As a junior, college acceptance is a topic that seems to be brought up in conversation at least once a day. The stress of maintaining a high GPA, getting a high SAT/ACT score and earning an abundance of Student Service Learning (SSL) hours is constantly on the high school student’s mind.

The process of being good enough to get into your dream college is a challenge on which students should not be focusing. Instead, students should be focusing their attention on gaining knowledge and bettering themselves as people. Recently, most colleges, including Ivy League schools, have begun looking at whole applications and who the people really are when considering new students. Admissions have been looking at what the applicant is passionate about, how that person plans to spend their time in college and how that person will benefit their campus. This is a direct result of college freshmen being too stressed out when arriving their freshman year. Colleges have recognized this is not an environment that is healthy for anyone. 

This attitude change among college admissions is a positive step towards making society a more stable learning environment.