NOVI, MI—Citing his desire for a slightly less hectic schedule that would allow him a little free time during his senior year, local student Matt Reynolds, 17, reportedly decided this week to quit a club that would have set his application apart from others and secured his admission to his dream college. “I’ve still got French club and the academic decathlon, not to mention writing for our student newspaper, but I thought it might be nice to have Tuesday and Thursday afternoons off this year, so I dropped debate,” said Reynolds, whose note to the club’s faculty advisor saying that he would no longer be attending meetings had, in essence, made the admissions officers’ rejection decision for them. “It was always a lot of extra work, including a bunch of weekend competitions, and I guess I’d rather spend some time hanging out with my friends before I head off to [an undesirable second-choice] college.” At press time, Reynolds had just cost himself $14,000 in future scholarship money by opting to take Advanced Biology over the AP-level course.

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