If it's that flawed, then don't play the game.
I think the point is that this problem is a societal problem, not something at the level of individuals. I'm very concerned that we're creating a nation of young adults who've been taught how to climb a ladder, rather than taught how to make thoughtful decisions. Obviously, the problem is bigger than admissions at competitive colleges, but the admissions process is still a huge problem.
Bostonian's message about his wife taking his five-year-old to golf lessons to improve her chances for getting into college is a case in point. The tiger mom movement is another case in point. We toured a local prep school last year and the parent who spoke to the group spent (I am not making this up) at least 15 minutes talking about admissions to IVY LEAGUE SCHOOLS!!! I could go on. It's completely insane, and IMO, it does serious damage to our kids and young adults.
Education as a whole (there are exceptions of course) seems to have stopped being about creating thoughtful citizens and is now more about, I don't know, shallow stuff.
