“To (All) The Colleges That Rejected Me,” a March 29 Wall Street Journal op-ed by Pittsburgh high school senior Suzy Lee Weiss is swiftly making the rounds and gaining great notoriety.
“Colleges tell you, ‘Just be yourself,’” she proclaims. “That is great advice, as long as yourself has nine extracurriculars, six leadership positions, three varsity sports, killer SAT scores and two moms.”
Suzy gained fans, enemies, faithful retweets and web commenters asking, “Is she serious?” Whether satire or a legitimate rant, her piece addresses an important point: There are flaws in the often arbitrary decisions made by college admission committees. But these flaws are not for the reasons Weiss claims. Though college admission is largely a game, it is not one with an instant ticket to success, as Weiss seems to believe.
Her ignorance of diversity and the experiences of minorities is alarming. Weiss regrets not having “worn a headdress” to school, as if doing so would serve as a golden ticket to higher education. Colleges do not admit minority students because they have a free pass — they do so to increase diversity and to provide equal opportunities to all, especially to historically marginalized groups. Furthermore, they do so within the context of the opportunities afforded to them.
There are plenty of other problems in the admissions process that Suzy pays no mind to, such as legacy admission, excessive reliance on standardized tests and even students who pay professionals to write their college essays for them. Factors like these make college admissions much more like a game than like affirmative action.
The system does not have the capacity to do away with problems of this kind overnight, which is why it is important that programs like affirmative action are instituted to help balance the process. These programs are certainly not perfect, but they are important for college hopefuls around the country — even if Weiss thinks otherwise.
Weiss’ cynicism and lack of faith in her peers is concerning as well. There is no doubt that excessive resume padding happens in the college admissions process, with students joining more clubs than they can handle and scraping together hours of community service just to stand out a little more to admissions officers. But that does not mean all college hopefuls are on a quest to beat the system with artificial activities.
Weiss may chastise colleges for demanding students “just be themselves,” but some students do so anyway. Unlike Weiss, “being themselves” for some students means working diligently, being creative, engaging with their communities and pursuing what interests them. Colleges want applicants to be as true to themselves as possible while still showing success. Some students are experts at the admissions game — but in a way that does not involve sacrificing their integrity or their passions.
Unfortunately, Weiss does not seem to have that passion. At the end of her article, she hushes her critics — “The Real Housewives is on!” Even here at Brown, where independent concentrations let students study whatever they want, I think she would have a difficult time getting approval to concentrate in “The Real Housewives Of New Jersey.”
Even after meeting the criteria, is each and every passionate and motivated student going to get into his or her dream school? No. That is the consequence of the admissions game. The most decorated resume might get a student accepted to one prestigious school but rejected from another for no apparent reason. Valedictorians, sports captains and charity founders may get rejected for different reasons. And minority students get denied from colleges, too. There are ways to make one more qualified, but in the end, there is often no rhyme or reason to a college’s final call.
I commend Weiss for recognizing that there are problems in the college admissions system, but change is best achieved by mobilizing ideas, not complaining about them in the Journal. She must also realize it is important for the college admissions system to turn away from needless nepotism and keep heading in its current direction of helping American students who, in years past, might not have been in college at all.
Perhaps I am a cynic for buckling down and taking my standardized tests rather than seeking a different path as Weiss has. In that case, she can happily advertise publishing a rant in the Journal on her resume. Other than that, though, her CV looks pretty sparse.
Gabriella Corvese ’15 got rejected from some elite colleges, too and can be reached at gabriella_corvese@brown.edu.
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