She had her whole life planned out ever since she was seven years old. Let’s skip over some panic attacks, a 3.95 GPA, and a 1550 on her SAT, and still, Kaitlyn Younger did not get accepted into college. So what’s wrong at the admissions office of Ivy league institutions?. Many recruiters are saying that ‘extraordinary,’ which was the term used to describe Kaitlyn, doesn’t cut it anymore. Then what do the next generation of overachievers and exceptional students have to do to get into their dream school? After learning about Kaitlyn Younger’s story, I’m concerned about the educational priorities and unreal expectations that future students are putting up with only to get accepted, not just by their dream schools, but also by the status quo.
Kaitlyn Younger has been taking anxiety medications ever since she was seven years old, and her therapist and parents claim that her anxiety attacks started when she attempted to win the third grade spelling bee. As Kaitlyn began her high school career, it came as no surprise that she had high expectations placed upon herself to become the best student she could be with exceptional extracurriculars and grades to show for it. In one interview with the Wall Street Journal, Kaitlyn expressed that just ‘getting good grades’ wasn’t enough, and since she needed financial aid to help cover some of her tuition expenses, she said she felt the need to go above what was expected by her parents and guidance counselor to succeed.
Now that Kaitlyn has reached the age to start college, she is faced with significant regrets and questions about the unrealistic level of expectations some Ivy league and top-tier universities expect from their cohort. I found Kaitlyn’s story extremely eye-opening, especially considering the amount of potential she demonstrated on paper. The sad thing about her story is that she is using her rejections as indication of her value, and unfortunately, Kaitlyn doesn’t seem to be optimistic or hopeful about her academic and professional future.
I believe that in order to diminish the amount of post-graduation and rejection induced depression, there should be some kind of extra-curricular or after school program that signified that a student’s worth is not linked to their acceptances. And one of the ways that we can promote this kind of notion is by thinking that the school you end up in, even if it is not your top choice, is the best school for you.
Additionally, the concept of extraordinary is extremely limited in Kaitlyn’s story as it is only mentioned as a measure of academic reflection and not of personal character. It is my belief that even if she didn’t have excellent grades and extracurriculars, I would still encourage her to think of herself as extraordinary just for being who she is and embracing all of her peculiarities. I know that this kind of self-reflection can be difficult when you are dealing with any kind of unsuccessful result or rejection; however, if the educational system induces more self-confidence rather than numerical statistics and comparisons, we could acknowledge that we are all extraordinary in our own ways.