A craze gone too far
Staff Writer
Imagine a sea of students fighting each other to death for an opportunity to be distinguished from the rest—no regard for the amount of blood sacrificed. This may seem like a scene out of The Hunger Games, but it isn’t. Substitute the blood for nervous breakdowns, sleepless nights, and periods of burn-out, and you got yourself a holistic view of the college admissions process. May the odds be ever in your favor!
Due to this hysteria, many students turn to private college counselors to help give their application an edge, asking questions about their applications, how to improve their extracurriculars, or their personal essays.
While this may seem as a great resource for those aiming for competitive universities as it does help the likelihood of getting accepted, it doesn’t go without long-term consequences.
Particularly, while students may approach counselors to de-stress, such resources can serve to heighten the application cycle’s toll on their mental health. Constant reminders that they are not yet doing enough, combined with frequent discussions about their future increase the pressure to manage everything they are already doing with what they still “need” to do.
Devyani Choudhury (11), who approached her college counselor in the beginning of junior year, explained, “While my counselor has given me a place to start on my application, I also think that having a college counselor makes the entire process a lot more real, and that’s scary. I used to just do the extracurriculars I wanted to do and the clubs I enjoyed, but now I realize that I should have been doing something else, and I feel behind.”
A formulaic structure of “dos and don’ts” encourages students to sacrifice pursuing what truly interests them in favor of what distinguishes them. Dropping an art hobby to make time for an internship may sound like an easy decision, but it teaches students that having a successful career means giving up their
personal lives.
“You’re making a choice using a considerable amount of extra help in your applications,” said Mai Preisser (12). “You’re choosing to prioritize getting into a good college over how genuine you present yourself.”
For college admission essays, which are designed to be highly-personalized and authentic portrayals of student perspectives, seeking outside help reinforces the notion that what a student has to say in its rawest form is not important—unless a small group of admissions officers deem it so. Not only does this limit long-term productive discourse, but it can also eventually lead to severe imposter syndrome and self-confidence issues.
Due to the financial implications of having a private counselor, such help is also outside the reach for many students whose opportunities are already limited or are already struggling with education-related expenses.
Having high ambitions and trying to put your best foot forward is not a bad thing. Getting advice and having others proofread your application is a great way to feel prepared to hit submit on the page when the time comes. But private college counselors only serve to exacerbate an ongoing crisis—one in which students sacrifice their high school lives just to see that “WELCOME” screen flashing on their screen after that last crucial refresh.
College counselors, while well-intentioned, often provide yet another source of stress to students at a time that is already one of the most stressful and formative parts of their lives (Art Credit: Kingston Lo (12)).
Eagle Era 
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