College applications are no enjoyable undertaking. Obviously, I have no first-person experience with this arduous task as of yet, but weeks of listening to my older sister panicking in front of her computer as she wrote and rewrote her essay, as well as first-hand accounts from my friends in grades above me seem to confirm that this is a fairly accurate statement. Even now, colleges are becoming increasingly more difficult to get accepted to, with admissions offices raising their standards intimidatingly high. The average senior from 2012 applied to more than nine different schools, frightened into doing so by the fear that they just aren’t exceptional enough for the one or two schools in that mix which they actually care about. And simply skipping college doesn’t have too many bright prospects in a society where the majority of respectable professions require some sort of degree. 

So why put students through all this trouble and then, on top of everything, demand a fee just for being interested in a school? With the dizzying heights tuition rates are reaching nowadays, it’s hardly as though most colleges are grasping for small change. For example, Harvard University, one of the most prestigious schools in our country, costs between sixty and sixty-five thousand dollars to attend. However, this university, which, in 2013, received 35,023 applications, charges a whole seventy-five dollars per applicant. And, unless you’re part of the minuscule 5.4 percent of applicants who got accepted in 2013, then all that money was spent for just another rejection letter.  Stamp costs may be getting higher, but there’s no way they have reached that point just yet. 

I recently watched a movie called Admission, starring Tina Fey, about a Princeton admissions officer. In one scene, Fey’s character is confronted with criticism that the admissions office encourages all students, whether they are “Princeton material” or not, to apply, simply for the sake of the admission fee. I realize that Hollywood is not a reliable source, but after searching on many college websites for some kind of reasoning behind the fee and coming up empty-handed, I found myself wondering how far off a scheme for profits could possibly be. 

With tuition, room, board, meals, and other costs sufficiently supplying most colleges’ considerable piggy banks, surely cutting off admissions fees won’t make much of a dent. Student loans do enough damage in today’s society, so why can’t colleges give students a little break before they’re hit with a storm of financial responsibilities?

Sources: http://www.thecrimson.com/article/2013/3/28/class-of-2017-admissions/