Disclaimer: This article is by no means attempting to bash ivy league universities, it is meant to simply shine a new light on these sought-after universities.
After going on numerous college trips during the fall of my senior year, I had pretty much solidified my college choice to be Pomona. When I became ‘matched’ (click here to read about the match process) to Pomona through Questbridge, I was ecstatic. The beautiful Socal campus of Pomona pushes to provide the resources necessary for every student of any race, sexual orientation and background to succeed. Pomona College contains every factor that I felt were necessary for my desire to succeed and the campus quickly became my second home during my visit there.
Among the feelings of euphoria my acceptance brought, feelings of shame slowly crept in. I admittedly worked very hard throughout my years of high school and many were aware of my fascination with going to a prestigious, out-of state univeristy. Thus, despite Pomona being one of the prestigious schools in the nation, when the news of my college choice slowly crept around, it was mocked with scoffs and rebukes.
Being that it a small, liberal college, despite being ranked 7th in the nation for national universities, many felt as though I settled for less. I began to regret my decision as a result. Yes, I loved my school, but I longed for the looks of awe and the stares of jealousy that I knew an acceptance to an Ivy would have brought me. Fortunately, I got over my chagrin and fell back in love with my school. The episode also taught me three important lessons when picking colleges:
You may not be right for an Ivy.
I know. It would be amazing to tell your friends and brag to them about your school’s single-digit acceptance rate. And it would be even more incredible to hear your parents gush on the phone about your college acceptance to their jealous relatives. However, behind hoopla of getting accepted to an well-known university comes the never addressed concept that this school was not necessarily the school meant for you. There is a widespread misconception that getting accepted to an Ivy means that you automatically should attend. Multiple friends of mine secured acceptances from ivies like Princeton and Yale, yet chose Pomona because they felt that Pomona was THEIR college. Many students apply to ivies for the name without taking into account the factors that may hinder your time at college.
You may thrive in a smaller college environment
Liberal Arts Colleges differ from Ivies in the fact that they have an undergrad focus. The Ivies (excluding Dartmouth) include both undergrad and graduate students, therefore doubling and sometimes tripling its size in comparison to small liberal arts colleges. The size of the Ivies may cause lecture halls to include 500 students, teacher assistants providing classroom instruction instead of actual professors, and the feeling that you are just a number in a sea of students. In addition to larger class sizes, it may be harder for students to secure research opportunities and internships due to the fact that undergraduate students have to compete with each other as well as graduate students.
You may not survive in an ‘Ivy-League’ culture
If size doesn’t bother one, students should also take into consideration the culture of the college. Ivies are known to only accept the best of the best from high schools around the country (as do other colleges). These students are the ones who have put in hours of work to succeed and attend these long-sought after colleges. Therefore, there is a competitive drive to succeed that many students may not support or thrive in. I’ve heard many stories from friends attending Ivy League schools over the toxic nature in some areas of an Ivy. These stories range from: laptops being stolen during finals week to projects being deleted on of hard drives in hopes of gaining an advantage in a class over others. While this statement does not reign exactly true for every one of the Ivies, it still exists. Just recently, Cornell was found to have the highest college, suicide rates in country. Many students may thrive in these cultures, however many do not and it is up to each student to decide whether they do or don’t.
Ivies are not an automatic gateway to success.
Going to an Ivy will not guarantee you a spot on Disney’s marketing team nor will it make you the CEO of Google upon graduation. Success takes time, hard work and perseverance. Steve Jobs, Founder of Apple, attended Reed College while Queen Latifah attended Manhattan Community College. In addition to Jobs and Latifah, Bob Iger attended Ithaca College, a small LAC in New York, before becoming the CEO of The Walt Disney Company. There is a misconception that the name of a Ivy will guarantee a person success and there is fear that the uncertainty surrounding a lesser-known college will cause their job application to be thrown in the trash. While this sentiment is completely false, it is widespread and it is what causes students to miss out on less-popular yet amazing schools. It is important for students to note that, it is the work put into the school, not the school itself, that will determine your success.
Smaller Colleges may offer the same resources
While Ivies undoubtedly provide students with enough resources to set them up for a successful future (depending on whether or not students utilize said resources), smaller colleges are able to do this as well. For example, Pomona College was recently name by the New York Times as one of the Top 10 Colleges “Doing the Most for the American Dream.” Not only that, the average acceptance rate of Pomona alumni to medical schools was 70-85%. Georgia Tech, a top-public, research university, is ranked among the top 25 "colleges that can land a 6-figure career without graduate school," as well as 10 on the Money Magazine list: "great colleges for business majors."
Conclusion
My suggestion to all juniors and students searching for their perfect college would be to stop allowing the bells and whistles that the name of an Ivy carries, to be the only factor in your college decisions. The name is guaranteed to get you more applause, but the applause can only do so much. If you are dead-set on attending an Ivy for your undergrad education, reflect on this decision and keep in mind that there are plenty of liberal arts colleges with the ability to provide you the same resources an Ivy can. If you are attending an Ivy, congratulations, but please keep in mind that the resources you possess at an Ivy are still attainable at liberal art colleges before teasing your friend on their college choice. Good luck to all the students out there in their college search and do not forget to keep an open mind! :)