College rejection rates soar, plague students’ self-esteem

By Emilie Morales @elainee.moraless

I’ve dreamt of going to college for as long as I can remember. I, and thousands of other high school seniors, have worked for four years to get into a top college. I held pride and confidence, but a single sentence from a college decision can make you feel as if your entire world just fell apart: “After careful consideration of your application, we are unable to offer you admission…”

This year alone, 1.2 million students applied to private universities in the United States through Common Application, which excludes public universities. With an influx of students applying to universities, acceptance rates have declined, scandals within the college admissions process have arisen, and the self-esteem of high school seniors has plummeted.

I’ve committed to UC Berkeley with an 11.4% acceptance rate. To put into perspective how low acceptance rates have become, the acceptance rate at UC Berkeley was 20.8% just 10 years ago. The acceptance rates of most American universities have plummeted due to a large pool of applicants, and many students are left heartbroken and rejected. It’s difficult to pinpoint why a student was rejected from a university, with the admissions office never giving feedback on why they made that decision. Universities put out rubrics on the type of students they look for, allowing many applicants to follow their criteria. Still, many are rejected without explaining what they did wrong in their application, leaving students with self-doubt and low self-esteem.

Even some students who were interviewed for the New York Times article “Harvard or Happiness? 11 High School Seniors Debate College Rankings,” have expressed their concerns about the stress and emotional toll of wanting to go to a top college. Many of the students said they want to go to college to experience independence, gain experience for their career choice, and meet new people. Still, they all worry about their mental health when going to college.

With that said, facing rejection can be a good learning experience for all prospective college students. The power of rejection allows people to use critical thinking skills to regather their choices, have a stronger will and have more control over their emotions. Yet, college rejections don’t allow this to happen, with no advice on what they had done wrong and no time to grow in the meantime of the decision season.

Universities claim to look for applicants with excellent applications. Yet, with admissions bribe scandals making national headlines, it seems these days a good application is just a mere factor in how far you can go in higher education. The college decision process must be fair to all applicants, no matter their race, socioeconomic status, gender or orientation, which is something many universities are failing to see. Everyone deserves a chance to enter university, whether someone comes from a lineage of college-educated or is the first in their family to go to college. If various universities can expand their freshman classes, everyone will be able to fulfill their right to an education.

After shedding many tears, I have the strength to look back on the month of March and realize: The college decision process is flawed but it doesn’t have to be if we can look past biases and open doors to a bigger audience of students who want to continue their education.

After a rollercoaster of ups, downs and unexpected turns, high school is coming to an end for the Class of 2023. The seniors got hit by the pandemic halfway through their freshman year, causing them to spend a year and a half of high school in distance learning. Now in their senior year, here’s a look at some memorable moments from 2022-23.