task to weed through thousands of applications and make intelligent selections. Somehow they are able to determine from an application who is the best fit for their university. They understand that the goal is a well rounded child who can excel in their schoolwork yet can also be a good communicator, a leader not just a human computer with perfect numbers.

Say what you want about the average high school graduate in this country, but the upper echelon of graduates that are generated are extraordinary. There always seem to be a group of kids that excel and will be able to successfully compete with piers from anywhere in the world. This is created by their own innate ambition and their desire to excel, not by an external force. I very much hope my daughter gets into the college of her choice but I have no doubt she and other graduates ultimately achieve based on their own assets and liabilities not by the words on their diplomas.