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Health & Fitness

'Tis the Season...of Senior College Decisions (Part 1 of 3)

Part 1 in a 3 part series about the college admssions process for ABRHS seniors.

ABRHS - This is an especially critical time in the school year for every senior, as college admissions decisions begin to trickle in. Teachers are starting to give us the college/career/future version of “the talk.” The counseling department has sent us more emails, all college-related, this year than I’ve ever received in the last three years of school combined. Parents are nagging us to deactivate our Facebook accounts to evade the wrath of admissions. On top of all this chaos, seniors take on a double homework load with filling out application supplements and going to interviews.

Early application decisions are wrapping up this week, and the Seniors at AB have been inevitably dragged into the frenzy.  While some students have been accepted into their top choices, the majority are hoping for a better chance at beating the odds during regular admissions.  Emotions of excitement, disappointment, jealousy and disbelief swarm the hallways. I am asking you, readers, to not perpetuate these extreme states that students are facing at this time.

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Many of you might personally know a member or two of the ABRHS Senior of the Class of 2014. And to those of you who are going to be seeing my peers for the Holidays, I must advise that you respect the boundaries of my fellow students.  There’s a lot of judgment, both from adults and students, that comes in tandem with the college process. Gossip and rumors are spreading like the plague.

When adults ask where we’ve decided on for college, “It brings up too many feelings for people,” says senior Ianka Bhatia. She says to let the students be the ones to initiate conversation about that subject. “If I’m really excited about it, I’ll share with you.” The “what college” question is a very personal one, and the answer can almost immediately create associations with the person and the said college’s stereotypes. It’s a hollow inquiry that doesn’t reveal the arduous application process, the months of SAT prep, the GPA tracking, the long nights of essay writing and the even longer ones of incessant editing. It comes off more with an impression that the college chose you, instead of you chose the college. A better question to ask, then, might be what factors tied into your decision, and why you ultimately made the choice that you did.

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Another comment that admitted Seniors get frequently is the “you’re done so you don’t need to try anymore” one. I see this a lot among students, and less among adults.  “[This] causes a disconnect between peers, ” says Ianka.  As a student admitted into her top choice early decision, she especially has experience with the matter. Ianka says that a college acceptance is no justification for senior sliding. “I’m going to college to further my education, not to take a break,” she says. Instead, peers and adults should give words of encouragement, such as challenging students to study hard for AP’s so as to earn college credit and reduce the cost of tuition, or now see college acceptance as an opportunity to focus on the learning instead of the grade.

One of my favorite alternative questions is asking what students are interested in studying. I would much rather prefer a conversation about why I love literature, classics and international relations than I would about going to so-and-so college with a beautiful campus, great location and strong academics. Personal interests are a much more discussion bearing topic, and not hackneyed like the overused “congratulations, I hear that’s a lovely school” or “that’s okay, it’s a crapshoot anyways” comments about admissions that we constantly hear. Of course, if you happen to meet a student who will matriculate into your alma mater, then there is a conversation worth starting. When I meet adults who are alumni of a college I’m particularly interested in, I find that they are a great resource to learn about the school, and I love the enthusiasm with which they talk about their college experience because they make me excited too. But this won’t always be the case. Having a discussion over the Holidays with a Senior should be more about learning about them on a personal level, about their passion and personality. It should not be about learning about them on a rankings or cut-and-dry statistical level that the college admissions process heavily depends on. Most importantly, the conversation should flow, and that is almost sure to happen if the topic of major or career interest is involved. It should be informative, inspirational and enjoyable from both sides, and all goes well, it won’t end like most teenager and adult conversations do: with an awkward silence followed by an awkard part. 

 

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