The “Poison Ivy” League

 

Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale. Academic excellence, super low admissions rates and perceived social elitism . They’re the most prestigiously viewed, ranked among the best universities worldwide. All placed in the top sixteen in the US News and World Report, 2015 top university rankings, top four out of 11 as concluded by NCAA, with the past fifteen years ending with the 2015 rankings: Princeton eight times, Harvard twice and the two schools tied for first five times.

 

These are the 8 universities everyone wants to see you accepted to. The eight that will get you anywhere you want to be in life. With the “best occupation”, “highest income”, receiving the “most respect possible from any given person”. The Ivy League.

 

As an 8th grade student surrounded by NJHS members,overachieving students, and constant concern for next year in high school, I witness the romance between students and the want for acceptance into popular Ivy League Schools. 85% of students from a school poll show that their dream colleges consist of the 8 Ivy league Schools along with a few other elite schools such as Stanford University and MIT. Concluding that even at a young age of 14, students already have begun to concern themselves with their college future, working on involving themselves in extra curricular activities, school clubs and hiring their GPAs.

 

But why? Well, first we conducted a survey in which 74% percent of grade 8 students said that they wanted to get accepted into an Ivy League School. Of those students, 82 percent said they wanted to go because their parents expect them to.

 

So these students admit that their parents are the main reason they strive to receive A’s in all their subjects, be in NJHS, MUN, student council, band, orchestra, athletics and all things that Ivy League Schools look for in students.

 

So, the romance between Ivy League schools and students, not only represent what students believe are their dreams but also parent’s dreams. “We’re born into this... said Mr. Russell, “ …..it’s not from ourselves or our teachers, but from our parents and the media.”  

 

We asked “why”, to Mr. Russell, the high school counselor.

 

Mr. Russell’s job at AISR  involves the necessity of having lots of information about ivy league schools, pros and cons, and the relationship between 12th graders and admissions letters to sent to such schools.

 

Mr. Russell was first informed that half of the US senators graduated from non Ivy League schools, and only 14 out of 43 US presidents have attended one or more Ivy League Schools. Additionally, Mr. Russell was informed that 85 percent of the time, graduates who were accepted into Ivy League schools but chose less selective schools made the same income as those who attended the Ivy League, concluding, students who attend ivy league schools are no better off than those who do not. After having learned this, Mr. Russell was asked why he thinks that students want to attend ivy league schools, and what the perceived benefits are.

 

“I think that a lot of the times, we get caught up in the brand names of schools, we’re used to it from our parents, we’re born into the center of the circulation of top named schools.”

 

That’s right. And the data collected from our surveys clearly indicates this, that student's parents expect them to get attend an Ivy League School.

 

Mr. Russell added that, “...these are not always the best schools for you individually as a student. And what I often tell my students is to not research schools by name, but to look at the best fit school for you. So that means, look at top schools for the major you're interested in. For example, if you want to be a math major and you go to harvard, it’s marked relatively low on the scale for that major, so I think the most important thing is finding the college for you, that suits the major you want to persue.”

 

According to Forbes, a study concluded that 85 percent of the time, graduates who were accepted into Ivy League schools but chose less selective schools made the same income as those who attended the Ivy League, concluding, students who attend ivy league schools are no better off than those who do not, can be explained by the major level scale Mr. Russell mentioned before.

 

So it’s true, if you want to be a math major, don’t go to harvard, sometimes a non Ivy League school can leave you better off than an Ivy League one. For example, you go to a non Ivy League school and become a math major, studies show, that you can make the same income as math majors that graduated from Harvard… And these graduates know this too. They recognize that Harvard isn’t ranked very high on the math major scale, but everyone knows that it’s ranked very high….but for other majors. Math majors from Harvard know very well that even if they became a major from a different university, medium-ranked, they could be just as successful. Actually, possibly more successful, having saved a lot of money from not attending the expensive Harvard. Harvard graduate math majors know this, it’s very accessible information, it’s only a matter of searching the rankings of schools that offer that major. It’s a fact; you can make the same income from either school, so then, why do they still go to harvard?

 

“Another thing I think is, ivy league schools are so internationally recognized because every year they receive 40 to 50,000 applications. One to two percent of those students are admitted there for a variety of reasons, (it could be maybe they got outstanding sat scores combined with their gpa) but, I think as students, we should be realistic and think to ourselves that we shouldn’t be crestfallen that we didn’t get into an Ivy League school. And as you mentioned before, top business people; presidents and etc. didn’t attend Ivy League schools. So it doesn't mean if you don’t attend an ivy league school you’ll be a failure, no. Again, what I always tell my students is: the right fit school for you, and sometimes the right fit school is not a school of 40,000 people. It sometimes can be a school that’s much smaller, so that you can get more individual attention, and avoid the extra stress given of competition by attending an Ivy League School.”

 

When asked what their questions about Ivy League Schools were, students commonly answered,

“Did anyone from this year get accepted?” “ Will the IB program help me get accepted?” and “ What are the acceptance rates?” and basically, no questions asking if going to an Ivy League school was “worth it.”

 

And as explained by Mr. Russell, it depends. Students need to choose their schools based on the majors they want to persue. And if a certain one out of the eight well- known Ivy League schools suits your major the very best, and attending it is more than affordable for you, then sure, attending that Ivy League School might be a good choice.

 

But if you get accepted into an Ivy League school that isn't ranked very high in your specific major, and there’s a window of questionability whether you can afford it or not, then it might not be the best option for you. Because at the end, as our studies show, if you were accepted into an Ivy League school but chose a less selective school, it is very much possible for you to make the same income and have just a good enough occupation after graduation, as if you had graduated from an Ivy League school,

 

And then the only other factor it really depends upon then, is how much you value others opinions about you. Yes, maybe if you graduate from Harvard your colleagues will think you’re a more respectful and successful person, your friends will be jealous and your parents will be proud. Congratulations, right? Because now the only concern is, what about you? How will you feel when you ask yourself, “was it really worth it?”