For many of us who have endured the grueling college admissions process, it might be hard to imagine that what we experienced is dwarfed by the rigor of today’s prerequisites. At Lowell, one of San Francisco’s top-rated public high schools, the competition to get into one’s dream college is brutal. With an overwhelmingly Asian American student population, being brilliant is the baseline and senior year is a pressure cooker of anxiety. Director Debbie Lum’s lens goes beyond the usual one-dimensional story of stressed-out seniors and stereotypical cliques. Try Harder! is a compassionate invitation to see the intricate ways that class, race, and opportunity intersect in the American education system. Along the way, the film captures the euphoria of acceptance letters and the raw disappointment of rejections. In the most diverse American generation yet, admission to a good school isn’t simply about the next four years; it’s an essential part of one’s identity.  KL

Filmmaker Q&A available

Closed Captioning available

This film is only available to viewers in the United States