<div class='bc_element' id='bc_element'1 style=' background:#FFFFFF;color:#000000;font-family:Verdana;width:auto;padding:5px;max-height:100%;'><span><p>Every year, around spring, Indian households in the U.S. enter an unspoken season of stress. College acceptance letters start arriving, and within families, communities, and WhatsApp groups, a familiar script plays out. “Did he get into Harvard?” “She applied to MIT, right?” “What about Stanford?” There’s a rhythm to it, a silent pressure that seems to suggest that a child’s future—and, by extension, a family’s honor—hinges on whether their name appears in an Ivy League acceptance email.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>For many Indian parents, this is not just about education. It is about validation. It is about proving that their journey—from India to the U.S., from middle-class lives to stability in a foreign land—was worth it. If their child secures a spot at an elite university, it confirms something deeply personal: that they did everything right.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>It is not difficult to understand why this thinking exists. The Indian education system is built on scarcity. There are far fewer seats in prestigious institutions than students who qualify. The entire schooling experience in India is designed around the idea that a child must perform exceptionally to secure a future. If you don’t get into IIT, IIM, AIIMS, or a handful of other top institutions, your career prospects diminish significantly.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>When Indian parents move to the U.S., they bring this scarcity mindset with them, even though the system works differently here. There is still competition, but success does not hinge on just a handful of colleges. Careers are built on experience, networking, and skills. And yet, for many parents, the obsession with name-brand prestige continues, often at a great emotional and financial cost.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The financial burden of an Ivy League education today is enormous. Tuition, housing, and additional expenses can cost upwards of $85,000 per year. A four-year degree can easily cross $300,000. This is a number that is hard to justify, especially when state universities offer comparable education at a fraction of the price. Yet, many families willingly take on this debt, convinced that the long-term payoff will be worth it.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>But is it?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The data suggests otherwise. While Ivy League graduates often do land high-paying jobs, many state university graduates enter the same workforce with similar salaries. In tech, medicine, and finance, skills and experience increasingly matter more than the name on a diploma. Even within law and business, where networking plays a major role, non-Ivy League graduates have carved equally successful paths.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The deeper issue, however, is not just financial—it is the psychological toll this pressure takes on students.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>For many Indian children in the U.S., academic success is not just a goal. It is an expectation. From a young age, they are enrolled in SAT prep classes, coding boot camps, extracurriculars that are less about enjoyment and more about building an application profile. The message is clear: they must excel, and they must do so in a way that makes their parents proud.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>What is left unsaid is that this pressure often strips them of the ability to fail. And failure—whether it is in choosing a different career path, struggling with coursework, or deciding to take an unconventional route—becomes a source of shame, not learning.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Even students who make it to an Ivy League school are not always better off. Many enter college already burnt out, having spent years in a hyper-competitive race. The joy of learning is replaced by the anxiety of maintaining grades, securing internships, and outperforming peers. Some thrive in this environment. Others struggle.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>There is also a less-discussed reality—many Ivy League graduates do not end up in the high-flying careers their families imagined. Some leave the corporate world, disillusioned with its demands. Others realize that the degree itself does not guarantee happiness or security. And for those who take on enormous student debt, the pressure does not end after graduation; it follows them into adulthood, shaping their choices in ways they never anticipated.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>The irony is that many of the world’s most successful people—entrepreneurs, creatives, tech innovators—did not go to Ivy League schools. Some never even completed college. Their success was built on experience, risk-taking, and adaptability, not on a prestigious degree.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Yet, the Ivy League obsession persists. Because for many Indian parents, the college a child attends is not just about career prospects—it is about social standing. A child at Princeton or Stanford becomes a talking point, something to be mentioned in conversations with relatives and friends. It signals that they, as parents, have succeeded.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>But at what cost?&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>This mindset creates a cycle of anxiety that extends beyond just parents and children. Grandparents now worry about which school their grandchildren will attend. Younger siblings feel the weight of expectations set by older ones. Education, which should be a personal journey, has become a collective burden.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Perhaps it is time to shift the conversation.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>Instead of treating Ivy League admission as the only marker of success, Indian parents could focus on what actually makes a difference—the child’s interests, well-being, and ability to build a meaningful career. Instead of obsessing over rankings, they could consider the value of practical experience, entrepreneurship, and fields that may not carry immediate prestige but offer long-term fulfillment.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>There is no denying that an Ivy League degree opens doors. But so do skills. So does adaptability. So does the ability to learn, unlearn, and grow.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><p>It is not easy to break free from a mindset that has been shaped by generations of scarcity and competition. But in a world that is evolving faster than ever, success is no longer tied to a single institution. It is tied to how well a person can navigate change.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p><br></p><span></div>