Why the Ivy League Appears Prestigious but Can Be Toxic

This isn’t just a story about the Ivy League — it’s about the systems that define elite education and teach us what “success” is supposed to look like.

How prestige, pressure, and performance culture shapes (and potentially crushes) the next generation of leaders, founders, and decision-makers.

Many of us were taught to believe these institutions were built for us — that if we worked hard enough, we could earn a seat at the table. But the truth is, these schools were never designed to serve everyone equally. They were designed to sustain power.

Even if you’ve never set foot on an Ivy League campus like Harvard, Yale, or Princeton, you’ve felt its influence. You’ve seen how prestige opens doors and how it quietly decides who gets access to opportunity.

If you’ve ever wondered why some people seem to have a head start, this episode pulls back the curtain on what’s really happening at these schools.

From hidden hierarchies to the illusion of meritocracy, we ask: What are we really chasing when we chase prestige?

We share:

✅ The privilege and pressure that come with elite education

✅ How prestige rewires your self-worth (and how to unlearn it)

✅ The mental health toll of “always achieving”

✅ What we learned from walking away from systems built on validation

✅ How to define success on your own terms — beyond the brand names

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⏰ Timestamps

0:00 The “Dark Side” of the Ivy League — why we made this episode

1:28 The myth of prestige and the pressure to perform

4:10 What no one tells you about Ivy League culture and class hierarchy

7:42 Harvard vs. Stanford vs. “the rest” — the unspoken rankings

10:55 How comparison becomes identity

13:45 Imposter syndrome and mental health in elite spaces

16:10 When ambition turns into anxiety

19:58 The cost of proximity to power

23:58 What the Ivy League really teaches you about success

27:10 Walking away from the need for validation

31:16 Redefining success beyond the brand name

35:38 The freedom of starting over on your own terms

39:12 Why sharing “unpolished” stories matters more than prestige

41:00 The biggest myth about elite success

43:08 Final reflections

👀 Newsletter: https://cherieluo.substack.com/

Why trust us?

▫️ Cherie Brooke Luo – 100M+ views demystifying big tech, finance & MBAs

▫️ Jean Luo – ex-Goldman, ex-Snapchat exec, 50+ AI patents, startup investor

▫️ Together: 4 Ivy degrees • built billion-dollar products • two startups — decoded for you

What you’ll get (and keep):

▫️ 🚀 Ivy League cheat sheets – no $250K tuition required

▫️ Personal finance playbooks – salary jumps, investing, money psychology

▫️ Networking scripts – behind $100M+ deals, job offers & VC intros

▫️ Real talk with unicorn founders, VCs, and billionaires

▫️ Mindset resets – clarity minus the pricey life coach

▫️ Fashion, wellness, and productivity hacks that actually work

💛 LET’S CONNECT

~ CHERIE ~

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~ JEAN ~

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