Students love college admissions (not)

The Education Conservancy released a report about "the impact of the college admissions process on students' attitudes and behaviors." They're talking about the high-powered race for the big-name schools; it doesn't really have to be like that.

The report includes some quotes from stressed-out students. I can see they live in a different world than ours from this quote:

"There was an entire quarter when we had to practice for the PSAT, then practice for the ACT and SAT. We took three practice practice PSAT's and three PSAT's. It's kind of insane."

Jeez, how can they send these kids to their doom so unprepared?

More quotes:

"College admissions has just become a confusing industry. There are way too many people making their livings stressing all of us up."

" I think the responsibility [for the messages we get] is with the colleges and with the parents. That you're a perfectly good person - maybe even a better person - if you don't go to one of the top ten colleges. Changing to that perception would be more helpful than anything."

" I just didn't really know how to strike a balance between honesty and what I thought they just wanted to hear."

"The name of a college is what you need to get in the door. People feel like they need to go to a good college to get a good job. That's the bottom line."

"I have never wanted anything in my life as badly as I wanted to get into that college...that is not how it should be."

"You just learn, okay, that coach doesn't want me.....You have things that some people want and some people don't want."

"I think the whole college application process makes us into cheaters because we want to misrepresent ourselves...because we want to get in."

"Cheating in school I think is something different; that actually bothers me. But cheating on a standardized test, I feel almost like if you are smart enough to do it, go ahead."

"There is something terribly wrong with this process...please fix it."

"It's part of the game. It's pretty much a game. It's a game."

"There are definitely a lot of kids who are so qualified, so smart, and just don't really have the resources to help them in the process that we have [in a private school]. It's really unfair."

"It's all about marketing, they are trying to sell to us and we are trying to sell to them."

"I just think colleges' number one priority is themselves."

"One thing that really turned me off about the whole admissions process was just the way colleges advertise themselves. That bothers me. It just bothers me a lot."

"There is so much propaganda. Colleges should try less to sell themselves and more to act interested in students and in education."

"We would not apply to so many colleges if they were honest and told us what they were all about."

"All colleges say they are highly selective and then encourage us all to apply. They are just playing a game for themselves."

"The SAT doesn't test anything except strategy."

"We just want to know what the Admission Deans want."

"I wanted to take a Shakespeare course my Sophomore year but instead had to take a required PSAT prep course. I hated that."

"The whole ED process is so discouraging...it makes you think of it like just solely a competition to get a spot..."

"It is a shame that your SAT score gets put before character. It's just ridiculous the amount of importance that is placed on it."

"I think cheating is very common."

"My sister is twelve, she is taking the SAT."

"College is always on my mind. It has been a horrible experience."

"What exactly are you looking for - that would make everything more efficient...it would cut down the application pool by half."

"It feels deceiving when they get you to apply even though you don't have a chance."