College admissions process can be ruthless

The proverbial “skinny” or “fat” letters are starting to arrive in mailboxes, signaling the answer to the long awaited questions, “where’d you get in?”

Students now know if they have been accepted, rejected or waitlisted to the colleges of their dreams.

When the answers flow in, people naturally want to broadcast the results to everyone they know.  Logging onto to Facebook with endless updates of smiley or sad faces, or posting acceptance letters on Instagram on a daily basis has become a natural occurrence for high school seniors.

Naturally, students are extremely excited, as March symbolizes the accumulation of 14 years of back breaking schoolwork.

But the other side of the process must be taken into account too, for every success story, comes one with an opposite ending. Instead of elation, a feeling of helpless dejection and second guessing.

Some students openly boast about getting accepted to schools that their best friends may have not gotten into, making what should be a joyous occasion, into a rather awkward conundrum. Students ask themselves, “How do I celebrate my achievements, without hurting the people around me?”

Which bears the question, should the college admission process be a bit more private?

Senior Emily Cox, was recently informed that she didn’t get into Cal-Poly San Luis Obispo, but all around her it seemed that her friends were getting nothing but good news, “Getting rejected from a college is a challenge within itself, especially when I knew that my grades, SAT scores, and extracurricular activities greatly out did some of the people that did get in, So yes, I was frustrated that some of my friends got into Cal Poly when I didn't, but it must mean that they either had something that I didn't, or their major wasn't as impacted as mine. You never know with college admissions.”

Cox however, was adamant that she would never root against her friends, “I always root for my friends to get into their dream schools, regardless of whether or not I applied to the same ones”

In the ideal world, everyone would get into the college of their choice, but with the competition so fierce it has become impossible for everyone to come out of the college admissions process happy, pitting friends against friends.

Cox said, “I was definitely upset that I didn’t get into Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. I was frustrated that I was rejected and did not understand why I was turned away, but I reminded myself that I have been accepted into other great schools that see me as an individual, not just by my transcript.”

Students should not lament on the schools they did not get into, but instead look for the good in the schools that do want them, because at the end of the day its easier to feel appreciative to those that see qualities they would want at their school, rather than being spiteful towards schools that don’t.