Urvi Kulkarni

For every student proudly posting their college decision, there are plenty more students disappointed by their college rejections.

Imagine you just got rejected from your dream college only to log onto Instagram to see all of your classmates who got in. This scenario is all too familiar for many Carlmont students as they watch post after post flood into Carlmont’s college decisions Instagram account, @Scotsnextsteps, showcasing their classmates getting into the very colleges they dreamed of getting into. While there is absolutely a time and place to celebrate such accomplishments, Instagram may not be the prime location for such announcements. 

Students who got into top schools are unsurprisingly overrepresented on Scotsnextsteps. While the students posting are clearly well-intentioned students who are eager to share their future plans, I fear that such posts do more harm than good. It’s wonderful to be proud of where all your hard work has led you, but sharing these achievements in such a public manner can be unproductive, especially when there are so many deserving students who didn’t get into their dream schools. The students who are excited about their plans should be excited irrespective of public acknowledgment, and the students who are less excited about their plans should be able to exist in a physical and digital realm free from constant reminders of others’ college decisions. 

I also worry that college decision accounts perpetuate the idea that the college you go to is intrinsically connected to the person you are. The notion that one’s value or success is tied to the prestige of their college worsens stress and competition among students and undermines people’s reasoning as to why they chose the college they did. Not everyone has the luxury of going to the most prestigious school they got into due to financial reasons or other obligations and not everyone cares to go to the most prestigious school they got into, and that’s okay.

As a senior, I find myself constantly preempted by the question, “What college are you going to?”  This pervasive question reflects our societal obsession with elite education as a symbol of worth and achievement. Many are drawn to prestigious colleges not because of the quality of education they offer but because of the status they confer. Scotsnextsteps exemplifies this: it reduces students to a name, a photo, a college, and a major, stripping away the personal context of their decision.

College decision accounts also open the door for people to deliberate over whether or not you are deserving of the college you got into. It adds an unnecessary layer of scrutiny and judgment to what is already a stressful process, fostering a climate where students feel evaluated not just by admissions officers, but by their own classmates.

It’s crucial to remember that for every student who got into their dream school, there are many more who did not. What might seem like a harmless way to celebrate can inadvertently discourage others. In celebrating our next steps, we must consider the broader impact of how and where we choose to share our news.

*This editorial reflects the views of the Scot Scoop Editorial Board and was written by Charlotte Gordon.

The Editorial Board voted 8 in agreement, 1 somewhat in agreement, and 6 refrained from voting.