‘Where’s Waldo?’ The College Admissions Process Gets Sillier as New Essay Prompts Arrive – Opinion

Have you ever wondered, “where is Waldo, really?” If you have, then might be the perfect college applicant, because institutions of higher education are now posing such deep questions as essay prompts, according to the Wall Street Journal.

I would respond as follows:

It’s always ‘Where’s Waldo?’ and never ‘How’s Waldo?’ pic.twitter.com/1ZwoyUDHy3

— Rombutan (@rombutans) August 1, 2022

The admissions process begins in earnest this month, as the Common App, accepted at over 1,000 colleges and universities, officially became available on August 1, sending high-school seniors’ stress levels to the stratosphere and freaking out anxious parents.

Happiness #CommonAppDay! For many students who are pursuing college goals, today marks the start of an exciting journey. Now available is the 2022-2023 Common App 🎉 pic.twitter.com/lcRJwnLC6E

— Common App (@CommonApp) August 1, 2022

With around 72 percent schools making college entrance exams such as the SAT/ACT mandatory, essays and applications are even more essential than ever. Admission consultants are sure to tell you that essays should be written with passion. How exactly do you do that, though, when schools like the highly-competitive University of Chicago ask you, “What advice would a wisdom tooth have?”

“What am I supposed to do with that?” asks 16-year-old Rachel, who is still deciding on where she will apply.

What is the point of asking such irrelevant, and seemingly absurd questions to colleges? Peter Wilson, U of Chicago admissions director, explains the lessons he hopes to gain from these questions. The WSJ reports:

“How do they think? How do they play with ideas?” Off-the-wall prompts, which have long been a tradition at the school, also tell the applicant something about the university. “Constantly pushing boundaries and creativity, that’s the type of culture we create here.”

You can also find other weird prompts like these:

• The University of Maryland asks what’s your favorite thing… about last Tuesday?
• Chapman University, meanwhile, asks applicants what dish would they cook for the school’s admission staff.
• Princeton University, not wanting to be left out, wants to know: “What song represents the soundtrack of your life at this moment?”
• The University of Vermont has a burning desire to find out, “Which Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor (real or imagined) best describes you?”
• More from the U of Chicago: “Genghis Khan with an F1 racecar. George Washington and a Super Soaker. The toaster of Emperor Nero. Leonardo da Vinci using a Furby. If you could give any historical figure any piece of technology, who and what would it be, and why do you think they’d work so well together?”

Although these questions might seem bizarre, admissions isn’t. Kacey Fifield, a high-school student writing for International Policy Digest reports that 4 out of 5 Americans think that the college admissions process is unfair. They were certainly not alone in their concerns about the system’s riggedness after the Varsity Blues scandal. Asians felt also discriminated against and filed a lawsuit against Harvard University after losing the first round. But, on October 31, the Supreme Court will hear this case as well as another one regarding affirmative action. It is unclear if Justices will decide that race-based admissions are unconstitutional.

Young adults are often anxious about the entire thing, according to Ms. Fifield.

In fact, 66% of high school students reported “often or always” feeling worried about getting accepted to attend their chosen college, with the stress levels of modern-day teenagers far exceeding those of their adult counterparts.

Students can stand out by being involved in extracurricular activities and winning awards. It can create problems.

Students in high school are often involved with too many activities, thinking that it is the best way to gain admission into college. Being involved in activities solely for the purpose of college applications takes a toll on students; they’re often filling their time with activities that they don’t even enjoy while consequently jeopardizing their grades, social lives, and mental health. With an ever-growing “arms race” mentality, each generation of high school students increasingly attempt to one-up their peers, constantly adding onto their workloads in order to appear more impressive than their classmates in front of colleges.

While the college admissions process may be flawed in some ways, my two children were able to make it through and get into schools that they liked. It is another topic (hint, RedState readers would be shocked) to find out what colleges really teach. I’ve got two more going through the maze, though, I only hope they can find their perfect schools and Waldo.