The assignment was to write a modest proposal in the style of John Swift's modest proposal, and I wrote about the college application process.

A Modest Proposal With the approach of senior year, I have become conscious of a variety of easily avoidable factors that contribute to excessive stress. The principal flaw in the college admissions process is that the admissions committee does not categorize students enough. In encouraging applicants to portray their paltry personalities through the essay portion of the application, colleges effectively complicate the process for themselves and the hopeful high school senior. The entire system could …

…lead to what today's high school world knows all too well: stress due to intermingling of the academic classes. We must not allow intermingling, so as to not hinder the advancement of the advanced. What real benefits are there for exposure of the brightest students to those who will ultimately work at a blue-collar job? In all honesty, how can there be anything that Harvard graduate Tommy could learn from Mass Bay Community graduate Sally?