The Unspoken Reality Behind the Harvard Gates | Alex Chang | TEDxYouth@SHSID

[@6shnuggle6]

My fav quote: "Don't let school ruin your education".

[@matthewgoldfarb9580]

The worst is when your friends find success while you’re still looking and you feel less superior, it hurts man!

[@manorotti]

I can feel his stress through the screen

[@Mariajbh2]

If he can do speechs so mediocre maybe Harvard is too much for him

[@apo1270]

Today Ted Talks has millions of subscribers, idk how it was at the time the video was post but probably a lot too. Knowing that u will speak in front of sooo many people and be here and watched by so much more must be something... stressful. He did really well though !

[@apo1270]

(sorry if there is any mistakes, i'm learning english)

[@akshatjindal3770]

.

[@bebeerin]

@@Mariajbh2 anyone can do a ted x. it's for education. actual ted talks are the ones where they go through a more selective process to be chosen to give one

[@Winston_Nelson]

50 cent:” i didn’t study at harvard, but my employees did.” Think about it.

[@hannahblythhammond]

Absolutely - goes 2 prove even 50 Cent wants 2 employ the Ivy League students irrespective of other talents Ivy League grads r less than 0.5% population yet make up 50% of 50 Cent's workforce ie an Ivy League degree gives u 100x advantage if u apply 2 work 4 50 Cent...

[@Mariajbh2]

Elon Musk said this

[@maryann5078]

That’s an exception rather than a rule

[@Mariajbh2]

@@maryann5078 yes it',s true. It's true that there are people who are succeful without going to university or a one high level but this is because they are really genious and they don't need this. But only genious can do it

[@MUGENGaming]

Yes. Chances are you aren’t going to be the one employing Ivy League students. So go to school or do a trade

[@zadtrax]

I’ve met quite a number of people who attended prestigious colleges who still have no StreetSmarts or any common sense. Book learning only gets you so far in life.

[@elizabethsmith7224]

Ain't that the truth. I read most of my life, didn't live in a place with a lot of other kids my age, I'm still paying for that today in college, i have friends but, it's tough for me to socialize with people that don't share my interest. I never learned how when I was younger.

[@spacemanapeinc7202]

Street smarts aren’t always important to life.

[@jessequest8575]

The best thing at Harvard is that library.

[@LeechUFC]

No dude, the cafeteria hall is insane

[@jonathanchandler758]

I like the library as well

[@hauweii]

high schoolers watching this! despite what this man says, he is most definitely Harvard material. i don’t know why he’s saying he isn’t, likely thinks that way after being surrounded by more accomplished students at Harvard. college applications are far different now, more holistic, with many valedictorians and salutatorians getting rejected. i’m at columbia, have tons of friends at harvard, and i can attest that even this man had a more impressive application than a lot of my friends here. college admissions is vastly different than it was in 2017, especially with the impact of covid. don’t let his high stats and ECs deter you. apply, make yourself seem super passionate about your major with even just a couple ECs that back it up and an essay to complement it, and your chances are better. obviously strive to get the best grades possible, but my friends who had 3.5 gpas got into ivies after their passion shined through their apps (and come from average family backgrounds as well). you got it.

[@Londonergeek]

I graduated from Oxford university in 2005 and can relate to this video. I graduated top of my class in high school, but when you reach a top university you are all of a sudden surrounded by super high achievers which can be a bit demoralising. Several students (10-15%) in my year dropped out as well as they couldn’t cope with the intensity. Plus the worst part is having to spend evenings/weekends writing out application forms for summer internships/ jobs. Looking back, I’m still pleased to have gone to Oxford but I know it’s not for everyone.

[@3062-l7g]

My classmate was a oxford transfer. He returned to his home country and seems really happy in the new school. He never talked about his past in oxford and we learnt not to ask.

[@emmaleewilson5276]

I went to a small college, but even I dealt with some of the stresses discussed in this video

[@hanji1041]

And here I am studying one day before exam 😂

[@wandering_prince]

Lol, two days before a exam which I currently cannot pass:).

