The TRUTH About Being Poor at an Ivy League School | Yale Questbridge Finalist Shares All...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 3 ก.ค. 2024
- It's time to spill the beans. This was my story. Experience may vary person to person.
Time Stamps
0:00 Hi I'm Kevin
1:10 The role financials played me choosing a college
2:10 Jobs I worked to pay my way through Yale
5:40 Would you write someone else’s essays for $10k?
6:40 Thoughts on eliminating the Student Income Contribution
8:22 “There’s a massive rich-poor divide at Yale”
11:44 Feeling wealthy vs. feeling poor + Impostor Syndrome
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My name's Kevin Zhen and on this channel, I’ll teach you everything school forgot to. Sometimes, there will also be videos about my personal life. Hope that’s cool. Let’s level up together!
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Contact Us! We Want to Help!
Email ► kevin@elevated.school or jeff@elevated.school
Website ► www.elevated.school
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I graduated from Columbia twenty years ago and I was too poor to even own a laptop. I went four years without one, having to use the computer lab to write my essays. I hustled constantly with multiple jobs and had to support myself. It was HARD, but I am a stronger person today as a result of that. But I agree: in some ways that feeling of being poor sticks with you, but I've made a lot of progress with that. Thanks for sharing your story.
At least you’re prestige
laptops were way more of a feat to have 20 years ago though lol.
I knew a kid who went to Columbia, I visited him at his dorms when I visited NYC and he showed me around enviously. Mostly he complained about how broke he was. His friends had dorms that were twice the size of his single, or rich fathers who gave them a thick allowance, he even told me he STOLE a laptop. But the police just gave him a warning?
This kid is now a doctor. LOL. He was incredibly lazy, spoiled, his mom supported him with her small business and he didn't think to get a job. I think a lot of pampered out of touch middle class kids go to big name colleges and start thinking they're poor. Obviously haven't experienced any real poverty or seen the other side personally in any way. Doctors scare me pretty much because they're bots. Theyre human bots.
@@batbebebe Everyone at Columbia had a computer. I was the exception.
@@katherinekim4303 He doesn't sound broke to me lol. My parents actually cut me off financially after my first year (not out of spite, but just because they didn't have any funds). Everything I did I had to do with loans and side hustles.
Imposter syndrome is real. Something that never goes away when you grow up in the lower class. One conversation that always sticks out is the " so what countries have you been to?" HA! Like my family had extra 5k every year to go to Europe. Some of these rich kids are super out of touch. Now as an adult in corporate America as a Latina girl I make sure I do not drastically change my lifestyle. I am much happier with less and prefer career accomplishments than materialistic items.
Definitely, there were these siblings at my elementary back then, who were like professionally trained in badminton(?) and also enrolled in French immersion. Meanwhile the rest of us learned through just playing for fun. Just something about the air around them already felt almighty which LMAO, something interesting but is reality honestly. Not that I want to categorize them as out of touch but the privilege they have is something they take for granted sometimes.
Yall so funny. Extra 5k? Wow, poor you. Thats almost the amount of money my parents make in half a year. Poo you
@@MikuHatsune159 any idea how they ended up?
Did what they do help them or are they struggling just like the rest of us are?
@@nickyimp8409 I don't know what they are up to now as I wasn't friends with them or knew them beyond this rumour.
🙌🏼
Props to your parents, you went to the best private high school too. Asian parents would do anything to support their kids through life. You’re lucky not because you got into Yale, but you had parents that genuinely cared.
@@RobertMJohnson I highly doubt that is what the previous commenter was trying to say. I'm Asian, first-gen, and my parents are the same way. Throughout my life, my parents gave thousands and thousands of dollars for my education. Tutoring, SAT prep, college essay help, and even extracurriculars I was randomly interested in. And all with a single income. It seems like a culture thing, where most Asians parents are like this (Type-A people who emphasize education and career above all else). It's not exclusive to Asian parents, but in my experience it is more prevalent in immigrant parents who know how hard it can be to succeed here without any kind of help.
pretty sure any parents would do that, idk why bring race into this
@@RobertMJohnson chill out m8
@@ehyzen No. Americans kick kids at 18 years old!
