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Every year more and more high school students bend over backwards to try and sell themselves as well-rounded achievers to top tier colleges. But with the economy in shambles and the most prestigious universities cutting back on financial aid because of their incredible shrinking endowments, maybe the whole system will come crashing down.
What's the point of going to Harvard/Yale/Princeton/Stanford (said all in one breath) if you can't make big bucks when you graduate?
Unfortunately, I think the reverse may be happening. High school students are competing even harder for these slots because they want to help increase their diminishing odds of finding decent employment. Which brings me to why I wish this wasn't the case.
My mom saw a flier in my suburban hometown, a place that's not much more than an incubator for high school students looking to get into good colleges. Here's what it said, and I defy you to tell me you don't think this is disgusting: "After the SAT and GPA, Community Service has the highest impact on college admission. Of course the greatest benefit is to society itself. Name of Company Here: Personalized assistance to help students develop and promote their community service projects."
This totally encapsulates everything that's wrong, warped, and vile about the rat race for college admissions. There are now businesses that set students up with the community service projects that are most appealing on a college application and help them "promote" these projects?
That's putrid!
All the things I did in high school in order to get into college will forever remain a source of shame and indignity for me. I'm praying that the upside from this horrible job market will be that students in high school don't feel like there's anything to be gained by doing community service solely to get into college.
This process ruins people and colors the way they look at the world for the rest of their lives. This is the face of my generation's cynicism.
There are too many vested interests in keeping it alive, but man do I wish it would just die already.
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