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My Reverse College Application

reversecollegeapplication.com

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Re: My Reverse College Application

#3
>Third, the college application undermines my value as an individual. Over the past seventeen years, I pursued my passions, excelled at every task I set my mind to, and tried to give back to the community that got me to where I am today. I should be in demand.

You're conflating your value as an individual with your value to other people. Pursuing passions and giving back is great for your value as an individual, but most of the world doesn't actually care. Unless your passion is something that other people can use to make money, it's not going to be relevant to anyone else. I don't care if someone I hire to do a job is the world's greatest amateur ichthyologist if I'm hiring them to do a job that doesn't involve fish.

The sooner you learn this, the better off you will be. I used to believe similarly that if I worked hard, went to school, and got a degree, that would be enough to get me a decent job. I was wrong. Nobody cared about any of that. All they wanted to know was could I do anything for them that would make them more money than it cost to hire me.

By all means, pursue whatever passions you want, but don't think it's necessarily going to get you anywhere in the world.

Re: My Reverse College Application

#5
I applied to colleges back in 2006/7. Did something drastic happen to college application competitiveness in the last decade or so? I'd understand getting only rejections if he only applied to Ivys or something; but, I have a hard time accepting that he's anywhere outside of the caliber of the top 10% of applicants. Is it because of the degree programs he applied to?

Re: My Reverse College Application

#6
I can no way put myself into your shoes and behave like I understand. I don’t. If it was me, I would be heart broken at that age. Now that I’m older and done with college, I feel a sense of relief for him. But that’s maybe because I’m projecting my experience on to what I should’ve felt if I didn’t go to college.

Financial, parental, social stress aside, this is beautiful. It definitely seems like you have a better head on your shoulders than I did at your age.

What ever path you choose, just stay positive, work on yourself, shoot for things, let time do it’s thing.

Re: My Reverse College Application

#7

Just go to a state school like a normal person.

I actually sort of agree; it comes out that he did, in fact, get in to a number of schools and he concedes that even if he'd gotten into one of his desired schools he would still have written something like this.

It might make sense to do this kind of thing as a personal reflection or inducement to growth, but the article itself makes the author seem mostly self-aggrandizing and smug.

But I was a real shit -- probably worse, honestly -- at 18, so who am I to judge the form that this reflection takes?

Re: My Reverse College Application

#10
There's nothing wrong with this guy except for maybe the fact that he thinks he deserves to get into a top school. Top schools are really just as good as a lot of lower acceptance rate schools. The point is the piece of paper, not necessarily where you go. Where you go has ancillary benefits like connections and more opportunity, but that doesn't make you any lesser if you take a school with less of that. Some of the smartest people in the world didn't even go to college.
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