@@ehyzen exactly.
Thanks Kevin for your honesty and candor. I am an independent, volunteer college admissions advisor in NYC and work exclusively with low-income Black, Brown, and Asian high school students. This clip is so inspiring that I forwarded it to one of my students whose dream is to attend Wharton at Penn. Although he's Afro-Caribbean and doesn't share your culture, a lot of what you said he can use. Had to take this time to write and say how much I appreciate you.
Hey John - your comment right here is why I do this. Thanks so much for sharing the video! If you want to collab, I'd be happy to do some free sessions and chat with your kids! Feel free to email me at: kevin@zhened.com. Cheers!
what about low income white high school students ?
@@maggoteater2290 it really is not fair
Also seeing as he is non white or asian he'll probably still get in
John - so awesome that you do independent college counseling in NYC. I'm looking to do the same in NYC.
Never be embarassed of where you come from. In the contrary I think that it makes you look strong because of how far youve come, not everybody has the strength to build themselves and get out of a difficult financial situation.
Thank you Rose!!
agreed. well said.
I can't second this more. When you work your way up it shows, and when you do it while maintaining your integrity despite struggling due to circumstances, that speaks to your true character.
I am a low-income Ivy student. It blows my mind that there is little to no access to financial help. I will never understand why the best and brightest have no help. It is truly depressing!
i thought Ivy Leagues ensure that low income students were provided the financial aid if they were able to get admission to them. what am i missing?
My first semester freshman year Iceland's economy tanked and a bunch of my classmates decided to fly there for the weekend to go shopping. That was my first time coming face-to-face with how different my Yale experience was going to be from my classmates. Im pretty sure I had a total of 4 campus jobs at my peak lol.
Wow
You have some leeches
wtf....
As a low income international student at another Ivy (Dartmouth), every single word in this video resonated with my college experience so far. Thanks Kevin.
Also, like your friend, I put myself in debt buying a laptop and winter coats lmao
You’re welcome Victor!
Hey victor! Im also a low income international student dying to apply for an ivy league. Can I contact you in any way to inquire about 2 questions i have? No pressure at all you can totally ignore my message and i understand.
Victorrrr! :)))
I find it generally strange to have to pay to be educated. The concept is just so messed up, and also so short sighted for the actual developement of the country. Insane
That's Capitalist Amerika for you
WHO'S PAYING?! They're $1.6 trillion in arrears on their GOVERNMENT loans...and half of those are considered in full default.
40% did not graduate. Of course it's a scam intended to benefit the schools. To equal the U.S. public school system
which closes schools 3 months in the summer to allow students to paticipate in the summer farm harvest; illegal for 75 years.
And they don't do it because the parents don't want three months MORE of free day-care....it's the teachers/adminstrators.
@@WayneLynch69 if you don't want your tax dollars spent on educating the future of your country why don't you just leave
Agree. I studied in Europe (Scandinavia and other EU countries) where education is absolutely free. In Finland you even get paid to study (student allowance). Plus, I was always a topper and got scholarships, so being in school got me money not put me in debt.
Move to Germany, my College education is totally free here
My jaw dropped when i found out that your channel only had 1.9k subscribers. This video is extremely high quality and I was able to watch the whole thing without pausing. You deserve all the good things in your life. Thank you for making this video.
Same! ❤️
Same!
same
True. Much better than a lot of college experience videos. You’re quite thoughtful and observant, and I appreciate that you don’t spend the video whining. Huge props to you for your hard work and making the best of it!
I think it's important to realize that most middle class children are in the same boat with poorer children.
it's true -- it's even harder for middle class students since they often graduate with more loans
Nope. The poor students when I was in college (late 1960s) got most of the grants, and many scholarships were for poor students. The on-campus jobs and work-study jobs that paid really well were reserved for the low income students (minimum wage was $1.68/hr and work-study was $3.50/hr).
Granted, the poor students really didn't get any financial help from their parents, but very few back then need to take out loans, because that was when our country still thought its populace deserved higher education, and money was in abundance.
