Many high school students with high aspirations for college struggle to find balance between school, sports, clubs, college applications, after-school jobs, Advanced Placement classes and even startup companies. In today’s hypercompetitive environment, the fierce competition for college admissions has created a culture tying self-worth to constant achievement, transforming high school from a time of learning and self-discovery into a race for perfection.
The college admissions process has evolved into a secretive, high-stakes system that determines the futures of millions of teenagers. Top-ranked colleges such as the California Institute of Technology, Harvard University and Stanford University have acceptance rates of under 5%, rejecting thousands of talented applicants each year. Tulane University’s 2025 acceptance rate was only 14%.
On top of this low acceptance rate, Tulane fills much of its incoming class through early decision. For the Class of 2026, more than two-thirds of the class applied through early decision. Early decision lets applicants show commitment, but acceptance means a binding enrollment contract.
This option is not accessible to all students and serves as a barrier for low-income applicants. To be able to apply early decision, students must be financially secure enough to commit before comparing financial aid offers. Between Tulane’s arguably outrageous annual cost of attendance of $92,328 and issues with federal financial aid applications many students cannot make this commitment.
Attending a prestigious college does have its benefits — top professors, a vast alumni network and challenging coursework that can guide students toward success. But the pursuit of these opportunities has become a relentless competition that extends far beyond academics.
Even the most accomplished students face no guarantees. The so-called “Ivy Plus,” the Ivy League plus Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke University, the University of Chicago and Stanford received about 415,000 more applicants from 2002 to 2022, while only adding a few thousand more spots. For many, applying feels like a lottery. With applicant pools full of perfect grades and scores, academic excellence only gets your foot in the door.
Applicants must now submit essays, transcripts, test scores and long lists of extracurriculars. Many colleges claim to evaluate students holistically, evaluating them as unique individuals. Holistic admissions were intended to reduce the focus on academic achievement but have inadvertently expanded the pressure to excel in every area of life.
Of course, not every student chases highly selective universities. Many choose community colleges, state schools or trade programs that appeal more to their interests and financial circumstances. Yet the same culture of achievement affects them, too. Even students who choose more affordable or practical paths feel pressured to defend those choices, as if success can only be validated by prestige. Growing up near Ohio State University, I saw how in-state students found opportunity and affordability without sacrificing the quality of education.
College is not the only marker of success. Many students thrive at schools that are not considered elite, finding strong preparation for fulfilling careers. Students who take these paths deserve the same respect and support. The culture around college admissions ties student worth to school name recognition.
High school should be a time for exploration, but it feels as though the admissions process pressures teens to find their life purpose before they have had time to discover it. Holistic admissions now reward those who can distinguish themselves by having a passion or achieving world-changing impact. Expecting children to perform at such an extraordinary level, before they have even had the chance to explore what truly interests them, is a taxing expectation.
Creating a system that pressures students to launch groundbreaking inventions or non-profits while juggling schoolwork is not just unrealistic, it is harmful. It destroys creativity, increases stress and prevents kids from being kids.
Access to these achievements is not available to all. Families who can afford standardized test tutoring, essay coaching and private counseling hold a significant advantage. In the Harvard Crimson’s survey of incoming freshman, nearly two out of three students who reported using a private counselor came from families earning over $250,000 a year. While many parents believe early preparation helped their child succeed, it often damages students’ mental health and sense of freedom.
The obsession among wealthy parents to secure college admissions for their children reached its peak with the “Operation Varsity Blues” scandal, when 50 people — including celebrities — were charged with mail fraud, racketeering and money laundering to have their children admitted into a prestigious university.
These parents fabricated test scores, staged photos and even created a fake charity to buy their children’s way in — a reflection of how toxic the competition has become.
This cycle of applying, waiting and facing rejection does not stop at college admissions. Once in college, students repeat this cycle of expectations with clubs, internships and jobs. Students absorbed in this hyper-competitive world lose sight of what really matters to them.
High schools, college admissions departments and parents must help dismantle these unrealistic expectations. Tulane should reduce its reliance on early decision, and all colleges should further devalue test scores, focusing on the future potential of students. Until that happens, teenagers, the future of our nation, will continue to chase success at the cost of their happiness.