*rant* the toxic culture of Ivy League schools (nobody warned me)

want to attend an Ivy League school? as a student at Cornell University whose shared my college application journey, I've witnessed the toxic culture that I wish someone warned me about...🏫

@KatieTracy

hi i’m @alohakatiex - 0:00
1. Toxicity - 0:54
2. Elitism - 1:54
3. Karma - 3:57
4. Fake - 5:11
5. My Identity - 5:27
Final thoughts - 7:39

#cornell #ivyleague

- - - - - - - - - - - - - helpful links - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - about me - - - - - - - - - - - - -

🌺Aloha, I’m Katie! I'm a Filipina teen studying abroad at Cornell University. I love creating products at the intersection of technology, entrepreneurship, and design to uplift communities I'm part of. I want to do too many things, and I want to make it all work… so that’s what my YouTube channel is about. Join me on this crazy journey and together, we'll learn, struggle, and hopefully find the courage to live our dreams.

→ age: 19
→ college: cornell university
→ major: computer/information science
→ location: new york x manila

📩Business/professional inquiries only:

- - - - - - - - - - - - - popular videos - - - - - - - - - - - - -

- - - - - - - - - - - - - enjoy your day ♡ - - - - - - - - - - - - -

If you see this, comment "no wonder they all drop out" ;)

"Encourage one another and build each other up." – 1 Thessalonians 5 :11

[KatieTracy]

"katie, cornell's not a real iVy LeAgue"
yes I know, haha, I already made the joke in my thumbnail. now pls watch the video :)

[jackanderson]

I decided to turn down two Ivy League schools to go to Johns Hopkins two years ago. University is university, pick the school that you love, see yourself at, and you deem have the most opportunities for you. “Name value” itself doesn’t cut it when getting internships and jobs, they care about your experience/what you’ve done. I’m an engineer at what people think is just a “medical school, ” but this engineer is working for NASA next summer :)

[michael.vanner]

I think American college elitism in general is extremely toxic and honestly doesn’t make much sense. As a nation, we seem to value prestige and selectivity over academics and general happiness. I think even the application process in general with people constantly shoving down your throat “your dream school is a safety, you could do better than that” really affected my self esteem even though I knew that school was right for me. It made me think that to be happy I needed to go to the school with the lowest acceptance rate possible. We all need to take a step back and realize we’re all in this together, and that the end goal for everyone is a degree regardless of where you choose to pursue it.

[avamortier]

Barnard ‘24 here - it’s absolutely ridiculous the lengths to which “Ivy League” students go to justify their own superiority when the Ivy League is literally a sports conference. I’m not even on campus and I’ve already seen the “Barnard = back door to Columbia” argument. It’s just so ridiculous!! I got into both and chose Barnard because of that superiority complex and toxicity which I didn’t want to deal with!!! I love this video

[admiraloverdone]

I appreciate Cornell for two reasons:
1. The ‘Cornell notes’ I’ve been taking since elementary school.
2. Their non-scattery, delightful marching band. :>

[osc.r]

Beyond the ridiculousness of classifying a school's "rank" based on an arbitrary acceptance rate (which varies per program - cornell engineering is legit 6%), I think people don't appreciate the powerful historic value that Cornell has which NONE of the other ivies have. Cornell was legitimately developed and founded on the MOST equalitarian principles (ANY person, ANY study) during the Civil War, a fight over whether or not a man could be regarded as property. Cornell is the founding home of the first black fraternity, AND enrolled women ALMOST AN ENTIRE CENTURY before Columbia and other ivies did. This university was a pioneer in genuine equality, and that's something I take a lot of pride in as a Cornellian, and as an underrepresented student. If anything, this makes Cornell possibly one of the most valuable ivy leagues as it truly stands for the disruption of the things that hold humanity back - unlike the other ivies that had to learn to be this way. So to all those who like to be toxic and pretentious over stupid percentages; learn your facts, grow up, and leave high school in the past <3

[meidassecondsoprano]

Basically, I say that any school that does not make its own ice cream, milk, yogurt, cheese, grow its own apples, have its own cows, is a bogus Ivy school. #gobigred

[nat]

I am not to belittle anyone that went to one of these, but I visited 6 of the IVYs in high school and I hated my Columbia, Princeton and Yale visits. People seemed so fake there! Eventually I applied to Brown, Penn and Harvard. Getting accepted to the later two; and enrolling into Wharton! When I tell you that was the worst decision of my life is an understatement. I almost committed suicide in my sophomore year there- twice!