[@paul2521]

@@wandering_prince hopefully u passed

[@wandering_prince]

@@paul2521 Thanks!!! I surprisingly passed. Really appreciate what you just said:-)

[@paul2521]

@@wandering_prince PERIODTTT!!!!!!!!!!!

[@cassydi8624]

I don't even attend such an important college but I still complain every day about my university.

[@realtalk6340]

Eli Martino are you real?

[@manuelcampi8956]

Bologna university>>

[@cassydi8624]

@@manuelcampi8956 Mamma mia, in confronto a lui non ci dovremmo neanche lamentare 😂

[@akshatjindal3770]

.

[@norasaltonstall7375]

Me: I really want to go to Harvard! *watches this video* Me: actually I will just stick to just walking around the campus.

[@PiroKUSS]

You can walk into a lecture room if you want.

[@idadayah9336]

Once you go to a place where competition is everything, it's either you win or you lose. If you win then congratulations, you will be very comfortable throughout your years in college life. That means you have established your identity which people could look up on to. If you lose, things began to crumble since you will be living in a place where you dont have an idendity as an introduction of yourself. Let say when school needs a singer for an event, and people already know oh you could ask somebody somebody and it was not you. Even if you wanna try it might be too late by then only miracle at this point could help you since you have missed up the first chance. You dont have your own name in things and slowly you began to doubt yourself, insecurities eat you up slowly, then in the end you lose yourself. Some even thought they could never succeed or wake up ever again from that nightmare because it was too late by then. This is simply beacuse you can no longer be the ebst and comfortable with yourself. I truly agreed with everything that he said. It was painful, it was unbearable but when you realised it, you can't never go back to how you was before and ceryaunly you cant no longer live in your present.

[@godSPARDA1995]

Harvard was 4 tough years One commited suicide 50% show signs of depression. We talking about college or prison??😅

[@thundageon5962]

BOTH

[@CC-si3cr]

The funny thing is they probably cost about the same. It costs money to house an inmate!

[@FranciscoRodriguez-iq9cb]

@@CC-si3cr Except in college you gotta pay for yourself 💀

[@LagunaLeonhart]

The traditional education system is flawed. Everyone is different. I myself went from being in one of the worst schools in the country, to one of the best colleges (with low grades), to a sub-par university, and then to a great career. Anybody can make it regardless of your education. Sure, an education can open a door to something better or more senior, faster, but it doesn't guarantee anything. Finding good oppertunities where you can grow as a person is far more important to your success than landing in a great school.

[@LagunaLeonhart]

@@meteo5582 I'm in the UK

[@ChristopherToro]

*There's Hard Mode, then there's Harvard Mode.*

[@jcBirds]

can't spell "Harvard" without "Hard"?

[@slbellue6874]

I think all colleges should run like Ivy League schools, in how important learning is & the distinction. Harvard & those type of schools are for the wealthy. Why are the wealthy considered important, but the rest of the world, who are not, considered less important? I was struggling in a college class, tried every avenue for help, finally went to the professor. He told me I wasn't worth sacrificing the rest of the students. All I wanted was help.

[@jimwennekers3764]

SL Bellue Harvard yes. Some otters like MIT are not. But MIT is not Ivy league.

[@xainabshuja4215]

Honey Harvard offers full paid scholarships to people who deserve iit

[@bebeerin]

all colleges can't run like the ivy leagues bc they don't have the same caliber applicant pool to choose from so they can't be as selective as the most elite schools. a college is a school but it's also a business and it has to run like one. every college has a different student population and their cutoff has to be at the number of students it takes to fill 100% of each class

[@ShyamKumar-zb2mw]

@@xainabshuja4215 - only for those in financial need. Not for regular middle class students. They expect their parents to pay up or the students to take a humungous student's loan. Not worth it at all.

[@ShyamKumar-zb2mw]

@@jimwennekers3764 - not sure what you mean. But MIT is a lot harder. Many students I know who have had admissions in MIT and Harvard - have choosen Harvard because it will be less onerous. MIT students themselves take classes in Harvard - so that they can improve their GPA. 🙂

[@iwnunn7999]

Who feels like a failure??

