Just went through the whole application process with my daughter. It was horrible. It&#x27;s a mess. It&#x27;s sinister in the way it affected our family.<p>Pursuing a university degree should start with an exploration of:
 - &quot;What am I good at, really?&quot;
 - &quot;What do I love, really?&quot;
 - &quot;What matters to me, really?&quot;<p>But what we saw all through high school was simply:
 - &quot;What can I do today that will improve my chances of getting into Harvard?&quot;<p>Humans are prone to wanting the wrong things, and especially so when misperceptions lead us to believe they are the right things. I don&#x27;t know how to ultimately fix the college-chasing-helicopter-parenting-test-prepping-personality-skewing of today&#x27;s admissions process, but I&#x27;ve started by reinforcing to my younger daughter that what matters is her, not the the university she goes to.