Anxiety of applying to college

Who fares best in applying to college?

Earlier this week, a student from Sequoia High School in Redwood City, California, wrote a column for Patch.com with a refrain familiar to many—a lament for the more carefree days before the pressure and stress of preparing to apply to college seemed to take over her life. "It seems like everything I do, sign up for, and participate in is because it somehow will look good on my college application. I volunteer for just about as much as I can muster. I am trying to find my ‘angle’…" Dearborn wrote. Alice Kleeman, who heads the College and Career Center at Menlo-Atherton High School in neighboring Atherton, California, was struck by the column and emailed us her thoughts. We couldn't have said it better, so we wanted to share her response with you: "It makes me sad when students believe that to be admitted to college they must try to become someone other than who they truly are.