[@staceyjordan4502]

I fail to see the appeal of Harvard anymore.

[@vksarkisyan]

Had a nearly identical experience in a similar to Harvard institution and looking back I’m amazed how I survived with a ‘fight or flight’ mental setting, extreme, unrealistic expectations and all other symptoms mentioned by him, for years and years and now I realize how we as teens and young adults are simply exploited with the these psychological tools used in the hustle culture and unhealthy competition and etc. We are so corrupt and each and every demographic suffers in one or another way. Even if you are a ‘gifted kid’, you are not privileged, you will suffer but in a more creative way

[@trueatfalse]

After listening to this speech, I think that at Harvard they should start to focus more on teamwork and how to help instead beat each other. Maybe all those inhumane enterprises led by their greedy CEOs would not put our hole society, planet and everything at risk just to win some game.

[@k999ford]

You’re pretty right about that one- I’m a senior at Harvard and I (and I think quite a few of my classmates) came in with very noble intentions, but it’s quite easy to get sucked into the prestige game of “oh what firm can you get into” “oh let’s go work at McKinsey and destroy the American middle class, but at least it’s prestigious!”

[@bushraalawneh7888]

don't all university students go through stress depression and parents :/ im not even from the united states but this is collage and u have to work hard!

[@TheCycloneHunter]

This isn’t just any other college. This is one of the best schools in the world, and the stress levels are higher than I can even describe

[@akshatjindal3770]

.

[@bebeerin]

many college students do go through depression but they're saying the statistics at harvard are more than 50% which is exceptionally high likely due to the high stress and pressure of attending the highest ranked college in the u.s.

[@patriciastreufert9636]

I feel sad for the Harvard student or any student who feels such stress in life. I do not believe that God would want this mentality for his humans.

[@patriciastreufert9636]

Perhaps if we had kindness for the individual, we would have a kinder society. A kindness virus with no known cure.

[@justfine8647]

If he wouldn't have been Harvard material they wouldn't had accepted him. That CV is beyond any average student could have.

[@Rien--]

smh all you need to get into harvard is 99 strength on runescape

[@floracarpenter8157]

Excellent presentation! 👍👏👌

[@ronitmndl]

Harvard(looks at the thumbnail): " _that's what she said_ "

[@chiragathwani4110]

Nicely said and thanks for sharing.

[@jagadeeshchenna6518]

I'm in a private medical College n I can still feel the stress .

[@mariapaulasevillano2310]

Rn I´m studying Fashion design and management, in the beginning, I was afraid of telling close people bc that could have said "what a waste of money and time", and I know that you shouldn't pay attention to things like that, but it will always be hard to deal with it, hopefully, most of them supported me. The other thing is that people say that studying Fashion is just easy, and it is absolutely not, nit because it's not a traditional career makes it easy, I feel exhausted but so proud of my career.

[@daleandrews1734]

Beautifully said

[@mikezafra685]

Thank you for being REAL sir 👍

[@devashishhirodiya2447]

Harvard student: Harvard is HARD UPSC aspirant: Bro here the whole situation is UNPREDICTABLE.

[@vm7240]

Same story at IIT 😥

[@johnestrayhorn1405]

I HOLD THE RECORD FOR EARLIST ADDITION TO THE DISCIPLINARY PROBATION ROLLS(DURING FRESHMAN ORIENTATION WEEK)! SO I AM A NO. 1. RIGHT?

[@johnestrayhorn1405]

A 40 year old record!

[@GhostyGhost7007]

At Harvard?

[@johnestrayhorn1405]

@@GhostyGhost7007 yes fall 78

[@GhostyGhost7007]

@@johnestrayhorn1405 Ha ha that's great! What'd you do?

[@johnestrayhorn1405]

@@GhostyGhost7007 a better question would be what didn't I do!

[@BiblisckankBIBBLISCKAN]

I would like to study I don't care the stress or if is hard. But I don't have money even for to eat sometimes and less for study. The hard the prepare for a hard life.