Or worse, because you don't qualify for all the financial aid that poor children can get. Make sure you choose a major that will lead to a job, or at least have job skills. The most successful woman I know and went to school with came from utter poverty. She did not go to college; she married a plumber. A successful in demand plumber with a good business. She didn't need college and neither did he! They both value work. A great work ethic.
@@shells500tutubo Eh you really can’t base modern college on the 1960s. Back then most colleges were literally begging for just anyone to enroll.
Yes! I'm a middle class parent and my daughter suffered because of it. Our Thanksgivings were spent with our daughter on speaker phone at Yale alone because we had to pay half her tuition, personal expenses, airline tickets etc and couldn't afford a ticket for her to fly home to California. We had property tax, a mortgage payment, and tuition all due in November and four months prior we had to pay her fall tuition. It's grossly unfair. We didn't want our daughter to have tuition debt because she wants to go to med school. She may have to get in debt for that. She is working extra hard to get into a MD-PhD program so she will have her next set of education paid for.
Kevin, you sound like a great guy. The Yale experience was just the beginning of your life. You will not remain poor as you were at Yale. You will expand your business, and several decades down the road, you will be very successful. As long as you don't give up your principles. I started off out of college as poor. I retired wealthy. Best of luck, and stay on the right path.
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement Ms. Pollock, that really means a lot 😇
@Laura Hackstein I worked for a living as a legal secretary, saved in the 401(k), and kept improving my living standards. I had good investment advice from my boss. I lived within my means. No get rich quick. I worked from 17 to retirement in Manhattan at fine law firms.
American heritage is also like Yale where you have two huge disparities of rich students and poor scholarship students (I’m the latter). There’s very few in between, and most of my friends are low income kids with scholarships. You can glance at the students walking around and you can tell 90% of the time who’s rich and who’s broke.
the reality is most "elite" high schools and universities are like this :/
i heard a lot of heritage absolutely being like that. I can't imagine going to school with kids whose parents shell out 30k a year for high school, props to you. How much of a barrier would you say it is to your social life? like do any scholarship kids make friends with the full-paying kids or nah?
They definitely do! But I guess you could say it’s just not as natural
@@kaitlynchen6113 since it’s high school with multiple programs and clubs it’s not the biggest barrier, but there is an obvious difference that can be observed.
I do have friends that are rich, but my closest friends are scholarship kids.
Yup, that's how it is. Ivy Leagues are pretty much for prominent families to network with each other. Not much else.
for someone who is considered to be in the top 1% financially for your age, you are so down to earth, feet on the ground. the amount of effort you put in and habits you developed during college clearly transitioned into your life afterwards, and it seems to have paid off. definitely a big motivator for me to work harder, i hope you succeed in all of your future endeavors
Thank you for you honesty.
I'm a high schooler from Syria living in a war zone for almost 11 years now, I've always been a valedictorian at school so with the support from everyone around me, I'll start applying for scholarships in universities around the world soon to hopefully get the good education that I deserve. But to be honest I have always been scared because I'm going to live in a place that I know nothing about and I really needed to know what is the reality that I'll have to face in the upcoming years, I really appreciate your efforts, god bless you.
contact me via email Aya! kevin@zhened.com
As an American high schooler, I wish you all the best in your academic future! ❤
how did it go
Thanks for the info… my daughter was accepted to Yale through Questbridge…. I tell her to be proud of her accomplishments! She earned her way into an Ivy through hard work not nepotism! She earned her place versus someone buying their way into a school.
As a poor student at Columbia (one of the cheaper Ivies) , this video is so relatable. I’ve always wondered what it’s like at other Ivy campuses and this video was informative.
Sorry Colombia isn't a poor ivy? It's in NYC?
@@MrBjorn6 Do you attend? I do and as a student, I can say it’s a poor Ivy compared to the rest.
@@LibraP93 why is it a poor Ivy?
Thank You 🙏🏻 for your open candor. My son is applying to 3 ivies, Stanford and U Chicago as a low-income, Hispanic, single parent household student. As a mother I worry and your honesty was appreciated how we will afford incidentals. I am interested as to how you got started independent of crimson. Thank You 🙏🏻
you're so welcome Monica!
