Investigator Miriam Strauss, who is a high school senior in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA writes:
College brochures! You flip through glossy pages with large quotes from former students about the lifelong friendships they?ve formed and the exciting research they?ve completed. Students and professors, according to their school?s advertisement, form such close relationships because of the small student-faculty ratio and the shared love of learning. Now, I like the idea of enthusiastic teachers, but I also like to think that my social life at college will be more about going out with my roommates than about my English Comp 101 professor taking me to lunch every week. And I love reading outside in the park, particularly on bright sunny days, but I really don?t see myself studying calc while sitting on a wall surrounded by hundreds of classmates passing by, like the pictures would have you believe their students do. But I guess if I need peace and quiet to concentrate on math, I can always head toward their small, friendly multi-billion dollar library/research center.
College mail amazes me. Normal logic would dictate that if you are accepting less than 20% of your applicants, then you probably have enough people applying for a small number of spots. Yet I and every senior I know get several letters a day congratulating us on our accomplishments in high school and encouraging us to find out more about their school. They?re signed ?personally? by the dean of admissions. I?m touched. Maybe next year they can reach enough hopeful applicants that their miniscule acceptance rates can dip into the single digits.
I, for one, have had enough. I?m going back to senior slacking and remembering quotes for our yearbook. Because no matter which colleges I choose or which choose me, at this time next year I know I?ll be dealing with crazy roommates and those accessible professors who?ll always be keeping me after class to continue our fascinating conversations. With the seven hundred and twenty-three clubs and student organizations and the multi-disciplinary outside-the-classroom learning opportunities, there?s no way I can?t be prepared for life. Well, if not, there?s always grad school.