Recent Arcadia High School grads Carpus Tin and Ray Chao, who are now attending the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, and Princeton University, respectively, have created a remarkable 30-minute documentary about the pressures and challenges on high school students, particularly in preparing for college admissions that you can watch by clicking below.
“Congratulations, We Regret to Inform You: the College Admissions Secret” features many AHS alumni, such as Jon Ma, and four AHS teachers, along with parents and even a college admissions officer. “We were initially inspired by ‘Amy Chua’s Battle Hymn of a Tiger Mother’ to create a project to refute her viewpoint, but along the way we found a deeper message worth sharing with high school students and their parents, especially those in the Arcadia community,” Chao said.
“We believe that our documentary addresses an issue very relevant to the Arcadia community, as many parents and students have started worrying about college admissions at a very early age.
“College admissions is the scariest and most mysterious part about high school. Students and parents are stuck guessing what admissions officers are looking for, but often guess wrong. In this documentary, we try to find the secret to college admissions.
“We are very excited about our project, and hope it sparks discussion among students and parents alike.”