All these was few years back! Recently before Rona, I visited Cornell Johnson and Tuck at Dartmouth. The only two places I didn’t visit back then. I wish I applied to these two than the others. Folks in Ithaca were so laid back and nice and seem to emphasis on mental health. I wish I can rewind the time! But definitely not making the same mistake for my MBA next year!
Loving Big Red everyday !

[johnrhee]

To me, Cornell became the #1 college in the world ever since my son became a student. I bet many parents would feel this way besides me ;-)

[z.anaser]

Im a high schooler and bruh I completely agree with you 😤 My “ friends” think only getting into an IVY is the only purpose of their life and therefore, they are aimlessly trying out every single ECA and are jealous of anyone with more achievements then them :3 I mean there’s nothing wrong with trying out everything but doing things only for the sake of getting into an IVY seems very cliche and toxic.

[trojanpony]

This video helped me realize why I love Cornell. The students are just as smart as any other Ivy but much more likely to be real people with actual personalities and not just status-obsessed insecure robots.

[marisellavaladez]

My daughter got accepted to Cornell now she is a freshman and first generationat Cornell 2024 and I thank God letting her attend there. Go Big Red 👍

[maralee]

This is so important, I hope every high school student sees this. It's so easy to get caught up in the college application process but school/degree really honestly doesn't matter. It's about your experience and what you do to strengthen yourself and your career outside of school.

[Neacyinnaayj]

Lmao people think Cornell isn’t an Ivy aren’t aware of the success Cornell has and with their amazing programs. There’s a reason why people want to apply to Cornell and not just as an Ivy League school but because of the great programs.

[elidelorcan]

not attending an ivy league school but a friend from back home (ph) asked me if the university im attending is "legit." pissed me off so much

[htw]

Hello again Katie, hope all is well with classes. When I graduated Cornell, Professor Daryl Bem gave a talk at the Phi Beta Kappa ceremony. He called us the most proletariat of the Ivy’s. To this day, that stands out as the single most defining comment of our school. I’m proud that we are the least elite and as a Cornellian, we can relate the most to all people. That is what makes our school so special. Before my daughter went to Cornell, we toured all the east coast schools. So 30 plus years after graduating, I walked the campuses of all these schools back to back. As I walked our beloved Hill, I realized that Cornell was the perfect place for me. And my daughter, Class of 2023, thinks it’s the perfect
School for her. Like you she is doing zoom university as the logistics of going back did not make sense given all that was going on. But we hope to return for the spring. Cornell is as much an Ivy League school as any other as we are 8 schools in an athletic league. But what defines us is our character, our willingness to work hard and follow in the path that God has given us. He gave me and my daughter Cornell and I will forever be thankful. Go Big Red! There is no better college for me and when we all grow up, those in the more “elite” schools will realize it really doesn’t matter. Lastly, it is fact that Leland Stanford modeled Stanford University after Cornell’s education system and many of Stanford’s first faculty including its president David Starr Jordan, were Cornellians.

[ConquisteRL]

Cornell has the highest ranked engineering program in the Ivy League. We also have the best Reddit page, by far.

[SamElle]

Omg don’t even get me started about the toxicity and elitism! I hate people who feel the need to diminish Cornell! Literally don’t get the point

[danielasolis]

In Mexico, public colleges are the top and there's so much elitism amongst them it's insane, but we also have the other end of the high profile private schools with the same attitudes, so the ones of us that are on not-so-famous or not-so-expensive schools are sandwiched between them and criticized A LOT. But we have this saying: "the student makes the school", and not the other way around, so when you see the sense of community and even students from your school doing so great (and often better than the other ones) you feel so happy and proud that you totally forget about all that elitism

[ellenjannereth]

I’m also an IB student (senior) and I’m applying to Cornell ED this year! I just want to say your videos have been so helpful and inspiring. I’ve seen how competitive and toxic the college application process can be and it is so empowering to see a college student like you secure in their identity and willing to speak about these issues. Thanks Katie!!