Untangling your path from the Ivy League
Am I worth the education of 20 kids?” was the question Angela asked herself when she gave up a seat at the University of Pennsylvania.
Who would have guessed that just two years ago, she was simply fixated to the idea of attending an Ivy league university?
Angela Noronha, a current University consultant, excelled at school from a young age. Eagerness beamed from her eyes when she talks about Universities in America, simply because of how much the opportunity to study in prestige institutions overseas would mean for a girl coming from a middle class Catholic family in the Philippines.
Amongst all the top universities in America, members of the Ivy league stand out as the finest and most prestigious ones. For most students like her, a
n offer from the Ivy league would be almost mean that you are set for life, and bound to change the world.lies between her homeland and the education facilities in her dreams.
Angela received a scholarship that was only awarded to 11 students in Asia, and the school (Wesleyan University) that offered it also had a reputation of brilliance. The only problem was that the institution was almost unheard of by Angela’s associates, and the ones did described it to be full of spoiled rich kids that are nonchalant about academics. So she unconsciously wrote it off as a university not remotely up to par with the Ivy league.
During the interview, Angela admitted that not being more appreciative of this opportunity was one of a series of questionable decisions she made during the course of her college application.
“I was at the height of my ‘believing yourself, do what you are passionate about’ stage.” said Angela cringing slightly at her past confidence.
Angela’s excellent grades and active engagement in the schools activities caught the eye of several prominent universities in the U.S. Amongst the many offers she received, there was the page from the Holy Bible, an offer from the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League University.
When asked about how passionate she was about UPenn, clearly embarrassed at her past idealistic self, she grinned and said “I said no to literally three full ride scholarships to go full pay at Penn, so uhh, dumb decision number 1.”
Even for the young and confident Angela, coming from a middle class Filipino family and going full pay at UPenn was a bittersweet experience. As her parents went over the school fees with her, they discovered that they could just bare afford Angela’s education overseas. Even as a grown up, talking about this dilemma during the interview still makes Angela quite emotional.
Angela now helps with other students’ university application process, and a key concept that she encouraged us to take into account during our own application is “return of investment”. Return of investment for a university would not only consist of your future income, but also how much your school of choice empowers you to do a job that makes you feel self fulfilled. Universities that does not enable you to do what you feel achieved doing, or enough income to self sustain has a low return of investment despite the prestige they might carry, and they might not be the right ones for you.
Angela’s parent had in mind only her financial ROI when they asked her to transfer to the Wharton business school at University of Pennsylvania, “At least we know you will make that money back”. For Angela at that time, the most important aspect of ROI was how significant her external impact would be, and how she can help the most people. Yet she knows the demand is reasonable and after completing her university education she will need a job with a stable income that can support her, as well as her family, for example, the education of her children.
“The reasons that I had for coming here for were wrong.” said Angela to UPenn, after requesting one year’s leave of absence.
Everyone at UPenn was more involved and passionate that she thought. “Everyone thought they were going to save the world or something”, said Angela. She was so involved in different activities and projectand. As the first school year came to its end, the conundrum of choosing between her Ivy League dream and facing the reality of her financial crisis became even more pressing. Acknowledging that she needs more clarity and reconsideration, Angela decided to go back to Philippines when summer break started.
Angela came home to “the biggest storm in just decades, hit Manila and thousands of people lost their homes…” She enrolled in a local college, and started getting involved in local charity work including disaster relief and education.
To her surprise, she felt more fulfilled as she stayed longer and longer at home. The decision she made even bore unexpected fruit as she helped her Catholic parents accept the fact that her brother is gay. “Why should I spend that much money to study overseas just to do what I can do now. I just wanted to help people”, and her university advisor’s response to that was “I wish more students thought about their futures the same way you are thinking about it”
“Where can I love more?”
After leaving UPenn, she asked her university advisor the same question she asked herself when she submitted the request for the leave, “Am I worth the education of 20 kids?” To her astonishment, her advisor exclaimed “Yes, you are!”. Her response to that was, “Maybe life would have been different, but the most important thing is making the best decision at the time, and you won’t look back thinking you should have done something differently.”
Angela joined a college guidance platform after graduating local university to help more students like her that don’t have the right counseling resources available to them. Leaving the dream university didn’t stop her from helping people, she is able to do what she is most passionate about, and going home everyday to her loving family. Don’t let the thick ancient Ivy vines be all that you are able to see in your future, free yourself from its constraints, enable yourself to roam around and embrace all the possibilities the world has to offer you.