I remember my first few days at Binghamton University vividly. Moving away from home and being thrown into a new environment is a shock, and it’s hard to forget. I recall the first few conversations I had with my current suitemates perfectly. Most of them were centered around a common theme: why we didn’t want to be at BU.

One of my suitemates said, “I got into Cornell, but couldn’t afford to go.” Another girl chimed in with a similar sentiment, and then another one said that she regrets coming here, even though we had only been here for less than two days. Our conversation then evolved to where we applied to school and where we were admitted, our SAT scores, the number of Advanced Placement classes we took and our class rankings. These topics seemed drawn out. After four years of agonizing over college admissions, I wondered why this chapter of our lives hadn’t finally ended.

To me, it seems that hypercompetitive environments in high school led to these conversations. Instead of focusing on the four years ahead of us, we were reliving the accomplishments and hardships we had faced the past four years. It is evident that the competitive atmosphere in high schools across the nation is generated by increasingly selective college admissions. Each year, admission rates decline and prestige rises. In 2016, Stanford’s acceptance rate stooped to 4.8 percent, down from 5 percent in 2015.

Although BU does have a selective admission process, admitting less than half of applicants, the effect of the competitive nature of high schools is evident on college campuses. Being admitted into a school that the majority of students do not get into is an accomplishment — it signals something about how diligent of a student you are, and how inherently intelligent you are in comparison to other applicants. One of the first questions my current roommate asked me was if I actually had wanted to go to BU or if I had gotten into a better school. As my freshman year continued, I realized that this was a recurrent attitude among many people I met. Although this attitude may be concentrated among freshmen, it manifests itself in different ways.

For example, when compared to other schools, BU lacks school spirit. Maybe this results from the absence of a football team, or because BU sports are not the unifying power that other schools seem to have. However, the attitude that students have about attending school here, feeling they should have gotten into a better school or wishing they could’ve afforded their dream school, is a strong reason for the underwhelming school pride. This atmosphere is not encouraging and does not promote solidarity within each incoming class. Being an incoming freshman is always scary, and when your peers make it evident that they don’t want to be at this school, the adjustment to college life becomes harder.

Ultimately, with prestigious schools continually becoming more selective, it is difficult for students who achieved in high school and feel as though they should be at a better school to not reach their own standards. At the same time, as selectivity and expectations of applicants becomes increasingly rigorous, a spot at prestigious schools is more and more coveted. And for students who worked to achieve one of these spots in high school and did not end up there, it is difficult to attend a school that is perceived to be weaker academically.

These sentiments are exemplified at BU, where there is a stereotype of people either being Ivy rejects or students who could not afford the hefty price tag private schools often carry. This stereotype is damaging, and it makes it increasingly difficult for incoming students to take advantage of all that BU has to offer, despite all of the opportunities that exist. From club sports to political clubs and Greek life, there is a place for everyone. BU offers numerous freshman research programs, such as Freshman Research Immersion and the Dickinson Research Team. Multicultural groups and on-campus internships allow students to flourish academically and socially, and it is necessary to take advantage of these opportunities. Ultimately, a common sentiment across campus is that BU is what you make of it, so take advantage of what you can.

Theodora Catrina is a freshman majoring in math.