Jan Vašek via Pixabay

Few schools are more fortunate or affluent than PV. Most students here at school come from well-to-do families and expect to go to college. Unlike some schools, where few graduating students move on to higher education, only a minority fail to do so at PV.

The school deserves credit for this as well, as it offers many college-level courses and prepares students well for that next step.

For some students at PV, college itself is not a noteworthy achievement. These students are not trying to attend a college, but instead are aiming for acceptance at elite institutions. Such high aspirations are admirable. Gifted students with the means to attend those schools should not be deterred from doing so.

However, amongst those certain student groups their aspirations come with a host of associated problems.

Due to the highly competitive nature of top universities in the United States, some students feel as if they are competing with other students for those top spots. They believe that many of those schools wouldn’t take multiple students from the same school in Iowa and thus other classmates could be stealing their spot at those institutions.

Students therefore become agitated when other students apply to the same school they hope to get into, fearing that the other student might take their spot.

Due also to the importance that students put on where they are accepted, students can be unwilling to share where they applied. Privacy itself is certainly not a bad thing, but the reasons behind their unwillingness can be telling. If students are unwilling to divulge where they applied due to fear of others finding out that they were rejected, that speaks volumes to the culture of the school.

The amalgamation of competitiveness mixed with the import placed on final acceptance creates an environment of jealousy and secrecy that detracts from students’ experiences at school.

Such problems are not relegated to PV, but are widespread amongst competitive high schools. And PV certainly isn’t the worst offender, paling in comparison to some private schools or public schools in regions like Palo Alto.

It may well be that such problems are inherent, but perhaps at the very least an effort should be made not to temper the dreams of these students. Instead it should be to promote a culture of collegiality rather than competitiveness.