For many seniors, the past few months have been the best of their lives, but also the most stressful. As college decisions have been made, more and more people realize that they won’t be able to go to the school of their dreams. Kids devote their entire lives to education, only to find out their efforts weren’t enough. Obviously, colleges can’t accept everybody, but there are certainly flaws in the admittance process.

The impact of legacy is one of the most apparent flaws in today’s college admissions. According to The Harvard Graduate School of Education, “applicants to a parent’s alma mater had, on average, seven times the odds of admission of non legacy applicants.” Now, this isn’t necessarily an unfair concept itself, but it has been given a disproportional amount influence in recent student admissions. When presented with this statistic, senior Zac Reeves said, “To that extent, it isn’t exactly fair, but on some level it makes sense because there is a high likelihood of that being a successful student.” This system could certainly be improved upon and it really should come down to the caliber of the students. Colleges should accept the best students regardless of their parent’s alma mater, which they don’t always do.

Another concept that is unfair in the college admissions process is the idea of a lottery. Basically, the thought is that there are so many high caliber students applying to these top schools, that it gets difficult to differentiate who is the better fit. Even the professors admit that this happens. Barry Schwartz, a professor at Swarthmore College, wrote an article explaining that his friend asked if Schwartz thought his daughter would get into Swarthmore. The daughter was a fantastic candidate, but Schwartz had an interesting response. ““Wow, she’s terrific,” I told my friend. “You must be proud. She’s just the kind of kid we want.” “So does that mean you think she’ll get in?” he asked. “Not at all,” I replied. “She should get in, but so should lots of other kids who don’t. It’s a crapshoot.”” The unfortunate truth is that this is just the nature of the college admissions process, and even the professors at these schools agree.

The college admissions process is inherently flawed. People have voiced their opinions and have made it clear that they are not satisfied with the way things are done. However, every year some of the nation’s most promising students eagerly open their mailbox only to find a waitlist or rejection letter despite their extensive list of qualifications. In the end, the best students deserve to get into the best schools, but that will not happen until colleges decide to make a change.