Dear Editors,

The college application process: four words that hold universal weight for high schoolers. When students, particularly those of small, competitive private schools, hear those four words, their fight-or-flight response kicks in. However, despite the difficulties of the college application process, Marlborough students have cultivated an environment that prioritizes community over competition, making the process decidedly less stressful.

I’ve been at Marlborough since 7th grade. I’ve heard the rumors about “the early-decision spreadsheet” and have anxiously anticipated what previous seniors have described as the “nightmarish” application process. After enduring these past eight months, I can confidently assure my younger peers that inter-grade competition should be the least of their worries when the fall of senior year rolls around.

My greatest takeaway from this school year has been that my classmates support each other’s mental health. I have several friends at different private schools in LA, and between August and January, I couldn’t help but notice the stark contrast between our respective campus norms for “college talk.” While I often hung up our FaceTimes with outside-of-school friends having learned about a fights that happened in friend groups over early-decision applications at their school, all I could report back to these friends about my school was who had the most wins on our Just Dance scoreboard in the senior lounge.

Students’ stress levels on other campuses also seem to be elevated by their faculty members. In fact, I frequently heard stories about in-classroom college talk that was often intensified by teachers who were eager to know about students’ top school choices. According to my friends, these stressful situations seem to be common at other schools, but Marlborough has successfully reduced and nearly eliminated the hostility and anxiety that students may feel on campus during application season. This relatively stress-free environment has been achieved thanks to the implementation of cultural norms that our students (and teachers) know like the back of their hands by the time they reach senior year.

If I couldn’t have avoided the “Where have you been accepted to?” and “What’s your #1 school?” questions during holidays during conversations with family and friends, I knew I could do so on campus. At school, there was never any pressure to talk about the colleges I was interested in with other classmates or faculty, which meant that during Flex or free periods,  I channeled my stressful energy into writing my applications, rather than comparing myself to my peers.

Additionally, “ignorance is bliss” will take one very far during their senior year. Contrary to what students at competitive institutions are conditioned to believe, it is not necessary to know about every decision classmates are receiving or every school they have applied to. The absence of college talk in my senior year lent itself to the creation of a supportive haven within our ever graceful halls.

Even though my classmates and I refrained from discussing college applications, we did not shy away from celebrating each other’s accomplishments related to the process. Instances like eating cupcakes with my grade to commemorate the end of application season and giving hugs to classmates who committed to a school perfectly encapsulate my experience as a member of the class of 2024.

And no, I’m not going to sugarcoat the obvious: The college application process is not all delicious baked goods and warm embraces. However, one constant throughout your senior year at Marlborough will be guaranteed: You will always be able to depend on your classmates to lift you up after the exhaustion that comes from writing endless drafts of your personal statement or explaining the difference between early action and early decision to your grandparents at Thanksgiving.

Sincerely,

Emery ’24