Right now, all over the country, high school students and their parents are scheming to get into the Ivy League. Young people are groomed practically from birth to be attractive to mysterious and all-powerful admissions committees guarding the gates of the eight universities that comprise the Ivies. Articles and books are written on packaging strategies, which classes and activities are “in” and which are now “passé,” which provide an edge, and which might harm a student’s chances.
There is even a psychological malady known as The Yale Syndrome, a sort of obsession with college admission that creates an unusually proximate time horizon for a young person, the moment of college admission. Students who suffer from this affliction do not develop a plan for success in college, or in any aspect of their lives, beyond the arrival of that “fat envelope” detailing their acceptance. Oddly, they share many of the same concepts of time as terminally ill cancer patients.
Parents view admission to one of these schools as a high grade on their parenting skills, and correspondingly view rejection as a low or failing grade. There is a great gnashing of teeth about the whole endeavor. But seldom does anyone really ask the question: Is the Ivy League “worth it”?
got this article from Feruz. read the rest of it here. why post a suddenly serious topic? maybe i want to be brand ambassador for something. kah kah.