The College Applications Feedback Loop

College is baked into the Stuyvesant culture from students’ first steps into the building. In the freshman survey conducted by The Spectator, almost 70 percent of freshmen predicted they will attend an elite college (Ivy League, Stanford, etc.). Perhaps the drive comes naturally from the types of hard-working, academically motivated students that Stuyvesant attracts. As well, a majority of students come from Asian and Eastern European backgrounds, where parents place immense academic pressure on their children to attend a top-notch university.

To make matters worse, the administration does little to create a holistic environment. In a school such as Stuyvesant with a reputation for high-achieving students, GPA becomes many students’ defining factor, determining their eligibility for AP classes and role in the Stuyvesant community (ARISTA, Big Sib etc.). Every student is tasked with upholding the “Stuyvesant standard” of attending an elite university, when in reality success is determined by more than the reputation of your college. The result is a positive feedback loop of anxiety and competition, with everyone having a tunnel vision of educational success focused on college.

Mentality of Utility

Against the intense pressures of college applications, many seniors try to use the Early Decision and Action processes as strategically as possible. Strategizing encourages seniors to apply early to prestigious colleges they feel more likely to be accepted by, but that may not be the best fit for them. The mentality at Stuyvesant is that students will be happiest at the most prestigious college possible, whereas applying Early Action or Early Decision should actually be a decision made out of a passion for the school itself.

Asian and Eastern European parents reinforce this mentality by placing emphasis on their conception of an elite school, namely the Ivy Leagues. Some students are also unable to visit the campuses of every university, and as a result apply to well-known names based on brand and their parents’ influence, rather than finding a university that fulfills their aspirations.

The advice given is to emphasize aspects of yourself that differentiate you from the majority of the student body at that school. You might apply early to MIT, because as a humanities-focused student, you stand out against other Stuyvesant applicants. Or you might apply early to the University of Chicago even if it’s not your top school, so that you can have it as your “backup” when you apply to an Ivy League later.

However, strategizing may not be solely the result of the overly competitive nature of Stuyvesant. The college admissions system encourages this type of approach just as much as our classmates and college counselors do. Far from being a truly egalitarian system, colleges employ an opaque rubric that encourages students to try to out-smart.

This emphasis on gaming the system undermines the entire purpose of the college application process. By viewing college admissions as something to be conquered, students often sacrifice the chance to gain admission to the school or program that best suits them.

Furthermore, because seniors’ applications are directly compared with those of their peers, they feel pitted against each other to the point where every classmate is a direct threat. The quality of a college application becomes completely relative so that students are fixated on their peers’ applications instead of their own. It has come to the point where students make lists detailing who is applying to the same colleges so that they can scope out their competition and make personal decisions based on their perceived chances of gaining acceptance. Other students will hesitate to let their friends edit their essays, fearing that they will purposely make unhelpful or damaging comments in order to gain an advantage themselves. And the seniors who do get into their schools early and then choose to submit more applications by the regular deadline will often receive backlash from other students who feel that they are “stealing” their spots.

Breaking the Loop

Stuyvesant students will always be focused on getting a leg up in the college admissions process. However, it is important that students make an effort to stop the positive feedback loop through which the frenzy of college-based conversations and decisions encourages even more anxiety.

College admissions are not a zero-sum game: if someone gets into one of your top choices, you don’t lose out. Your admission doesn’t come at someone else’s expense, and colleges are balancing their student body based on the whole applicant pool, not just the applicants from Stuyvesant. The paranoia surrounding how others are doing and where they are applying is, in the end, just paranoia.

When top-tier colleges can easily fill a second class with equally qualified applicants, the candidates who are accepted are determined by somewhat unknown qualities, or by luck. Much of the application components that colleges assess in their admissions decisions—GPA, standardized test scores, and letters of recommendation—are out of your and your peers’ control by senior year. The best strategy is to simply focus on making the remaining aspects of your application the best they can be, rather than being distracted by your classmates. Strategizing and obsessing over how others are doing in the process will do nothing for you.