I suggest community college + state school and living at home. Avoid student loan debt. Also if the kid isn't going for an in demand, high paying job no reason to go to college. College is NO guarantee.
I'm a 1st generation Nigerian Immigrant. Back in Nigeria there were times we went to bed without food because we simply didn't have enough, so even by Nigerian standards we were poor. We came to America in 2003, I was around 14 at that time. There were moments when I was concerned about my parents not having enough but I also was the kid that really never wanted/needed much so I never really asked my parents for much. I was blessed with a natural "I don't give a fuck" attitude so it really didn't matter to me if some kid made fun of my clothes or shoes, in the back of my mind I always knew one day those motherfuckers would be working for me. I always saw myself as being smart and disciplined enough to make a good future for myself in America so it never really mattered to me where I was starting from. There were a lot of things I was insecure about, but being poor wasn't really one of them. Today I make close to $300k/yr but it doesn't feel like I achieved any "milestone" because I never really cared about not being rich to begin with, if that makes sense.
this should have a million likes. i'm a junior, applying for qb cps and looking into colleges- and I'm always concerned abt the money aspect. and it seems that no one EVER talks abt getting jobs, how to pay off the leftover money that didn't get covered by fin aid, rent, living off campus, living w/ the rich, etc. thank you for this amazing and genuine and important video
thanks so much for your kind comment blueyyy! so happy you found this helpful!!
Wow guys - it looks like this video is kind of blowing up. If you found it helpful at all please consider liking and subscribing! And if you have any questions, feel free to comment below. I try to heart and respond to every single one!
Congratulations for graduating. Put GOD first in your life and don't think this life is about working and a prestigious school. It is not. I hope you learn the truth about life. Expensive schools are NOT a guarantee you will get a good job. Most don't but end up with debt and find IT WAS NOT WORTH IT.
Congratulations. I’m sure the economic disparity is felt larger at an Ivy League school. Probably the patriot league as well( Colgate, Georgetown, Lehigh, Bucknell, and so on). However it’s temporary. My nephew is dealing w that right now at your favorite Ivy League school I won’t name that begins with an H. It’s definitely a culture shock for some when you know somebody that comes back from Xmas break with a fully loaded Escalade and gets a 2000 a month spending allowance and access to an Amex black card. Different world. Hell, I went to a public ivy and was happy if my checking account had some $10 in it lol. That was enough for the Saturday night dollar moves and enough ramen noodles to last a week, a box of captain crunch and milk . 🤩
120k in 9 months?????? How tf... Meanwhile I just doubled my money through AMD and I feel like a Final Boss. That's the real driving force of not being good enough: a lot of life can feel competitive, regardless of whether or not it is. How much you and I make investing is pretty irrelevant to the rest of life, yet I felt a fervent pang of self doubt when I heard that.
@@AwkwardHandshaking hey man, there's always someone who's doing better and someone who's doing worse - we're all on our own journeys
Really really ....appreciate the human(ness) with which shared your struggle & humbleness with which you shared your success.🤩
12:42 Based on certain things you said in the video, I'm assuming you're just like me: growing up as a "restaurant kid" and parents are likely Chinese immigrants that are born in rural China that grew up REALLY destitute. That said, it is highly unlikely that our generation will be able to get over "feeling poor"; it has simply been ingrained into us because of our parents' lifestyles.
Also, I just got matched to Princeton through QuestBridge as well a few days ago. Fellow QB Scholar
awesome man! congratulations!
You are so damn humble and grounded and has this essence of empathy ... 💯 Kudos and wish you luck for the future ....
aww thank you Lizzy!!
"We become what we think most of time." You have the potential to become billionaire, if you learn what other billionaires thought to have become billionaire. The biggest obstacle that our upbringing pose to us is not we start with nothing, but the limitation on our mind and our imagination. It is important to overcome that limitation, since you will become what you think most of time.
that's a true fact
I just graduated college with an honors degree in genetics. First gen, poverty level income and chaotic family too boot. And started at 25. Some of the best and brightest people I met in college were people who were coming from rough lives. It's sad how inaccessible education is in our country but I am proud for the lucky ones of us who make it out.
thank the democratic party for keeping the poor poor in the United States. they keep selling dreams to the poor in exchange for votes.
and if you think elite universities around the world are open to poor kids, you're one naive child.