[@finelemon1363]

HARVARD IS HARD *kid named harvard*

[@scienceseeker8377]

The video is old btw

[@London_miss234]

Very good presentation.

[@RomboutVersluijs]

Seems like Harvard is all about look at what i can do. See what i did... brrrrr

[@AnuAnu-qo7hf]

Spot on!!

[@yohansin3430]

Why was this reuploaded?

[@hamadirshad]

Maybe i have no idea what struggling is i strugly even to finish my diploma...

[@angelaaa5553]

Same bro

[@CassTheMuse]

This talk didn’t reveal anything groundbreaking. I recently attended an event with Harvard alums and a fellow attendee asked me “did you graduate from an Ivy League”, which I replied “no”. Then he proceeded to tell me, “ well at least you’re beautiful, and that’s not easy” lmao 😂. All to say... I would never wanna be one of em.

[@Eng_Simoes]

Nope. All to say you think you're beautiful, which is kind of sad

[@akshatjindal3770]

.

[@stevenzheng5459]

Why do people even have "dream schools". In the end it is still a school.

[@nathand9825]

There should be a ted talk about why Asians are so smart.

[@madhurabelsare]

Nathan Davinci Cause we really are

[@esporaspreciosasuwu127]

creo q era disciplina.

[@Mariajbh2]

It's discipline, good grades don't means smart

[@hindsightpov4218]

Tiger parents who drill their kids to do well in school and then their kids end up being severely depressed.😕

[@Bocbo]

Rice farming and genocide. Look it up.

[@polu9133]

I already saw this somewhere ...

[@polu9133]

@Landscape Guy yes, why are you writing yours?

[@chrisyfrisky]

It was uploaded on the Ivy-Way Academy channrl but it was deleted

[@smittywerbenjaggermanjensen69]

Looking forward to May, 4th. Hopefully seeing you guys in germany then

[@fabrizio483]

Harvard should let anyone carrying a pencil be their student...

[@CC-si3cr]

Take a shot every time he says "Harvard".

[@sb1406]

G.W. Bush: Harvard was easy peasy lemon squeezey.

[@ValSpiridonov]

Join me in life-changing story!

[@FIR2031]

Harvard discriminates Asians.

[@SiblingsTripling]

It's great!

[@martcharman1359]

they pay thousands of dollars to behumiliated socially and mentally? in real life its free fyi

[@GrandmaSkillz]

"little did i know, i got in" - asian man before they started discriminating against them

[@angelinamaria9437]

PARABÉNS PELO SEU EMPENHO ...GOSTO🧡💛❤BOA SORTE 🍀🍀🍀🇵🇹

[@abhzt]

Okay!

[@madhurabelsare]

There are two types of people Once watching the KZbin videos Other working for Harvard

[@U311.61]

Lmfao. wut?

[@joseloaiza3436]

There is a third: those who do both.

[@rickharold69]

Nice video!

[@rozepyracantha5574]

How is this even worthy of attention for a *TEDtalk*? This is the reality of any student who cares about succeeding in college.

[@hindsightpov4218]

Roze Pyracantha You just answered your own question.

[@bebeerin]

nah not every college has the same level of difficulty to be successful. there is definitely a higher level of stress and pressure attending the highest ranked college in the u.s. compared to other colleges

[@DSJ-zc4tz]

4th..... Consolation prize

[@8schopra]

This Ted talk is old I have seen it before

[@jasonzz1980]

Glad that Harvard rejected me and finally ended up at UofT two years ago.

[@TOHPHAYT1]

I could never imagine caring this much about homework lmao

[@sarcasticbrit3492]

You would if it cost you tens of thousands of dollars, to be fair

[@akshatjindal3770]

.

