Host Julie Lythcott-Haims and expert Amy Young talk about how the high stakes intensity of college admissions has trickled down to middle and high school admissions. Amy is the director of college counseling at Avenues, an independent school in New York City.

Julie mentions a new effort aimed to reduce the academic pressure and stress found in her own community of Palo Alto, CA. The city is distraught by its teen suicide rate-- four to five times the national average. The website, pathsfrompaloalto.com, was created by recent college grads who grew up there. "They're showing through blog essays, that people have happy successful lives going in all directions out of Palo Alto," says Julie.

Listener questions this week include a letter from a junior in southern California who suffered a head injury at a sporting event and it affected his GPA. He wonders how to present his case on college applications. And an eleventh grader, who moved to Arizona her junior year, asks if it's ok to get teacher recommendations solely from her previous school.

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