Every year, high school students across the nation sacrifice their sleep, mental health and social lives chasing one goal, a college acceptance letter from their dream school. The effort put into Advanced Placement classes, extracurricular activities and standardized tests is all directed towards a single acceptance. An acceptance which they believe marks an end to the hard work required for success in life. According to College Transitions, “For many, getting into college is the central goal of high school.” With this mentality, little thought goes into what comes after. According to a study conducted by Harvard researcher Wendy Fischman and Harvard professor Howard Gardner, 45 percent of students have a purely transactional attitude about college. This transactional mindset reduces college to a box to check, causing students to overlook the lasting connections and teachings that shape their careers just as much as a diploma. Students need to stop treating college as the destination to success, instead they should view it as another step where habits, relationships and skills are built.
The consequences of this mindset are seen early on. Students who spend their high school years thinking of college as the finish line, often arrive on campus burnt out with nothing left in their tank. Nationally, according to ThinkImpact, 22.3 percent of full time college students will drop out within their first year. The negative effects of this mindset don’t only affect students who receive their acceptance letter. For those who don’t get in, treating college as the finish line makes rejection feel like something far worse than it really is. According to Newport Academy, “for adolescents who struggle with low self-esteem, perfectionism, self-doubt, or anxiety, college rejection can make things worse. For those who have been previously diagnosed with clinical depression, a college rejection letter has the potential to catalyze a depressive episode or even a mental health crisis.” When students treat a college as their destination, not getting in doesn’t just feel like a setback. It feels like the end.
That being said, the appeal of prestige to many students is legitimate and is not something to be dismissed. According to PrepScholar, “On average, graduates from elite schools make more money, and degrees from many elite schools provide the best return on your college investment. Also, while only two percent – five percent of all US undergraduates graduate from top schools, 38 percent of Fortune 500 company CEOs and 44.8 percent of billionaires graduated from elite institutions.” The college name on the diploma does open doors, that is a fact.
But that is not the only fact that matters. A 2022 survey on employers by the American Association of Colleges and Universities found that 65 percent of employers ranked drive and work ethic as very important, above other factors such as the school the candidate attended. A student who works hard through college, will build the habits that translate directly into being a desirable employee. A student who coasts through a top school will not. The degree may open the door, but the skills and habits you build along the way will allow you to enter the room.
To every senior who is now looking forward to college, congratulations. That is a real accomplishment resulting from years of hard work. But do not mistake that accomplishment as the finish line. The drive and hard work that got you in will also determine what happens after. The person you become is not determined by the college you attend, it is determined by what you do when you get there. College is not the destination, it is just one step along the journey of life.
