This August, a class-action lawsuit accused 32 elite colleges, including Brown University, Dartmouth College and Vanderbilt University, of using their Early Decision (ED) programs in ways that drive up tuition prices and unfairly restrict students’ choices. The case argues that the schools have made an already binding process even more restrictive, limiting students’ ability to compare financial aid offers and largely benefiting wealthier applicants.

This development, along with other controversies around the college process, reveals what college admissions has become: a game based less on merit and more on strategy that pressures students to make a binding decision about a school they may not be entirely sure they want to attend in order to heighten their chances of admission.

These stressors are only intensified by the high school environment, where the college process has turned into a large source of pressure and comparison rather than self-discovery.

Ultimately, the college system has become deeply flawed, prioritizing wealth and strategy over the holistic approach it claims to follow, and encouraging a culture that often hurts students’ well-being and sense of purpose. This is a phenomenon we must actively resist.

Schools aren’t just focused on education; to them, our futures are a game as well. They want as many applicants as possible to preserve their low acceptance rates. They obsessively track demonstrated interest and reject overqualified candidates to maintain high yield rates. They generate substantial earnings by charging exorbitant application fees.

They try to game their statistics to climb up in the rankings just as much as students play the game to get into prestigious colleges. By feeding into this game, we only help them.

At the high school, the college admissions competition has created a culture of pressure and comparison, where many students tend to focus less on finding the right fit and more on scoring the most points by attending the most prestigious school. We tend to forget that we are not just looking for a box to check and a place to brag about going to; we are looking for somewhere to be every day for the next four years of our lives, a place where class size, housing, campus culture and much more must align with what we want.

When talking to any senior during the fall, chances are college will come up. Questions like “where are you applying?” and “what did you get on the SAT?” fill the halls. Every winter, Instagram feeds are flooded with commitment posts, where “how did she get in?” or “I was expecting better” sneak into everyday conversations. The game underlies even the most innocent of posts, questions and conversations about our college plans.

We know the college process is flawed. We also know the college culture at our high school is flawed. Out of the two, we can only realistically control the latter. If the college admissions system is so messed up, then why do we give it so much attention? Why do we let it dictate how we view ourselves and each other, when we should be united to compete against its injustices?

Why do we play into the game?

There’s not really any choice. Despite how messed up the system has become, college itself, for many, is the right next step. To get there, we have to be concerned about silly things like demonstrated interest and standardized testing.

But just because we’re players, doesn’t mean we have to act like it.

We don’t think we should avoid college as a topic entirely, but we think we need to reframe the way we approach it. Instead of discussing college based on rankings and statistics, we should talk about the experience.

Ask yourself: if no one else knew what school you were going to, how would that change your decisions and your self-perception? And, if no one else knew what school you were going to, would that have anything to do with your ability to thrive there?

So, lead your interactions with empathy and understanding. Ask questions like “Why do you want to spend the next four years there?” Try to genuinely understand the person you talk to, keep an open mind and know that what works for them will not always work for everybody else. Do not be the one to feed into the culture of judgment that plagues our school.