Alexandra Robbins - The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids

J ULIE, SENIOR PERCEIVED AS: T HE S UPERSTAR

O n the surface, Julie seemed to have it all. A straight-A student without exception since sixth grade, she took a rigorous high school curriculum that had included eight Advanced Placement classes thus far. Walt Whitman High Schools most talented female distance runner since her freshman year, Julie had co-captained the varsity cross-country, indoor track, and outdoor track teams as a junior. School and local newspapers constantly heralded her athletic accomplishments. An aspiring triathlete, Julie was president and co-founder of the Hiking Vikings Club (named for Whitmans mascot), a yoga fanatic, a member of the Spanish Honors Society, and a big buddy to a child at a homeless shelter.

As a freshman and sophomore, Julie was one of three elected class officers and, as a junior, cosports editor and costudent life editor of the yearbook before she quit. To top it off, she was a naturally pretty sixteen-year-old with a bright, mesmerizing smile, cascading dark blond ringlets, and a slender figure that she was known for dressing stylishly. Her friends constantly told her that boys had crushes on her, though she rarely picked up on those things. She was currently dating her first real boyfriend, a family friend headed to college in the fall. There were students at Whitman who revered her.

Julie had earned her summer vacation. Junior year had been stressful, both academically and socially. She took eight academic classes the first semester, skipping lunch to squeeze in an extra course. Socially, she began to question whether she belonged in her tight-knit clique of fourteen girls, a group other students knew as the River Falls crew, even though only a handful of the girls lived in that suburban Maryland neighborhood. Though Julie had known many of them since elementary school, she didnt feel comfortable opening up to them. Even in that large group of girls, she still felt alone.

Throughout her junior year, Julies hair gradually had begun to thin. In June her concerned mother took her to the doctor. After the blood tests returned normal results, the doctor informed her that thinning hair was not unheard of among junior girls, as stress can cause hair loss. Julie told no one at school about her ordeal. She was able to bulldoze through junior year with the hope that, if she pushed herself for just a little while longer, she would have a good shot at getting into her dream school. She had wanted to go to Stanford ever since she fell in love with the campus during a middle school visit. It seemed natural to her to aim high.

One summer evening, Julie was buying a striped T-shirt at J. Crew when she heard a squeal. A Whitman student who had graduated in May was bounding toward her. The graduate didnt even bother with small talk before firing off college questions: So where are you applying early? Julie demurely dodged the question with a polite smile and a wave of her hand.

The graduate wasnt deterred. Well, where are you applying to college?

I dont know, Julie said, keeping her mouth upturned.

Where have you visited?

Some New England schools, Julie said, and changed the subject. So this is what the year will be like, Julie thought. Endless questions and judgments based entirely on the name of a school. Julie hadnt decided where she would apply. She wondered if the pressure simply to know was going to be as intense as the pressure to get in.

Julies parents had hired a private college counselor to help her work through these decisions. Julie was excited for her first serious meeting with the counselor, who worked mostly with students in a competitive Virginia school district. Julie had been waiting for years to reap the benefits of her years of diligence. At last she felt like she could speak openly about her college aspirations without fear of sounding cocky.

Normally not one to saunter, Julie glided into Vera von Helsingers office, relaxed and self-assured. She crossed her long, tanned legs and politely folded her hands in her lap. After mundane small talk with Julie and her mother, Vera asked for Julies statistics and activities. Julie listed them proudly: a 4.0 unweighted GPA, a combined score of 1410 out of 1600 on the SAT, good SAT II scores, a 5 on the Advanced Placement Chemistry and English Language exams, and a 4 on the Government exam. When Julie told her college counselor about her extracurricular load, triathleticism, and interest in science, Vera proclaimed her mildly interesting.

Julie handed Vera a list she had taken the initiative to compile from Outside magazines annual ranking of top forty schools based on their outdoor opportunities. Julies list began with Stanford, Dartmouth, Williams, Middlebury, the University of Virginia, UC Santa Cruz, and the University of Miami. Vera asked, Is there anyone else at Whitman who has the same personality as you?

No, Julie said in her typically breathy voice. I consider myself an individual.

Well, Taylor is kind of a do-er, Julies mother pointed out.

Julie nodded. Taylor is an athlete who wants to apply early to Stanford, she said. Julies friend Taylor also was active in school and a good student, especially in math and science. I guess you can also say Derek. Rumor was that Julies friend Derek, widely considered Whitmans resident genius, scored his perfect 1600 on the SAT without studying until the night before the test. He had mentioned that Stanford might be his first choice.

Vera said she considered herself a brutally honest person, but Julie was nonetheless taken aback when the counselor told her not to bother applying early to Stanford because she was unlikely to get in. Applying early to that kind of a reach school, Vera said, was not a strategic move to make in the game of college applications.

Julie was crushed. She hadnt been dreaming of the California campus for so many years only to be told that even sending in an application was a waste of time. Applying early to a school she wasnt in love with didnt make sense to her. What ... what would it take for me to get into Stanford? she stammered.

You would have to have lived in Mongolia for two years or have been in a civil war, Vera replied.

Julie looked at her mother and rolled her eyes. Ive done everything within my power that I can do, Julie thought. Its not my fault I live a normal life! Vera caught the glance. It was so difficult to get into college these days, she told Julie, that if she didnt have her lineup of interesting extracurriculars, the best school she could consider was George Washington University. I dont have a chance at my dream school when Ive done everything right, Julie thought, feeling helpless. If Taylor and Derek got into Stanford and she didnt apply because of a counselors strategy, she would be angry, because she was just as qualified.

After the meeting, Julie channeled her frustration into a journal entry:

The mix of schools on my list must have been bewildering to Vera because she asked how much prestige mattered to me. Evaluating the importance of prestige reminded me of shopping. Some people only like clothes once they find out they are designerSeven jeans, Juicy Couture shirts, North Face fleecesbut I get much more satisfaction out of getting the same look (or, in my humble opinion, a better look) from no-name brands. The label matters to a lot of people, but not to me. Unfortunately, I dont feel the same way about college. I wish I could have said that it doesnt matter and that I know I can be successful anywhere, but I grew up in Potomac and go to Whitman, so obviously prestige is important to me. As an example, Vera asked me to choose between UC Santa Cruz and Cornell. I deliberated for quite a while, trying to will myself to say Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz is beautiful on the outside, but I hear Cornell is, too. Also, I always hear about the people who commit suicide at Cornell, while everyone is supposedly happy and totally chill at Santa Cruz. However, Cornell is in the Ivy League, which would make it attractive to many people. They both have their pros and cons, I said diplomatically.