{"id":172338,"date":"2021-02-06T17:04:18","date_gmt":"2021-02-06T14:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/why-students-cant-assume-ivy-leagues-offer-the-best-education\/"},"modified":"2021-02-06T17:04:18","modified_gmt":"2021-02-06T14:04:18","slug":"why-students-cant-assume-ivy-leagues-offer-the-best-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/why-students-cant-assume-ivy-leagues-offer-the-best-education\/","title":{"rendered":"#Why students can&#8217;t assume Ivy Leagues offer the best education"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Why students can&#8217;t assume Ivy Leagues offer the best education<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>I moved with my family from Taiwan to the United States when I was 10 years old, to a small suburban town in New Jersey. Our high school had a \u201cguidance counselor\u201d but I don\u2019t remember receiving much guidance when it was time to apply to college. I was told to send a list of schools where tran<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a>s needed to be mailed.<\/p>\n<p>Without proper guidance, my main criteria for choosing colleges were:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ivy League schools. Everybody knows these colleges by name, even though I never understood what made these schools \u201cthe best.\u201d I knew they were exclusive and expensive. I also knew that I would bring pride to my family if I ended up at one.<\/li>\n<li>Somewhere completely different from our small New Jersey town. The popular TV show \u201cFelicity\u201d convinced me that big cities are great places to go to college and find true love.<\/li>\n<li>Anywhere my two older sisters were not.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That was it. In the absence of real, practical information, I applied to a set of colleges that were entirely influenced by my emotions, a TV show, and the narrative that if I didn\u2019t go to \u201cthe best\u201d colleges, I would diminish my chances at success.<\/p>\n<p>I ended up going to NYU because I was rejected from all the Ivy League schools I applied to and it was ranked highest among my other acceptances. My parents, a lawyer and a homemaker, went through years of financial strain in order for me and my sisters to enroll and graduate from college. Collectively, our tuition added up to almost half a million dollars, not to mention a lot of stress and anxiety caused by the weight of that debt.<\/p>\n<p>After I got my bachelor\u2019s degree, I worked in graduate admissions at NYU for a few years, and I learned that what makes a \u201cgood school\u201d has nothing to do with rankings and everything to do with what each individual needs to succeed \u2014 a concept known as \u201cfit.\u201d College fit is determined by six factors: academics, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social<\/a> life, culture, geographics, finances and demographics. For the best fit, a student should check off as many of those elements as possible.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"The Opportunity Network is a nonprofit that works with 1,000 students of color from historically underrepresented and low-income backgrounds in New York City.\" class=\"wp-image-17249599 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/opportunity-network.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/opportunity-network.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/opportunity-network.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/opportunity-network.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/opportunity-network.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The Opportunity Network helps 1,000 students of color from low-income backgrounds in New York City find the best college by fit \u2014 rather than by brand name.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">OppNet Fellows<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is why I joined the staff at <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/opportunitynetwork.org\/\">The Opportunity Network (OppNet)<\/a> almost 10 years ago. Our nonprofit works with 1,000 students of color from historically underrepresented and low-income backgrounds in New York City. I wanted to guide these students to the best colleges for them and challenge the idea that private, exclusive and expensive universities are \u201cthe best\u201d no matter what the cost.<\/p>\n<p>Over 90 percent of OppNet\u2019s students will be the first in their families to go to and graduate from college. So many of our students have devoted and loving families like mine \u2014 ones who are willing to take on years of financial anxiety so their children can go to the Ivy Leagues. They have bought into the myth that a degree from a prestigious institution will shield their children from hardship \u2014 the type that they have had to endure \u2014 and offer a clear pathway to prosperity.<\/p>\n<p>But many non-Ivies have, in fact, been shown to deliver the best outcomes.<\/p>\n<p>The organization Educate to Career (ETC) measures colleges\u2019 \u201ceconomic value\u201d by looking at the average salaries of recent graduates, the percentage of graduates employed within a year of getting their degree, the percentage of graduates employed in a field related to their studies, and other similar factors. ETC\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jobsearchintelligence.com\/etc\/college-rankings-result.php\">2020 rankings<\/a> place just one Ivy League institution (Dartmouth) in the top ten. Eight are public schools \u2014 including the lesser-known College of New Jersey.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" alt=\"The College of New Jersey is highly rated for its economic value. \" class=\"wp-image-17249621 lazyload\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/college-of-new-jersey.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=300 300w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/college-of-new-jersey.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=640 640w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/college-of-new-jersey.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1280 1280w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/college-of-new-jersey.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/college-of-new-jersey.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=2000 2000w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>The College of New Jersey is rated higher than Harvard for its economic value. <\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Facebook<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>This is why, in their first year with OppNet, students are exposed to as many different types of colleges as possible \u2014 including every school in the CUNY and SUNY system, Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and other Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs), as well as small liberal arts colleges like Muhlenberg College, Hampshire College, Lafayette College, Bowdoin College and more. We also provide college guidance sessions, financial aid advisors, and family discussions about college affordability and \u201cfit\u201d to ensure each student\u2019s college choice is guided by the right factors rather than reputations, emotions or myths.<\/p>\n<p>Today, our students are represented at over 125 campuses across the nation. Of the 58 percent enrolled in private colleges, just 10 percent are enrolled in Ivy League institutions. And yet, 92 percent of our students graduate from college, with 89 percent of those graduates securing jobs (or graduate school admission) that align with their career interests within six months of getting their degree.<\/p>\n<p>We have achieved these impressive results not because our students are going to name-brand colleges. We have achieved these results because our students attend colleges that fit their needs and match their ambitions, which in turn helps any young person to thrive.<\/p>\n<p><em>AiLun Ku is President and CEO of The Opportunity Network.<\/em>\n            <\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/02\/06\/why-students-cant-assume-ivy-leagues-offer-the-best-education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Why students can&#8217;t assume Ivy Leagues offer the best education&#8221; I moved with my family from Taiwan to the United States when I was 10 years old, to a small suburban town in New Jersey. Our high school had a \u201cguidance counselor\u201d but I don\u2019t remember receiving much guidance when it was time to apply&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":172339,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/02\/yale-harvard-princeton.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[92264,80204,71442,84790,47020],"class_list":["post-172338","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2-6-21","tag-college-admissions","tag-colleges","tag-ivy-league","tag-students"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172338","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172338"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172338\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172339"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}