From the beginning of their freshman year, Webb students are aware that they will soon be filling out college applications and that the expectation is for them is to get into and go to college. Webb is one of the top college preparatory schools in America, with many outstanding programs and advisors to help its students get into and succeed in their dream colleges.  

But does Webb put too much stress on college admissions, and does that cause unnecessary harm to the community? Students and faculty have shared their thoughts about this topic. 

Emily Thornton (‘24) 

As a senior at the tail end of the harrowing process of college applications, Emily Thornton (‘25) is, like most of her classmates, stressed about what college she will be attending. 

“I think everyone here is kind of stressed,” Emily said. “I do think Webb puts this really big emphasis on ‘if you don’t go to college –– you’re doomed,’ and if you don’t go to a good top 100 4-year university, it’s going to break your future.” 

Regarding being accepted to a “good” college, Emily thinks that a lot of pressure to go to a top 100 school, specifically an Ivy League institution, is heaped on students by Webb. Also, that students are taught that their academic worth is tied to what school they get into. Statistically, the average Ivy League acceptance rate is 5.7%, so every Webb student attending one of these universities is unrealistic. 

As someone who has been through the process of college guidance at Webb, Emily thinks that there should be more support and information regarding college applications available for students, especially when applying to international schools, and that a lot of stress students feel comes from this lack of information and knowledge about the process. 

“I think that they don’t start early enough, and they don’t tell us the things that we need to do early”, Emily said. “If you’re applying to a UK College, you need to know [the requirements] by the end of sophomore year. And if nobody tells you that you don’t know. And so, I think there’s a lot of pressure to get into a good college but a lack of information on how to do it.” 

Kat Lazar (‘28) 

Though she is a freshman and just entering high school, Kat Lazar (‘28) is already looking ahead to the future and thinking about college. She credits this awareness about the future to the competitive atmosphere of the Webb community. 

“[College] is kind of always surrounded,” Kat said. “Teachers and friends are always like ‘oh this is better for your college resume’, or ‘don’t do this, it won’t look good for college’. It’s like tracking me in everything I do”. 

Despite this, Kat knows that what college she ends up at does not define her, and she is confident that by working hard, she will get into a school she is happy with. She also mentioned that she feels pressure from the Webb community and her parents to go to college, but that it is not overwhelming. 

As a freshman, Kat thinks that Webb does not put too much stress on getting into college, but she anticipates that this will change once she becomes an upperclassman, and the stress of college admissions will become more intense. 

Rhemi Abrams-Fuller, College Guidance Faculty 

In her third year of college counseling, Rhemi Abrams-Fuller, College Guidance Faculty, thinks Webb students are particularly stressed about college, sometimes too early. In her experience, she has seen that parents are a big perpetrator of stress. But stress and expectations from other students, especially in places like Webb, also play a large role. 

“I think stress tends to sort of resonate and bounce from source to source here,” Ms. Abrams-Fuller said. “So, if one student or one group of students is feeling stressed, I can see it bouncing to different groups of students, even younger students, and I think we [faculty, staff, and administration] perpetuate some of that with the way that we talk about college.” 

On the one hand, Ms. Abrams-Fuller believes that thinking or dreaming about going to college from an early age is beneficial and can be important for students to remember why they want to go to college later on. On the other hand, she thinks that Webb equates worrying about college to students worrying that they are not good enough to go to college, which is an unhealthy mindset. 

Overall, Ms. Abrams-Fuller does not think that Webb puts too much stress on getting into college but rather places too much emphasis on where students should go to college. 

“I would say there’s too much stress at Webb about getting into what is considered a good college,” Ms. Abrams-Fuller said. “And people’s definition of a good college is often misguided and far too narrow”. 

The fact is that every Webb student will most likely be filling out college applications sometime soon, and it is important to ask questions like these before too much stress is placed on students so that when they begin to fill out their college applications, they don’t feel added, unnecessary stress from the atmosphere surrounding them.