Rejected by the Ivy League? Take a different path to college happiness | Opinion

Kaitlyn Younger, a white, middle-class star student in Collin County, has been stressing out about her grades for years. The self-described perfectionist scored 1550 on her SATs and will graduate from McKinney High School in a few weeks with a 3.95 GPA, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

The well-rounded student also performed and directed about 30 plays, sang in the school choir and held down a part-time job — among other accomplishments. But she didn’t get into any of the top Ivy League schools she applied to, much to her disappointment.

If she can’t, can your kid?

Younger’s accolades and rejected applications is the focal point of the story. She applied to all the best schools: Stanford, Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, University of Pennsylvania, University of Southern California, University of California, Berkeley and Northwestern. After all that, Younger was wait-listed at Rice University and accepted at the University of Texas at Austin. She hopes to attend Arizona State University to study business on an academic scholarship.

‘Overrepresented group’

What happened?

Top schools are notoriously selective: During this admissions year, Harvard received 61,220 applications. It accepted 1,954, or 3.2%.

The story quoted a former University of Pennsylvania admissions officer who suggested Younger was rejected because her accolades and accomplishments placed her “in an overrepresented group.” Harvard’s high-ish acceptance rate (24%) of low-income students with good grades bolstered her point.

Another private college counselor said Younger’s middle-class status increased her rejection rate. Being female might have hurt Younger, too: Women outnumber male applicants, so they “face higher standards and greater competition.”

Still, it’s hard to tell if this is an example of the rejection of talented, hard-working, middle-class girls or the fact that Ivy League schools select a diverse group of students from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds and a dozen other variables.

Either way, the entire process is complex and somewhat mysterious to the rest of us.

Does merit matter?

It’s understandable that parents and kids are frustrated with an Ivy League application system that for no discernible reason rejects a bright, hard-working, top-scoring kid. For society’s sake, Yale and Brown better have a method to their madness beyond meeting diversity and inclusivity targets. Merit should still matter.

On the other hand, life’s too short to get hung up on elitism. This isn’t to erase Younger’s frustrating experience, but sometimes, life doesn’t work out the way we planned.

The road less traveled, the scholarship-paved Arizona State University path, could provide just as much fulfillment and happiness as four years at Harvard.

Nicole Russell is an opinion writer for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

This story was originally published May 2, 2022 at 1:43 PM.