college

Now it is mid april and everyone has heard back from all their colleges: the anxious wait is finally over, or at least for the admissions decision part of it. Some people are still waiting for financial aid packages, so there's a little anxiety there, since finances are often such a large part of the college decision. With this in mind and after reading Malcolm Gladwell's Getting In, I couldn't help but reflect on the college application process.
I don't know if I have ever gone through a more drawn out process than the college application process. Because in actuality, the process begins far before your senior year even begins. For me, my parents really wanted me to go to a good, private elementary school, I suppose because they thought I would have a much better education and more opportunites because of going there as opposed to a Hawaii public school. So there is step one. Near the end of my elementary school experience, getting into a good middle school was the important issue. Punahou, Iolani or Midpac. Punahou was a fantastic college prep school. so was Iolani. obviously i chose PUnahou, and then worked hard to get good grades in 7th and 8th grade to get on the honors track for high school. In high school, continue the hard work to maintain a good GPA and transcript which colleges will most certainly weigh heavily in their admissions decisions. You join clubs and do sports because you are interested, but also because people keep telling you how colleges want you to have those qualities. well rounded.
In junior year the actual college application bit finally came into play. we all got college counsellors and took the semester long college guide course, and figured out where we should look to apply. SATs, SAT IIs, retesting, AP exams, all in preparation for the day when the college admissions committee was to review your application. And actually preparing the app as a senior. HOUrs and hours of writing an essay to express who you are and why you belong at such and such a school. getting recs, requesting transcripts... all these things take time and organization, and while i do realize and appreciate how good the PUnahou system works for these kinds of things, it was still a stressor. And then finally, you make the deadline. all that work is behind and the waiting begins.
Well, now the wait is over, and it is the student's turn to evaluate and assess what each school has to offer. all that work for a few envelopes in the mail. from this perspective, it seems like a strange system