College used to be a great way to "figure it all out" and to grow up. NOW, we expect them to have (somehow) done all of that exploration* before they get there.
Nobody can really expect to graduate in 4y if they don't:
1) go in with preexisting credits (that way you can get priority registration** so that you can get INTO the classes you need), and
2) already know what they intend as a college major.
The general education core at US institutions now leaves very few credits to play around with along the way to finding your passion.
In talking with other parents of kids this age-- a shocking number of them are going into college without knowing what they want to get out of it, and many without any idea what they want to major in, even. The entire focus has been on Getting Into a Fabulous College. Winning! (As JonLaw might put it).
Then no magical Disney moment happens-- they don't suddenly KNOW by virtue of arrival on a college campus. Not knowing-- how can they possibly have motivation to work that hard for something that doesn't even exist in their minds? Then they experience failure as a result of the gap in their preparation versus the new demands upon them (and for some of them, it's the first time). And because they've been conditioned to hide imperfections-- they can't or won't tell anyone.
All of this LOOKS very much like generalized anxiety or garden variety depression, of course-- and on some level I suppose that it is. But I'd characterize it as an existential crisis instead. The response isn't an irrational one given the inputs they have: a) I must be perfect, b) I can no longer be perfect, c) it doesn't even matter what I do and I have no time/energy/information to consider it anyway, and d) I can't get out of this.
Sorry if I sound bitter here-- it's just that this system is SO broken-- and it's broken from absolutely top to bottom.
* Of course, this is incompatible with the production of a stellar and focused RESUME, which means heavy editing and polishing to the point of outright fabrication in some instances... or accepting that Very Elite College isn't where you're bound, which is intolerable as that means Failure Writ Large.
** The other routes to priority registration are team athletics or a disability waiver. FYI.
