High schoolers are becoming more and more stressed when it comes to college applications. Many of us, as early as 7th or 8th grade, show signs of worry about the future. Mylene Bram, LILA’s Dean of Student Life, weighs in.

By Ella Erez – 9th grade.

Many studies have shown that the teenagers of this generation are much more prone to depression, suicide and anxiety. 44% of American teens feel or have felt “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness.” The Atlantic names some causes: social media use is number one, but we have all heard of that. Another is that because of technology, teenagers have much better access to the news, which can have a positive impact but also a stressful one. But the last one is interesting; something we don’t hear talked about as a negative impact, or a cause of stress and higher levels of anxiety. An economist, Valerie Ramey, has said that she “couldn’t believe the amount of pressure (her) friends were putting on their kids to get ready for college.” The Atlantic reports that “college pressures skyrocket.” 52% of high school students feel pressure to make decisions about their future too soon. 

So why is this happening? What’s changed? Many high school students have parents who haven’t gone to college, and so they want to provide their children with opportunities that they themselves didn’t have. This makes sense, but it can also create means for high schoolers to feel pressure. An explanation could be that this kind of pressure and stress derives from the “success story,” the stories about how xyz person made it big and became successful due to them attending a prestigious college. 

11th grader Melanie Ballard said about her parents, “They are both in the medical field, and they want me to go to college so I can have more job opportunities, and be financially stable.” This also makes sense, and going to college will help you broaden your career choices, but it is possible to become successful without college, and not many high schoolers hear that story. Many parents and teachers create the idea that real success in life can only be achieved by going to college, and from there securing a well-paying job. In modern society, it’s pretty clear that being ‘successful’ in life means attending a good college, then finding a good, high-ranking job that pays very well. But should this really be our idea of what true success in life looks like? Is this what should be taught to young middle and high schoolers who are making decisions about their future and college so early?

The Commoner, a student news site for John R. Rogers High School in Puyallup, Washington released a poll asking, “Do you feel pressured to go to college?” Out of 743 voters, 93% voted ‘yes’ and 7% voted ‘no.’ 

To get a broader opinion, I’ve interviewed Mylene, LILA’s Dean of Campus Life.

“For the students, somehow, the pressure is that the sooner they know where they want to go, the better they are, the smarter they are. So they keep on looking at the GPA, which doesn’t help, and it creates anxiety, it creates students that don’t sleep very well. And we try to catch that, but it’s so much in the system. For me, it’s sad to see that they are worrying four or five years in advance.”

“We’re waiting on excellence for the students. It’s one of our core values, and it’s something that the students take literally, that the success will come based on what college you’re going to go to. So they even forget about who they are, what they really want, and they do it according to expectations from the school or from their family. They’re stressed, and they have a lot of anxiety. And I totally understand that.” 

“They don’t even have time to be teenagers, to enjoy the moment.”

After having listened to what Mylene had to say about the subject and after having done the research, I think it’s safe to say that this kind of pressure and stress being forced on students so young is definitely a rising problem, and one that many people don’t acknowledge or even see.