The Neurotic Parent Institute has determined that students from the high school class of 2009 have not, in fact, earned the right to say they endured the most difficult year to get into college in the history of the world. That privilege goes to the class of 2010. It's official: dozens of CJ's highly-qualified friends, classmates, teammates and acquaintances have been deferred or denied, particularly from Penn, Brown, Northwestern and Stanford.
Why? A preliminary analysis reveals that 88% of kids we know applied early, but just about all applied to the SAME SEVEN SCHOOLS (the four mentioned above, plus NYU, Wesleyan and Yale). What about Dartmouth or Vanderbilt or Bates, guys? Or Kenyon, an amazing school, whose graduates often become television writers. The problem, at least in this community, is that high school kids are content to do community service in huts in rural areas BEFORE they go to college, but they are just too darn sophisticated to want to spend four years on an idyllic campus with rolling hills but without access to clubs, roof gardens and crowded subways. (Yes, I'm aware that Wes is rural, but its students head off to NY or Boston every weekend.)
So parents, it is up to you to expose your little urbanites to LL Bean, county fairs and Denny's. And if they resist, you can tell them that if they choose to apply early to an out-of-the-way place, they just might even end up with a roommate from New York or Chicago.
“Yes, I’m aware that Wes is rural, but its students head off to NY or Boston every weekend.”
I love your blog quite a bit. But as a Wes student, I wanted to write in lest some readers mistake the above line for fact. It’s not.
Wes is not rural, and its students do not head elsewhere every weekend.
Hey there, old amigo. I’m working the tourguide angle on the groves of academe again, and it’s good to see you’re still active. Nice note about stressing out on sophomore PSAT scores. Have to read through the recent entries, but is it just me, or are the original archives here gone? I ask because the Spring ’10 trip I’m consulting on is considering Cornell, and I think you went to Hamilton and Colgate, right? Or something like that. Did a Middlebury drivethrough when we were in Vermont last week.
Wes rural? Kind of shooting from the hip there, NP. No more rural than, say, Vassar, which is not to say that Vassar and Wes aren’t riverine.
Having a car at Wes turns out to be pretty important.
You can access the March ’08 archives. Try and let me know if it doesn’t work. And Wes and Vassar are both rural.. I thought the the three categories are urban, suburban and rural. What else is there?
Yep. I’m part of that competitive class. My stats are even as amazing as some people, like my friend who got into Dartmouth. I was just glad someone saw potential in me (Thank you UPenn). However, I did have other factors going for me (URM, crazy volunteers hours [close to 5000 at this point], and other stuff). I mean April 1 was D-day, and sat on my computer waiting for 5:00 to hit. Harvard sent their rejection that made it seem like you really weren’t rejected, but you knew you were dumped. Then, Penn said CONGRATS!, and I immediately went into hysterics, crying and screaming–not because I got but because I didn’t exect it. And I love Denny’s–actually, I more of a Shoney’s fan, but it’s hard to find a good one near my house.