A Pennsylvania high schooler whose cheeky op-ed in the Wall Street Journal sparked a national conversation on college admissions might be a University of Michigan Wolverine next year.
Suzy Lee Weiss appeared on the Today Show Thursday morning and, when asked where she'd be going to college in the fall, said she hadn't decided but coughed "Go Blue," a favorite U-M cheer.
On March 29 the Journal published Weiss' opinion piece entitled 'To (All) the Colleges That Rejected Me.' Weiss had dreamed of going to Harvard University and the University of Pennsylvania, but the Pittsburgh high school senior was rejected despite a reported 4.5 GPA.
In her piece, Weiss laments what she considers the unrealistic expectations of college admissions offices.
"Colleges tell you, 'Just be yourself.' That is great advice, as long as yourself has nine extracurriculars, six leadership positions, three varsity sports, killer SAT scores and two moms. Then by all means, be yourself!" She wrote. "If you work at a local pizza shop and are the slowest person on the cross-country team, consider taking your business elsewhere."
A week after it was first published, the op-ed remains the most-read article on the Journal's website.
On the Today Show Thursday, Weiss said her op-ed was satire, using jokes to illustrate the seeming absurdity of the college application process.
"Everyone my age, whether they wanted to get into Penn State their whole lives or Harvard, is agreeing with me that it's just a rat race nowadays and it's such a business model as opposed to who's most qualified should get in," she said. "It's a crapshoot and I understand that."
While she was rejected from the Ivy League colleges she dreamt of during her youth, she did get into several Big 10 schools— including U-M, which was recently rated a top 'dream school' by the Princeton Review.
"I got into great schools in the Big Ten: University of Michigan, Indiana, Penn State and Wisconsin. All of which I am ecstatic about. I couldn't be more happy," she said.
And if Weiss' "Go Blue" cheer means anything, we may be seeing her in Ann Arbor this fall.
Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@annarbor.com or 734-623-4602 and follow her on twitter.