What are we doing here?

If I have learned anything from this book so far, it is probably how insignificant my story seems in comparison with everyone else who was applying to college at the same time as me. There are so many times Portia seems to lump all the students in the same general categories, from this type of "I have good scores but no remarkable feats" to the kids who wrote the "I traveled far and learned x, ,y and z" essay. While Portia's role in the story may be serving to try and personify the college-application process, if anything, this just discourages my opinion of the whole thing. Everything is so stereotypical, and no matter how hard you try to present yourself as the exception to the rules, you're still perpetuating the archetypal "look at me, I'm different" student. You fill out the little boxes and basically give the admissions counselors your entire life story in a couple pages and less than 500 words or so, only to lump yourself into a category. I know she tries to explain that this process is flawed in that certain kids do not come across well on their applications or in person, but this does not remedy the situation.

She even remarks upon how it is almost a gamble on who to pick for the next incoming freshman class, with her metaphor of the "seemingly identical sheep who cram themselves into a building...[and] only a thin lie of sheep trickled out into bountiful sheep" (212). It seems like in terms of college admissions, we're all the same. It doesn't matter about us as individuals, but rather just as numbers. If you pick enough high SAT scores, enough international students and diverse students, enough strong writers, enough talented athletes and musicians and debaters, you will formulaically compose a strong class. It does not matter who these people are, just what numbers they compose after everything is said and done. I mean, this isn't a shocker or revelation; college is pretty much a game of chance to begin with, as I am not really anymore qualified to be here than another student with similar scores and similar activities. We all think we have a hook, an edge or something that sets us apart, but we fail to remember that everyone has something that makes them ideal for acceptance. While the book is trying to point out that there is some degree of thought behind admissions, I can't really take it seriously by the constant references to the lack of difference from one accepted student to the other.