Suicide Rates at Elite Universities

Another Example of Relativity?

The suicide rate is higher at colleges and universities than among people the same age who do not go to university. However, I do not think it is the fault of the schools so much as it is about the young person being thrown into an environment that is entirely unlike the one left behind.

Big Fish in the Little Bowl

For the top student — the amazingly gifted star of her small school, family, or community — the pressure and expectations to succeed and “do them proud” back home can be overwhelming. If they are pushed or accepted into an elite school, for example, they simply may not be adequately prepared for the new level of competition and aloneness.

This does not mean it is inherently wrong to send someone to an elite school.

What it does mean is that extraordinary — with different talents and abilities that make them an outlier — need an information support system to help them understand the bigger world and the relativity of of uniqueness.

In almost any case, when the young person is admired for their grades and intelligence more than for the “person they are” aspects of themselves, the fear of failure is always around the next corner. What is good enough? What do I have to do to be respected, loved, and…