Owen Harrington, Staff Writer
February 9, 2024
The past few months have been incredibly stressful for our Seniors as the college admissions process began in earnest at the start of the school year. As underclassmen will come to know, it is a long and arduous process that consumes so much time and energy during your final year at Nobles. Aided by the College Office, students spend months perfecting their applications, yet so much uncertainty remains. For some, this grueling process ended back in December when early admissions decisions were released, while others will still be waiting until late March or early April to hear regular decision results. A number of student-athletes have also had their commitments finalized since junior year. Because of how stressful this time can be for Class I, combined with the fact that each student is in a different situation, it can be challenging to provide support to friends. It can feel wrong to ask candidly about the processes of others for fear of offending them, while simultaneously, seniors are nervous to share their own news for fear of hurting others who are still waiting to hear back. All these factors combined make this a difficult time to navigate as we try to support and celebrate the senior class in their final semester at Nobles.
Early decision results can feel like a particularly touchy subject due to the unique nature of these applications. Early decision applications are binding, which means that if accepted, you are required to attend the school. As a result, students will often choose their favorite college or “dream school” to apply to early. Getting accepted can be amazing because you are into one of your top choices, while early rejections can be crushing. Because of the intense emotions surrounding this time, many students refrain from mentioning the process to their senior friends, instead waiting for the topic to come up naturally. Jerry Qin (Class I) said, “Personally, I’m comfortable with talking about my early decision [application], but I could definitely see why people wouldn’t want to share their ED results if they didn’t get in because they don’t want to be judged as a ‘worse’ applicant.” Zach Green (Class I) agreed, saying, “I feel totally comfortable talking about my early decisions, but can totally understand if someone wouldn’t want to share theirs.” Ben Guenther (Class I) said, “Once that decision comes out, its tough finding out whether people did or didn’t get in. Some people who did get in are pretty vocal about it, whereas others aren’t.” Guenther added, “It’s a messy time, but I don’t think people are handling it too poorly.” Each class deals with this process so differently, with some being more supportive of their peers than others, and that is one of the reasons why an overarching school policy that remains the same year to year is such a challenge to implement.
In the past, the problem of discussing admission results was solved by the College Office, which would publish a list of every Class I student’s college destination at the end of the year. However, this information is no longer publicly available. Director of College Counseling Kate Ramsdell said, “We stopped about 15 years ago…we noticed something happening where juniors were looking at the rejection wall, and seeing that a particular student was not getting into a bunch of colleges and it was sending them into a spiral.” Overall, the release of this information only served to cause stress for underclassmen who were judging their own future prospects based on another student’s performance. “No one knows the actual circumstances behind someone’s acceptance or rejection,” Ramsdell said. Because the final results never tell someone’s full story, they are not a good metric for comparison, and yet that is what they were being used for, and overall, they ended up being more damaging to the unity and mental health of the school.
As seniors continue to receive their admissions results, it is important to respect their privacy, allowing them to share what they want, celebrating with them in their successes, and supporting them when they need it. The college process is long and challenging, but it is soon coming to an end for our current Class I students, and I wish them all the best in the coming months.
(Photo Credit: Zack Mittelstadt)