[@hammerheadshark5321]

This is hard to watch

[@ronlight7013]

I don't mean to sound glib, but I really don't understand how Alex Chang got admitted to Harvard. Not that his credentials aren't impressive (I'm downright impressed!), but his response as to "why" he wanted to attend Harvard sounds really lame to me. I'm not a college admissions officers, so I can't say I know what colleges are looking for, but it seems to me that the reasons for attending any college (especially an elite one) should be the product of much drive, passion and reason, expressed in well articulated terms. Alex said his reasons for going to Harvard were to fulfill his desire to receive the best education, and to make his parents proud (and justified in their many sacrifices). I think that's all quite worthy, but are these the requisite passwords to Harvard admission? I really wanted to know from Alex's talk why it is he thinks Harvard accepted him when he thinks his academics were sub-standard for a Harvard admit.

[@Mariajbh2]

I agree with you. I thought the same, it's not proper from a Harvard student

[@lukapapez]

He probably didn't write this in his application.

[@ronlight7013]

@@lukapapez I think he said that's what he told them during the admissions interview.

[@lukapapez]

@@ronlight7013 he did my mistake.

[@bebeerin]

his academic achievements got him in. he was just being humble downplaying his accomplishments. he got 1st place in amc12, got 1st place on the nyc math team for 7 semesters, got 4 medals in science olympiad, and was the math team captain. sure he didn't have a 'perfect' sat score but it was still a high score, he was ranked high in his senior class, and he clearly showed exceptional talent in mathematics and science. harvard and all the ivy leagues really value special talents and being exceptional in a specific area. high grades and sat scores matter too but they don't have to be perfect. being outstanding in a certain area and having high grades/sat scores (doesn't have to be perfect but high) is likely the "perfect" combination to being accepted into an ivy league school. the ivies want a well rounded class but not necessarily well rounded individuals. to have a well rounded class they need exceptional individuals in all different areas. the ivies want to produce graduates who are outstanding, talented individuals in their fields who will go out and change the world and be exceptionally successful in life not just good in school

[@michalcatz3380]

So many wrong things about it. Eh.

[@yoshiblunt1670]

Türkler kendini belli etsin

[@AloneVwolf]

You didn't tell how much you invest on Harvard 😂

[@adrianamorphous]

These comments are so sad lmoa

[@ammaralhetari5734]

Great

[@bobobobo1305]

Hi

[@realtalk6340]

This presentation is a C-

[@madhurabelsare]

RUN & GUN and BUN and DUN

[@hindsightpov4218]

Harsh.

[@ivi122]

RUN & GUN so you can do better? Yeah he got into Harvard! What’s your damn superpower!?

[@srikaravalur1823]

You’re not even worthy enough to be a janitor at Harvard

[@bebeerin]

everyone seems to have the highest expectations for ted talks but you have to realize that a ted x is different from an actual ted talk. anyone can do a ted x. a ted x is for education. there is a more selective process for being chosen to give a ted talk

[@808bboarder]

People who struggle at Harvard unfortunately sad to say end up successful lol jk jk Hope life hasn’t been too stressful for this guy

[@jR-nc1uz]

I don't have sympathy for people with ivy league money

[@PeachPlastic]

Eh. Maybe you earned "ivy league mentality", but you haven't got a clue how to prepare an engaging and relatable talk.

[@elizabethsmith7224]

That happens to most people that focus on studying and grades more than being social. It's happened to me as well, sometimes. It's hard to acquire social skills later in life.

[@bebeerin]

of course attending the highest ranked college is the u.s. is not the most relatable topic but you can still get something out of his message. i think everyone has the highest expectations for ted talks but you have to realize that a ted x is different from an actual ted talk. anyone can do a ted x. a ted x is for education. there is a more selective process for being chosen to give a ted talk

[@silentinferno2382]

First

[@marzyd4488]

20th comment

[@zumyalcnkaya3263]

✌✌✌

[@adambirks3707]

Poor little rich kid

[@rozepyracantha5574]

Probably the immigrant kid got scholarships for having a strong credentials. Do you know he had money, or just assuming? Do you realize how bitter you sound? Have some compassion for yourself

[@adityachaturvedi8722]

First

[@DSJ-zc4tz]

You are 2nd.....CHEATER*

[@madhurabelsare]

Cheater