Should International Students Go to Ivy League Schools? My Honest Take

the IV League it's one of the most powerful and prestigious educational brands in the world but is it really worth it for international students or is it just an overpriced status symbol well I know the answer to this firsthand as I came from South Africa and actually studied at two Ivy League schools so in this video I'll give you the real truth about the ivy league for international students we're going to cover four things in particular the first is what is the IV League because a lot of people get this wrong and then the second thing is the biggest advantages of going to the IV League then the third thing we're going to cover is the hidden downsides that nobody actually talks about and then the fourth thing and the most important thing we'll touch on is should you apply so by the end of this video you'll have everything you need to decide if the ivy league is the right path for you so let's get started [Music] so what is the IV League most people actually get this wrong first let's clear up a huge misconception the ivy league is not about academics a lot of people think ivy league means the best universities in the US but that's not actually true the term IV League actually just started as a sports conference so yeah it was originally just a group of universities that competed against each other in athletics so over time though these schools actually became known for their wealth connections and influence and now the name Ivy League is actually just associated with that Prestige and Elite Education so there are actually eight Ivy League schools and all of them are in the northeastern United States so the eight Ivy League schools are Harvard University Yale University Princeton University Columbia University University of Pennsylvania that's upen that's the school I went to Dartmouth College Brown University that's the other Ivy League school I went to and cornal University so these schools are some of the most competitive and expensive in the world but they also offer massive advantages especially for international students so let's actually jump into the why why should International students consider the IV league so what makes the IV League special here are my four biggest reasons why International students should consider it the first one is the prestige and career opportunities the ivy league isn't just about education even though the education there is amazing the ivy league is more about branding when you say you went to Harvard Princeton or upen it immediately gives you an advantage employers immigration officers and even government agencies recognize the ivy league name so what this allows you to do is it allows you to have better job opportunities worldwide it gives you a stronger chance of getting a us work visa such as an H1B Visa it also gives you respect for Global Employers in finance Tech and government throughout the world so think of it this way if you're applying for a job in New York London or even Singapore an Ivy League degree will open doors fast than almost any other school now the second reason why you should consider going to the IV league as an international student is the powerful alumni networks now these are the connections that you gained because you went to that specific school so this is the real secret the ivy league is built on connections and not just classes so when you attend you're joining a network of some of the most powerful people in the world so think of it like Elon Musk Bill Gates even Donald Trump all of these people went to Ivy League schools and when they're in those IV League schools if you are a person next to them and you talked to them and you spoke with them and you became friends with them you would be connected to the elite in the world right and that's the big thing about the IV League there are so many people who are coming from wealthy backgrounds that you can connect with and actually become friends with and this allows for you in the future to be very well connected if you look around there are numerous Fortune 500 CEOs who went to the IV leagues and even top in investment bankers and hedge fund managers many of these people went to the IV league so these connections last a lifetime so whether it's finding a job or getting into politics or even launching a startup having these connections will greatly benefit you as you progress in your career now the third reason why you should consider going to the ivy league and this is my personal favorite it is the generous financial aid packages that they give International students so most people think Ivy League schools are way too expensive for international students but here's the surprising truth they actually have some of the best financial aid in the world and by financial aid I mean scholarships they have some of the best Scholarships in the world that they give to their students for instance at Harvard if your family earns less than $75,000 you pay nothing same thing at Princeton you are given full tuition if you come from a lowincome family and this is the same for schools like brown and even University of Pennsylvania they give very generous financial aid packages so even though the tuition may say it's $80,000 per year many students end up paying way less or even nothing at all to attend these universities so I knew countless people who came from disadvantaged backgrounds who were not paying anything to study at these schools and this is something that is very major that not many people know about if you get into a IV League school and you come from a lowincome family most likely you'll be given a scholarship so that you can attend that school now I actually made a video about this and I'm going to put it up here somewhere where I talk about this need blind Aid and how it can benefit you as a lowincome student now the fourth reason why you should attend the IV league is because of the education it's no surprise if you go to the IV League you're going to be getting