**The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools**
Ivy League acceptances are often depicted in the media as the ultimate proof of success, but how much does the school you attend contribute to your future? As of 2022, every single Ivy League school has an acceptance rate of under 10%, with each Ivy League school receiving as much as 44,000 applicants. These applicants are typically made up of some of the brightest students in the nation, almost all of them having high achieving stats and resumes, yet around 90% of them will be deferred or rejected. With an acceptance rate of 10% or lower, and an average cost of 60k a year, how can it be worth it? These bright students would be welcomed with open arms by just about any other institution in the nation and yet many of them still have their hearts set on the Ivy Leagues.
In 2020, over 50% of all Ivy League applicants had a 4.0 gpa and Harvard enrolled 183 National Merit scholars. On average, straight A students typically average a salary later in life of over 80K a year and yet most Ivy League graduates make about the same amount. Which leaves me wondering if the high acclimation of Ivy Leagues are due to their academic standards or because of their hard working students?
Considering all the stats, students who got rejected from Ivy Leagues should not let it get them down. These students have a high chance of doing great things in their life regardless of if they attend an Ivy League or a state school. Many students think that just because they attend an Ivy League that they will also attend a high ranked graduate school, but this is simply not true. Ivy League graduate school is just the same process of luck that these students dealt with when applying for undergrad.
Ivy League schools are simply not worth all the stress and worry that they cause to thousands of students each year. Though their graduating class each year may have a chance at making upwards of 80k per year, they could have had this same chance at any of the other institutions that would have paid them to attend their university. True success is dependent on work ethic and perspective. Those who work hard will achieve great things in life, regardless of if they attend Harvard or a state school.
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