The Washington Post reports that because more applicants than ever are trying to get into top schools, students’ stress is growing to high levels. This stress is beginning to result in the choking of school message boards, as the top students obsess over test scores, crunch numbers, and analyze their chances of getting in. Now, some schools are responding to this development by having staff members not only read applications and student files, but read message boards and answer questions on school web sites in an effort to humanize the admissions process. Hopefully, these steps not only remove some of the mystery of the process while correcting misinformation, but also might “talk some students off the ledge” …

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/02/23/AR2007022302149.html