By: Iman Dancy Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, and the University of Pennsylvania--these eight institutions comprise the oh-so-eminent Ivy League universities. Practically synonymous with prestige, academic rigor, and selectivity, the “Ivies” have undoubtedly snagged the role as our nation’s top universities. Every spring, tens of thousands of immensely qualified students scramble to their laptops, anxiously awaiting the highly coveted acceptance emails from Ivy League schools; these automated messages act as validation that their all-nighters and endless stays in the public library have finally paid off. It’s difficult to deny the obvious allure of these reputable colleges: the world-renowned faculty and alumni, skyscraping post-graduation employment rates, and most importantly, the monumental pride that accompanies the statement: “I’m an Ivy League grad!”
Though in recent years, it appears that high school students’—and their parents’—seemingly harmless interest in these universities has developed into a toxic obsession. Many have adopted a “Harvard or nothing” mentality, solely fixating their vision on this small handful of colleges out of the nearly five thousand in the United States. While we may prefer to label these teenagers’ zealous pursuits of the Ivies as commendable ambition and drive, eventually we have to call it like it is: a dangerous infatuation that only sets students up for a sense of incompetence and failure. Wanting to attend an Ivy League is no issue in itself, but too many students have begun to merely chase after the brand name (and the praise that goes along with it), regardless of whether or not the university actually interests them. This steadfast preoccupation with the “elite octagon” shields the thousands of other worthy candidates sitting right in front of them. A person’s dream school could be just down the street, but a prematurely determined mind and restricted field of vision might prevent the opportunity of ever discovering that. Katherine Gan, a senior at Enloe, shared her thoughts on the epidemic, “It’s not even like you want to go to the school to get an education, you want to go to the school so you can put the bumper sticker on your car… and so that you can namedrop into conversations. And what I don’t like is when people think that because you get into an Ivy League, you are inherently worth more than your peers who maybe worked just as hard, but don’t define their life by what two admissions committee people think of them.” It would be hypocritical for me not to examine my own part in this though; as badly as I would like to disavow myself from this Ivy League mania, I must admit that I have also been infected by this virulent mindset. Last year, and maybe even yesterday, had you asked me what colleges I wanted to attend, I’d say: “Columbia, Harvard, and Yale,” in that order. If I was questioned as to why those particular universities topped my list, following some contemplative hesitation, I’d respond somewhere along the lines of, “They’re great schools—everyone knows that.” And while this has been almost universally accepted as fact, fanatically pursuing these schools that we, oftentimes, know little to nothing about, is both dangerous, and frankly, absurd. While setting one’s sights on these highly selective universities is certainly admirable, chasing the Ivy Leagues solely for the glory, false sense of security, or parental approval is a path ultimately leading to a feeling of emptiness and dissatisfaction. Instead, we must expand our sight, acknowledge the thousands of potentially incredible options at our disposal, and separate ourselves from this Ivy League infatuation that is so greatly affecting our nation.
1 Comment
Maggie H
10/21/2016 08:02:11 am
This was really interesting and insightful!
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