Detroit high school students report severe anxiety and burnout during college applications, with academic stress becoming the top mental health concern. As competition intensifies, students turn to AI for essays and push for GPAs above 4.0, often at the expense of their wellbeing....Academic stress was also the top mental health concern identified by Detroit public school students, according to a 2021 University of Michigan Youth Policy Lab report, which surveyed 11,000 students before the pandemic.