Ivy League Project opens eyes

Last year The Recorder wrote a couple of stories about area students who were accepted to Ivy League universities such as Harvard, Yale and Brown.

Most of the students applied to the schools on whim, not really thinking they would get accepted.

And then to their surprise they were accepted, but said to reporters that they would not be attending the prestigious universities.

You probably like us were scratching our heads over this, because these are top-notch places of higher learning.

Attending and graduating from one of these school is a boost to any resume.

We are glad to see students from Porterville Unified School District’s Migrant Education Program attending the recent year-long Ivy League Project series at Granite Hills High School.

The speaker was Elizabeth Hart, former senior admissions director for Brown University, who worked for over 30 years in Ivy League universities in admissions and as an academic dean.

She earned an Ivy League education and shared her experiences with the students in the hope of “de-mystifying how all of this works.”

She told of classes being taught by former U.S. Ambassadors and being able to examine 2,000 year old vases during a freshman seminar on ancient Greece.

All experiences that may not be available at many other universities.

She also pulled back the curtain on the admissions process and gave tips on how students could make themselves standout when applying.

But she also explained that people should not be scared off from attending an Ivy League college because of the price. Yes, it’s expensive, but the schools also have such large endowments that they have much more financial aid available than local community colleges or state school systems.

The Ivy League Project began in 1992 in the Parlier Unified School District and fortunately still continues today.

It’s good to see PUSD take part and we hope to write about more and more local students being accepted to Ivy League schools.