The following article includes mention of suicide.
Tomorrow, tens of thousands of students will swarm to their laptops, eagerly awaiting regular-decision admission results from the eight Ivy League schools. For some, these decisions will feel like the crowning achievement of their high school years. Their excited screams will be posted on the internet, inspiring future applicants for years to come. For others, however, the infamous Ivy Day brings nothing but disappointment, embarrassment, and a fundamental feeling of inadequacy.
The day when all the Ivy League schools release their regular decision results — coined “Ivy Day” — represents the accumulation of months, maybe even years, of immense stress and pressure to succeed. Compounding the pressures of as many as eight extremely impactful admissions decisions on a single day only multiplies and exacerbates the pressure facing high school seniors. To help alleviate this stress, Princeton should shed its loyalty to Ivy Day and opt to release their regular decision results as early as possible.
Ivy League schools do not coordinate the release of their early decision or early action results to fall together on the same day, meaning there is no reason for Princeton to add to the already overwhelming stress facing applicants by releasing its regular decision results on Ivy Day alongside its peers.
When a student is receiving up to eight high-stakes decisions in the same day, they may not be able to separate and process each decision as they might had they come out as isolated decisions at distinct times. A potential inundation of bad news could cause them to internalize feelings of inadequacy and hopelessness. The compounded effect of collective decision release is exemplified by the thousands of applicants who post about their stress and disappointment surrounding Ivy Day on r/ApplyingToCollege, a subreddit dedicated to college admissions. One person described how they couldn’t fall asleep at 3 a.m. because they kept “thinking about my decision later today.” In response, the top comment agrees, “I feel sick. Like I’m going to vomit. Years of hard work and a few words will tell me if it was enough or not.”
There are also students who have experienced this burden of anxiety, pressure, and diminished self-worth more severely. Last year on Ivy Day, Lucas Lee, a senior at Phillips Academy in Andover, died by suicide after he did not receive any acceptances. While we can’t know precisely why Lee made such a devastating choice, his suicide demonstrates that the simultaneous release of all Ivy League decisions contributes to the extreme pressure that many highly achieving high school students feel.
Competing schools such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Chicago, which also have a similar number of applicants, release decisions nearly two weeks earlier than the Ivy League without coordinating with other schools and are comparably well-regarded. Thus, there should be no reason why Ivy Leagues need so much time to finalize decisions. Waiting until the end of the admissions cycle to release on the same day feels like a shallow endeavor to generate suspense and thus manufacture increased stakes for Ivy League admissions decisions.
The benefits of moving up Princeton’s decisions aren’t limited to mental health. An earlier decision date would give students more time to consider their acceptances and explore financial options, resulting in a more thoughtful and well-informed decision.
Moreover, it could relieve stress early, allowing students to focus on their futures in college and not whether they’ll get into a specific one. The goal of college decisions should not be to play mind games with vulnerable students but rather to provide applicants with clear plans for their futures that are relevant to the fields they’d like to pursue.
The University should dedicate itself to releasing decisions on the earliest day possible because it should be working to optimize the process for students, not for itself. Instead of clinging to an outdated paradigm of Ivy League eliteness, it’s time for Princeton to be fair to its applicants.
Audrey Tan is a prospective Economics major from Pullman, Wash. She is an Opinion columnist for the ‘Prince.’ You can reach her at at4887[at]princeton.edu.
Read More
Continue funding access and opportunity
Vitalia SpatolaReducing funding for EBCAO, especially alongside layoffs and program restructuring elsewhere, would disproportionately affect students — both Princeton and transfer — who already face systemic barriers.
Reducing funding for EBCAO, especially alongside layoffs and program restructuring elsewhere, would disproportionately affect students — both Princeton and transfer — who already face systemic barriers.
Gender dynamics inform our intellectual experience, whether we know it or not
Lily Halbert-AlexanderWe must directly address and explore gender’s impact on the classroom rather than leave it to fester, visibly or invisibly, in an effort to deny its existence in the first place.
We must directly address and explore gender’s impact on the classroom rather than leave it to fester, visibly or invisibly, in an effort to deny its existence in the first place.
The N.J.-12 congressional race isn’t worth our precious time
Ian RosenzweigA crowded race where any one voter’s preferred candidate is extremely unlikely to win isn’t the best outlet for our limited political energies; the attention on this primary doesn’t mean it deserves a monopoly over our political consciousness. Instead, we should focus on being effective constituents of the polities to which we belong: Princeton’s campus and our home districts.