The coveted destination for most high-achieving high school students based in America and around the world is the Ivy League. Arguably among the most prestigious universities in the world, with beautiful campuses, famous professors, and opportunities to make connections for the future, the Ivy League seems like the epitome of academic achievement. Specifically in American popular culture, shows have been made about students’ aspirations to be among the so-called “great” people populating the Ivy League schools. Examples of such shows are Gilmore Girls and Never Have I Ever. In both shows, we see how an idealistic and passionate student wants to pursue a spot at an Ivy League institution to further their own higher education. Sometimes to the point of being obsession-like, as seen in Never Have I Ever. The path to an Ivy League institution involves endless studying,missing out on social occasions, burnout, and sometimes cheating. The path is well established as hard, and it does not get any better at those prestigious universities.
First, we must acknowledge the path that it takes to get into an Ivy League and compare it to actually attending an Ivy League. Let’s use my own experience as an example. I am a current secondary school student. I just have one more year before I have to submit college applications. There are so many times when I feel overwhelmed with my homework, and due to my work, I have stayed up until 11:00 at night and slept on the bus to make up for the lack of rest I get. I have friends who have stayed up until 2:00 am studying and doing homework because the daytime is simply not enough. Whether they are wasting time on their phone scrolling through Instagram is another story. In fact, watching social media posts of Ivy League influencers fosters envy. People want to be like them, but it is perceived as impossible and superhuman to the point that some believe that their grades or other circumstances prevent them from ever having a chance of making themselves unique or gaining valuable opportunities. If you do not believe me, check out the comment sections of those Ivy League influencers’ videos. You see comments like “brb gonna study harder to get into Yale” and “Wow ◇◇,I wish I could be as dedicated and hard worker as you” (name is redacted). That pessimistic mindset is extremely prevalent there. It is sort of like health influencers with their slim bodies promoting almost toxic envy, except replaced with colleges. Even when you have stellar extracurriculars and grades, you still are extremely busy, as established earlier. But even with what seems to be the golden fruit, there is always someone better and someone to be envious of. Those kinds of people are more accessible now than they were in the past. Suicide is talked about casually at my school in regard to work. It is as if suicide is treated as a possible escape route from schoolwork that is not seriously considered. However, this careless talk trivialises suicide. This little snapshot into my life is enough to prove that high school is difficult. I would say that I am debatably a little more fortunate in my high school experience because I go to a fairly competitive school with numerous resources for mental health. I know that lots of students have it worse than I do. Some, perhaps, are luckier than I. If I am not getting an adequate amount of sleep every night (the adequate amount for teenagers is 8 hours), imagine what it is like for other students. Superficially, the Ivy League is not that different from any other American college. The dorms are still small, and there are other colleges in the United States that have beautiful grounds and architecture. According to the Harvard Crimson, Harvard even has a rodent problem. Even non-Ivy League Universities have illustrious alumni of their own, so attending an Ivy League university is not a sole guarantee for success. Compared to high school, it does not seem to get any better at Ivy League colleges. In fact, it would not be far off to say that it gets worse due to being thrust into a new environment far away from home with not much of a support system. At Ivy League colleges, you are quick to realise that you are not the smartest person in the room anymore, and you are in a school with people who are equally as accomplished or more accomplished than you. That is guaranteed to mess with your self-esteem, and any high schooler on the Internet is forced to realise this incredibly early. All they have to do is look on LinkedIn.
Self-awareness is good. We will all have to realise sooner or later that we are not the best. But the problem with social media in terms of college applications is the crushing self-awareness,sometimes to the point of blinding. It is easy to see so many people with great accomplishments, and at the same time, it looks effortless. The blood,sweat, and tears behind their accomplishments are conveniently glazed over. This convenient omission makes it seem like certain people are just born with the potential for great accomplishments or great acceptances within them. In this way, social media forwards the idea of Social Darwinism all over again. Do not get me wrong. Some people are born gifted in certain aspects, but there is a difference between being a mere prodigy and an effortlessly perfect robot. Social Darwinism basically means that only the strong succeed and the weak fail. Those influencers, the ones who “effortlessly” get 4.0 GPAs and win Olympiads, are the strong ones. The rest of us, who do not have access to as many resources or have flaws, are the weak ones. And if we want to get at the core of Ivy League institutions, that is what they were founded for: to forward Social Darwinism. According to the book Excellent Sheep by William Deresiewicz, Ivy League schools started out as schools for the rich, otherwise termed as the “elite”. John F. Kennedy’s short college essay, which got him into Harvard, basically stated he wanted to go to Harvard because his dad went there, and he got in.
Some people may say that it is inevitable that Ivy League colleges do not meet the standard of students. According to the Op-Ed Why Do Harvard Students Hate Harvard So Much? by Katie H. Martin, published in the Harvard Crimson, Students admitted into Harvard go into Harvard expecting it to be perfect. Therefore, it is inevitable that it does not meet expectations because Harvard cannot truly be expected to be a perfect experience. Every place has its flaws, and college is not supposed to be completely pleasant. This is a valid point. Furthermore, college is a new experience for many, and it will not be completely wonderful. High school was familiar. College is not, so it will naturally be rated as worse than high school. Especially Ivy Leagues, since they have a romanticised reputation. While it is inevitable that due to the romanticisation of Ivy League colleges, they will be rated lower than the high school experience, it is proven that health at elite universities is less suitable than at other institutions. According to Psychology Today, “Students at elite universities have higher levels of anxiety, depression, and substance use than their peers who are in poverty (Luthar & Latendresse, 2005).” This is data, and data does not possess any subjectivity. Furthermore, lack of sleep, which may be forced by rigorous routines during high school that continue till college, will lead to diminished immunity and other health effects.
At the end of the day, the decision if an elite college is worth it or not is up to us. This issue does not stop at students. It extends to parents,teachers, and counsellors. The answer changes with every single person. The cost of a world-class education is literal as well as metaphorical, after all, an Ivy League education should require exorbitant amounts of money, right? To consider the value of an Ivy League education is difficult without asking what draws us to the elite colleges. Is it the prospect of joining the many illustrious names? Is it the prospect of a grand rags-to-riches career graph? Or is it the prospect of getting to meet great and legendary people? Only you can answer that question.
Image Credit: The Economic Times
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