An Introduction to the Gauntlet

For seniors fortunate enough to have been accepted through Early Decision or sports, the three weeks that christen Spring Term will feel pretty normal. The mild weather blanketing the city won’t be lost to them as winds gush through the shade blooming all across the hill. For any senior, this is the perfect way to begin the final semester of high school, and that would be the case if it wasn’t for the suffocating college decisions that build and break each senior’s hopes for young adult life all the way from California to Massachusetts.

Toward the end of eleventh grade, as I found myself obligated to start looking into colleges, I can recall binging college acceptance videos from kids who—considering what accolades they’d received—would be better suited finding a way to make it to Mars, if they weren’t doing that already. I remember the flutter in my chest each time they jumped from their chairs and sprinted towards their parents, open arms and wide smiles waiting for them right outside the door.

For a lot of us, this is the picture we have going into college admissions, reinforced by the fact that while there may be a genius or two that doesn’t have to try, the majority of the people we watch are similar, if not identical, to us. They are above-average nerds who’ve signed up to do way too many things and gotten way too little sleep for the four most formative years of their lives.

Unfortunately for the class of 2023 (including myself), this provided us with a sense of security that some found disappointing and others found catastrophic.

To provide a more personal look into the college admissions process, I chose to interview Grace Lack, a current senior who has been at St. Stephen’s since 6th grade. Throughout her time here, she has diversified her passions, finding purpose in countless clubs, serving as an elected member of Student Government, and acting as a senior leader in the Chrysalis Dance Company. During the application process, she found herself drawn to the big state schools that famously balance rigorous academics with social scenes to rival OSU. However, things didn’t pan out as she had hoped.

“My dream [school] was UNC, but I got rejected,” Grace told me. She explained how she couldn’t help but feel as though her work over the past four years had led her to be “super prepared for those smaller liberal arts schools” while hurting her chances at larger state schools. “It’s hard to know that I’m much more prepared for my life than some students going to public schools, but I’m not looked at as an accredited candidate as they are.”

The first time she and I spoke was in the last week of regular decisions, as the days counted down to her final decisions. She was cautiously hopeful of what was to come.

After the Admissions

Now that it’s all over, how has the college admissions process gone for you?

“Terribly. All said and done, it’s hard to look back on my high school career and how hard I’ve worked,” Grace told me. “It feels like I could’ve put in slightly less effort and not tortured myself as much. Just looking back, it’s hard to not compare myself to people who got into those schools I wanted to go to.”

However, even though she was unable to meet all of her expectations, Grace has found solace in the success of her friends, saying, “Don’t dwell on what didn’t happen; you really need to be happy for [others], because who wants more unhappy people?”

When asked to give advice for the Class of 2024, Grace gave a few words of motivation for when things go awry: “It’s really important to support your friends and be there for their positives and negatives and remind yourself and everyone that things happen for a reason. If you don’t get into the school that you really want to go to—or schools, plural, like me—you can always transfer, but give your options a shot.”

As we rounded out our conversation, Grace made sure to ensure that she wouldn’t be misconstrued, saying, “Your hard work will be worth it, because once you do go to those schools, you will excel, and you will do really well. It sucks right now, but just know you have a great foundation and talents that will be seen by others.”

Through the innumerable conversations about college I’ve been obligated to have with people my age, as well as with adults and relatives, I’ve come to a conclusion regarding the rite of passage that inaugurates our adult life: it’s about what you make of the college, not about the college itself. While this may offer consolation to some and may make others cringe from how cliché it is, this phrase serves to impassion the disappointed and embolden the joyous. But even then, for a lot of people, the grandiose plans for world domination they have been forming ever since they watched their first “A Day in the Life at Brown” YouTube video have all seemed to come crashing down. While it may be difficult, I’d recommend a shift of mindset, one that moves away from the strict path you set for yourself and into a path that is unknown, one that is a mystery. Who knows? You might still get a chance to rule the world. At the very least, you did something interesting, and at the end of the day, isn’t that the only thing that matters?