very very good education and access to a lot of great minds so there's numerous Nobel prize winning professors who are on campus that you'll be able to interact with and learn from and you'll be getting a top education one of the best educations in the world if you attend the Ivy League so if you care about a really good education then attending the ivy league will allow you to get that education now I've only given you the good of the ivy league I actually now want to touch on the downsides and whether it's worth it for you as an individual so we know that the IV League sounds amazing but let's be real there are some big challenges too one of the big challenges is the extremely competitive admissions so acceptance rates are insanely low we're talking like 4 to 8% at most of these schools and that basically means out of a 100 people who apply to the school depending on which school you go to four to eight of those people get accepted and the rest the 90 plus other people do not so it's very competitive to get into these schools which is definitely a downside because thousands of qualified students get rejected from these schools every year now I'll be making a future video on what exactly you need to do to set yourself apart so that you can get accepted into one of these schools now another big downside of attending the IV league is that these schools are filled with the best students in the world which means that the compet ition there can be intense so prior to attending the IV League I used to be one of the smartest people in my classes and my grades were typically very high however once I got to the ivy league it was so hard to just keep up with so many of the students there you know my A's turned to C's and it was crazy because I thought I was an absolute genius but once I got there I realized that there were so many people who were much smarter than me and I had struggled to keep up for a long time but at the end of the day I grinded through it and I was able to graduate now this is the thing about the IV League you are going to have very tough cours workk you're going to have to study very long hours and you're going to have a lot of pressure on you to keep up with the other top performers and if you don't like this type of stress then the ivy league might not be for you now one other thing that's very negative about the ivy league if you're International students who comes from a wealthy family then you probably are going to have to pay the tuition for the school remember the ivy league helps people with low income it doesn't really help people who come from wealthier families so if you don't qualify for Aid then your tuition is going to be like $80,000 a year which means that the cost of attending the IV League could be well over $300,000 so if you come from a wealthy family then you might have to pay over $300,000 to attend the IV League now this is my take on it you should apply to the IV league if you have strong academics and extracurriculars so by strong academics I mean you need to be a top student like in the top 10% of your graduating class in order to get admission to these schools because they're only accepting like four to 8% of the people who apply so you definitely want strong academics and you want really great extracurricular activi then the next thing is if you want a career in finance law Tech or government definitely consider going to the ivy league because these fields are dominated by ivy league grads the other thing is if you need financial aid so if you are a student who doesn't come from a wealthy family and need some money to attend school then definitely apply to the IV League because once you graduate from the IV League you're going to be connected with so many wealthy individuals okay so now I'm going to look at the flip side of this don't apply to the ivy league if you hate stressful environments the big thing about the ivy league is you will be stressed out and this is because there's so many smart people around you and it's going to be hard to keep up with them and there are going to be times where you just feel so deflated because you got an assignment you tried your best you spent 20 30 hours on it and you scored near the lowest in the class it happens and if you cannot handle that stressful environment then it's probably not for you the next thing is if you want to have a fun college experience if you want to have a lot of fun then you probably shouldn't apply to the IV League because most people over there are worker holics they take academics seriously so if you want to just be poting and enjoying your time in college then definitely consider going to a school that is not IV league and the third reason why you should not apply is if you are a very very humble individual and the reason why I say that is because once you graduate from the IV League a lot of the times as you're interacting with people in the world they're going to look at you as a genius they're going to say wow you're a genius and they're going to be trying to compete with you to show you how smart they are Etc and if you're a very very humble individual having that added thing that you went to an ivy Le might not be the best for you so you should definitely consider going to another type of school maybe like an MIT or a stand for which even though it's very very academically rigorous and prestigious it's not as well known as the ivy league throughout the world so you could get away with people not just trying to compete with you and trying to to see how smart you are because you went to the IV league and that is it for today's video the ivy league isn't for everyone but if you can get in it can be a lifechanging opportunity so what do you think would you apply to an Ivy League school let me know in the comments down below and if you found this video helpful then definitely smash that like button subscribe and turn on notifications for more study abroad and finance tips so thank you so much for watching and I'll be seeing you in the next video