Oh, come on!

Yesterday's NYT had an article about an increasing number of teenagers taking up squash (the sport, not the very tasty genus of plant native to the Americas). Apparently, with the sport's growth, many Ivy-plus schools are recruiting more varsity players. First of all, call me old fashioned, but I think the only reason a kid should take up squash is that he or she enjoys playing squash. Second of all, if you play squash to make your application stand out, won't it go into a pile with all the other squash players who are trying to make their applications stand out? Finally, everyone knows the best way to get into a good school is to move to a rural state--West Virginia, South Dakota, perhaps even Alaska :)

Of course, the larger issue is an older story--the college admissions industry and the cutthroat competition to get into those few schools that U.S. News puts in its top tiers based on a few numbers that ultimately don't mean very much . . .