For many high school seniors, these months mark the time when the frenetic pace of college application season gives way to the slow-burn anxiety of the waiting game. I distinctly remember my own race to the post office on Dec. 31, 1981, worried it would close before I could get my application postmarked by the Jan. 1 deadline. This past November, Common App saw another record-breaking surge of submissions at exactly 11:59 p.m. on the day applications were due – not by postmarks, but by last-minute clicks.

Applying to college has always been a scary process. And while the medium has changed, the mania has only intensified. Our research at Common App into the application experience has found that throughout the long process of putting students’ best foot forward to continue their education, the most stressful part is simply hitting “submit.”

Of course, that anxiety isn't a result of the technology itself. It’s a symptom of a narrative around college that remains stubbornly stuck in a refrain of rejection. Online applications may have made it simpler to apply, but they have not changed the underlying system in which students feel they are submitting their worth for judgment rather than launching their future.

That’s because our cultural conversation remains unnecessarily focused on a few dozen hyperselective institutions, when only 5% of students enrolled in college in the U.S. actually attend institutions that accept fewer than 20% of applicants. When I applied to college in the 1980s, the obsession with national rankings had not yet taken hold. Today, that fixation fuels a scarcity mindset that extends to college clubs, summer internships and finding a job. It’s no wonder some young people today describe themselves as “the most rejected generation.”

This mindset isn’t just taking a psychological toll on students across America. It also masks the extraordinary strength of the thousands of diverse paths available.

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The reality is that most colleges admit most of their applicants. Nearly half of Common App’s more than 1,100 member colleges admit 75% or more of those who apply. Put another way, we are not suffering from a lack of seats, but from a culture that equates exclusivity with excellence.

To break free of that culture, we must transition from the language of “admission” – now interpreted as a proxy for exclusion – to the language of “opportunity.” The future of higher education lies in a welcoming invitation.

We are already seeing the promise of direct admissions, where the traditional power dynamic is inverted. In this model, students are notified of their acceptance based on their academic records before they ever face the psychological friction of the “submit” button.

The proof of this shift is visible in the data. In states such as Idaho, which pioneered a statewide direct admissions program, undergraduate enrollment saw an immediate jump. When students are told they are wanted before they are forced to plead their case, the fear of rejection evaporates.

Common App’s direct admissions programs reflect a similar trend. In recent cycles, hundreds of thousands of students received proactive offers based on their achievements. For first-generation and low-income students – those most likely to be intimidated by the admissions process – this proactive approach significantly increased their likelihood of following through with their applications.

One prospective nursing student from Baltimore said direct admissions “has introduced me to colleges I’d never heard of before. It is encouragement and motivation for me to succeed and value academic excellence.” Programs like direct admissions move us away from an era where colleges are seen as gated communities and toward one in which they act as active recruiters of talent.

The heart of college pursuit is the doors that it opens. The focus should be entirely on opportunities provided to students, not hoops for them to jump through to attain acceptance to an exclusive club.

It’s time to build a new system that treats every student as a welcomed guest rather than a combatant in a manufactured war for prestige. By redesigning the process to be simple and logical, we replace the anxiety of being judged with the genuine joy of an opportunity found.

Jenny Rickard is the CEO of Common App, a nonprofit membership association, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary.

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