WHY IS IVY LEAGUE SUCH A BIG DEAL?
Most people are convinced that Ivy League stands for elitness and high academic standard. But why? You will be surprised to find out how the Ivy league actually came about. ‘Ivy League’ was the name of a sports conference in the USA which consisted of schools that grouped together to play sports against each other. Not so academic right?. There are now a total of eight schools that make up the Ivy League; Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University.
The Ivy League Universities were the oldest institutions of higher education to be established in the USA. While these universities offer great education, they don’t necessarily offer the best education based on what you want to do.
Here’s why a reputed college name is not the only thing that matters?
SUCCESS. What is success? It is different to different people. Some want to be the richest, some want to be famous and some merely want happiness. Colleges with good reputation might have good companies coming for recruitment but they cannot guarantee an awesome placement for all its students. Similarly, success does not come to those study at IVY League colleges. It comes to those who work hard for it. Here are five reasons that might break the stereotype.
ARE NOT ACTUALLY THE BEST UNIVERSITIES IN THE WORLD
Starting from a more logical standpoint, as you may have noticed, the Ivy league schools only take into account some schools in the USA when many of the highest ranked colleges in the world are also located in the UK and Ireland.
SAVE FOR THE FUTURE
We are very well aware of the expense that shadow these colleges. Education is available everywhere. A college with a better ranking might give you more facilities but knowledge is constant. The ocean of knowledge is available for everyone. You just need to keep your thirst alive. An unconventional college would cost lesser than the IVY Leagues universities. A more economical education means more allowance for further studies.
BECOME STRONGER AND TOUGHER
Small places mean less facilities and less comforts. You learn to face hardships. For example, a place with a multicultural student body, cannot afford to have a mess that provides food from all cuisines. Therefore, you mostly have to cook for yourself. So you learn a new thing, you learn to keep your hunger pangs under control. Every new competency is a gift and boon to you. Every new thing will help sometime or the other in your journey of life. In short, go to a place where you have to deal with problems so that you do not run away from them later on.
LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE
A small place generally means less English speakers and more local dialects. To live in a place like this you at least need to know the survival level of the language. An additional language always adds up to you resume. It always gives you an edge over others in the long run. The more languages you learn, the more number of opportunities you are entitled to.
Reputation isn’t a prerequisite for success
Success is the purest form of hard work and dedication. Good colleges, excellent campus, amazing teachers; all are additional requirements. If you really want something to happen, you will work towards achieving it. Simply putting it in the form of, “Where there is a will, there is a way.” To take the example to most successful people: Bill Gates, Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg, all were college drop outs. In spite of being drop outs they top the list of successful people. Not saying that success requires drop outs but it also does not require the best college. Just keep doing your 100% and you will definitely get the desired results.
One last piece of advice, “Don’t compare your chapter 1 to someone else’s chapter 20.”
This aritcle was co-written by Aashi Gadia & Garvita Singh, Members of Team UniTwo, the first ever social consulting platform.