university applications

University applications are getting insane these days. I need to start doing them in like a year or two, so I still have time… but i’m scared it’ll get even worse. Some of the top universities look for students with perfect extracurricular activities, even independent research before they’re 18. Which is tough, and not even accessible to many. Nowadays good grades aren’t enough to get in.

I understand that these are highly competitive universities however small unis are also approaching the same methods. 

In a few upcoming years i’m scared that the standards will be even higher and I won’t be able to get into a good uni. Because I can’t even handle so many projects and maintain good grades because of stress of doing extracurricular activities. Which I do, to be honest. Projects, events, volunteering, and more. But somehow it’s not equivalent to doing research on cancer. And I don’t have resources to do high level research. 

I don’t want to complain but smart students with a lot of money do this and get into top level unis, which I think is great, good for them. But it leaves people with perfect grades and nothing else to their name (as a backup plan, like arts, or anything unrelated to academics) on the floor. 

And I’m just scared I’ll be one of those people on the floor, picking up my scattered determination and hard work from the floor, keep them in a box, and settle for something far below from what I could have had.