Undergraduate /
Common App Essay: "Why I Shouldn't Go To College" [10]
Rip this essay apart. I will be happy for your comments. Length: 824 words (last i checked lol)
As Bob Dylan aptly stated: "Colleges are like old-age homes, except for the fact that more people die in colleges". How can spending four years in an institution which will be responsible for my hair loss, sleepless nights and the consumption of detrimental amounts of coffee, be an appealing compensation for seventeen years of hard work? Although it may hardly seem alluring, an unprecedented number of high school seniors annually vie for highly coveted spots at very selective colleges; I am no exception to the rule. I, very much like thousands of other American high school seniors, am hoping to rejoice at the sight of an oversized mail from the University of my choice next spring. However, one night, while filling out a plethora of college applications, writing pages of essays (only later to find them in the garbage) and debating factors varying from financial aid to appealing fast food joints at college campuses, I was struck with a divine realization: How can the claim that a college education is essential for success be justified? Is this expectation, that a college degree is critical and preeminent for accolade and monetary success, a bare-faced lie that has been brainwashed into teenagers? College seems more like a haven for late night study sessions for tomorrow's "Psych 101" test and junk food binges from missed meals, than the ideal place to pursue a degree in higher education.
By the time undergraduate students frantically "explore" their college campus to hand in term papers, finish pending lab projects and work to pay off their tuition loans, they hardly find time to relax and lead a balanced lifestyle. Various surveys support the idea that a college degree adds many thousands of dollars to a man's lifetime income; however, it is disappointing to learn that this money is ultimately used to send his son to a university. In addition to the onerous financial situation attached with a college education, the work given in college seems more taxing. Although students feel a sense of accomplishment in achieving their daily tasks, they don't realize that they are victim to the vicious cycle of college demands. Such an experience with their undergraduate years leads many to question: Is college is indicative of success in life? Understanding the life of a college student makes one feel that students are in a haste to reach their goal and to conclude their college phase, but not to enjoy what has been labeled the "college experience".
As Ursula Leguin has appropriately phrased "It is good to have an end to a journey, but it is the journey that matters in the end." College is like a serpentine voyage. A journey filled with physical stress and mental anguish; however, it is also a journey where autonomy is established, passion discovered and the value of friendship understood. Facing the responsibility of living alone and managing a hectic schedule is overwhelming at first, but, these are the memories that often trigger nostalgia in students. The passing years of college establish one's character, build one's perseverance and aid in the realization of one's life's goal. Even though colleges come across as years of stress and 3 A.M review sessions, they are also very essential for your future. After all, isn't it the ideal place where one finds their future spouse?
Although it may not seem like it, the prodigious amount of work given in college is a tool meant to prepare students, not one meant to kill them. By advocating students to manage challenging tasks and pushing them to excel in multiple activities, colleges aim to instill the persona that determines success in the professional field. Specifically, colleges build determination, instill courage and establish organizational skills; many of the qualities required to succeed in life. In addition, a college stands on its own in many aspects. Isn't this the only place where there is a confluence of brilliant ideas from different cross-sections of society? Personally, I look forward to the days when late night studying is called for; clutching a Starbucks coffee in my left hand with a Computational Fluid Dynamics book in my right, I yearn to experience the frustration of finishing labs, studying for exams and doing my laundry all while holding a job.
In essence, predicaments are to be expected in college; the only way them around is through. The college experience is meant to be a maturation process, not a period through which one flies by. This transformation phase during the college years is vital, almost like a developmental stage in the lifecycle of a human being; missing out on it would not complete a person. Nowadays, a college education is essential to live in this world of unprecedented technological advancements. No one comes to college to achieve something, but, they all leave having acquired the capacity to succeed in anything...while losing a few strands of hair in the process.
