Analysis of “The Overachievers” Essay

College application season could be the most nerve-racking period of time for almost any high school pupil. The mixture of regret for not doing better in school, question in your own probability of admission, and the fear of being rejected is enough in order to even the most stable college students. Author Alexandra Robbins, however , realized that the strain of college admission starts some time before, as well as lingers well following, the actual program period.

Through her observations, she proves that the current education method is transforming college students into GPA-obsessed, narrow-minded creatures, and that the challenges of applying to a apparent “prestigious” college or university have a multitude of negative side results. Her initially argument issues how educational institutions and the entire application program as a whole is definitely systematically turning flesh and blood learners into simply sets of numbers. She explains just how students currently are only worried about three numbers: their SEATED scores, all their GPAs, and their class rates high.

She procedes explain that the obsession with these three numbers can be causing learners to lose eyesight of what high school is absolutely meant for; obtaining a sufficient learning experience although preparing one self for the trials of school life. Instead, high school has changed into a mad dash for the best probability of being accepted into schools. This characteristic is exemplified in AP Frank whom, forcefully urged by his mother, got all 17 AP classes Whitman high have to offer, a great inconceivable work load that essential he by pass his lunch period day-to-day.

Going off on a tangent, Robbins also makes a point about the “no child left behind” policy and severely criticizes it for forcing professors to focus more on evaluation scores instead of actually educating. Early available, Robbins personifies her aversion to turning students in numbers as college vestibule counselors. She believes this group of people may be the epitome of for what reason the application systems are so mistaken, and first puts on this idea by launching the reader to Julie’s college counselor, Observara.

Vera is very obsessed about her personal image and is also so persuaded that Julie will never be recognized into her dream college based solely on her levels and test out scores that she drops Julie being a client. Robbins’ second disagreement that makes multiple appearances over the course of the book is a assertion the fact that high amounts of stress activities by kids today is really deadly. Inside the quest to be accepted right into a prestigious school, students today take work loads that at times is too very much, causing those to mentally breeze.

In this case, a great unimaginable workload is put onto AP Frank simply by his oppressive mother, which Robbins says is quite prevalent in East Asian countries, but not all the overachievers have had all their workload place onto these people. Audrey, the perceived “Perfectionist” doesn’t actually have numerous reasons to always be stressed like a of her classmates, although her state of mind of having to do everything perfectly causes her to be below unnecessary tension. For example , that wasn’t required that your woman spend all of her week-ends and leisure time constructing the perfect bridge on her behalf physics category, but her tendency to always need to be the best caused it to be so.

The girl spent time in which the lady could have been soothing or decompressing on doing work vigorously. The resulting tension has been known to cause college student suicide costs to rise around the world. Back at your home, Julie as well feels the end results as your woman notices that her locks has begun to fall out. She dismisses that as only the side effects of her academically demanding your life, but what she fails to know is that stress-induced symptoms would be the first signs of serious long lasting damage and an increased chance that she will one day emotionally break. Total, Robbins remarks increasingly damaging flaws inside our current education system, such as turning pupils into info and burdening them with potentially fatal work loads.

She also presents the information in a sense that allows someone to connect with all the students of Whitman High on an emotional level, which, over time, better help the reader understand the severity in the situation.