<p>High school has become a means to an end, Thacker says, recalling the father who asked him what sport his 9-year-old should play in order to get into an Ivy League school. Playing the harp becomes a means to getting into Oberlin. Attending the summer soccer camp turns into a line item on the application to Stanford. Going to the Galapagos for the summer gets milked in the interview with MIT.</p>
<p>"The message to the kids is, ‘We don’t really care about you as a person,’ " MIT’s Jones says. "We care about the product. The seal of approval is the college you’re admitted to. That says, ‘Yes that school district was good, yes, that parent was good.’ It’s not about the kid.’ "</p>
<p>What happens when a student spends her life preparing to get into the perfect school and gets in, Thacker asks. Now what?</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>He’s unsure of the next step. Thacker wants someone to research the health effects of student anxiety. His supporters have cleaved in two: High-school counselors want him to advocate for change in the admissions process, for instance, by demanding that colleges refuse to participate in the rankings, as Reed College has done. The admissions people would prefer that his nonprofit serve as “a council of elders,” a think tank to discuss problems and solutions.</p>
<p>“He’s now sort of a rock star” at conferences, says Poch from Pomona. “And while high-school counselors and admissions counselors can nod their heads, they aren’t the policy-makers.”</p>
<p>Thacker needs to get to the presidents, trustees and school principals, Poch says. He needs to get on Oprah.</p>
<p>It’s unclear whether Thacker has that ambition.</p>
<p>“I have no single prescription” for the problem, he says.</p>
<p>He knows that in order to clean up this mess, all the players students, parents, high schools and, most importantly, colleges will have to take the leap together.</p>
<p>To that end, Thacker has collected a list of guidelines for students and parents, telling them such obvious things as “be yourself.” But he’s made no such list for colleges.</p>
<p>Beyond the talk, it’s still a long way to the leap.</p>
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