@@RobertMJohnson I never said that? I know education is inaccessible to many, many people. Being from the US makes me incredibly privileged even coming from poverty, yes, I understand that. But it doesn’t take away from the pride first-gen graduates who made it. They deserve to be proud of such an accomplishment.
Although you're poor, having Yale on your resume gives you enormous privilege and advantage when it comes to hottest, high-paying jobs out there. For example, you see those from Yale or Harvard with a degree in history or English can easily land a job at one of the top investment banks or PE shops on Wall Street, whereas people from non-ivies need to have a degree in finance or accounting in order to be considered.
Thank you for your thoughts. That feeling of being poor will go away. You just started your post-college life and you have achieved so much. The feeling will change once you will realize that the money or wealth that you have is here to stay, once you realize that if anything happens and you loose everything, you know what to do to get up on your feet and you can make it again, you are free. one thing is to be poor - and do nothing to change it, other to have low cash flow, that means your status is just temporary and you have hopes and dreams to help you change your status. Good luck.
Thanks for your comment Angela. I really resonate with what you said 😇
Much appreciated your honesty. I’m your fan now. Keep it coming! Thanks Kevin.
You're welcome Ben!!
Oh my god I just discovered you and you’re so underrated! I love how open u are, it really makes me feel like I’m just talking to a friend or a brother :)
awww thanks for the kind comment Amber!!
The part I loved the most is that you now help your parents financially now, it’s actually very nice!! Also the fact that you so humbly talked about your past experience and how it helped you reach where you have reached today. 😊
I went to Yale in the sixties, from a similar economic background. Back then I had trouble telling rich from poor, generally. One guy did bring a “tutor” in his thirties who ran errands mostly but his real value was that he could type extremely fast. And one well organized classmate paid me to type his papers. He wasn’t that smart but his organizational skills I think later won him the Pulitzer Prize. I just looked him up on Wikipedia which says he has written all his books long hand. My side job was working in the library microfilm and newspaper room Friday nights and Saturday which raised my grades, nothing to do 80% of the time but study, in hours normally not productive. It shot my grades to top five percent. Thank you for revving up my nostalgia. Good luck.
You are so lucky your parents supported you. You are a good person for understanding their sacrifice.
As someone who is also from Miami, glad you’re shedding light in immigrant and low income stories. You have had a privilege that not everyone gets (the cool tutoring jobs) and are humble about it! Wishing you all the best!
Thank you friend!
Great video! I love the blurred/low light background, very clear and easy to watch. 👌🏽 Also appreciate the honesty for this topic. I agree, it seems like coming from a middle/working class family is tougher in some ways, with less opportunity for financial aid. Growing up below the poverty line certainly provides a valuable perspective and instills a sense of gratitude - as you wrote about in your Common App essay! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
You’re welcome Lucy! Thanks for watching 😇😇😇
@@elevatedschool kevin world domination?
Hi Kevin, I stumbled upon your channel, you are such a kind, thoughtful and considerate person. Thank you for sharing, you're making an immeasurable impact. Wishing you all the best.
Thank you for your truthful experience ❤️ you’re killing the game 🔥 keep going and watch where you end up
Thanks so much Paris!!!
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The divide is very real and does affect the student's experience. Thank you for your posting, I hope this encourages people to talk about the issue seriously when in the decision process after acceptance letters are received. Also, I appreciate your comment about this ridiculous climb to make more than your neighbor. Let's discuss what is truly enough, and what work brings joy to your life and contributes to a better world. - proud mom of a daughter who received aid and worked throughout college in order to attend and graduate from one of the 'Little Ivies'.
This was extremely encouraging especially as I’m in the middle of applying to graduate school. I related to much of what you touched on throughout your video. Thank you for the vulnerability and sharing!
Love your honesty and humility. Coming from a very smart person, it’s so refreshing!
Wow! This is the most down-to-earth attitude toward life. Thanks for sharing the course of your growing up with distinguished achievements. I have uploaded your video to my teaching classes at NTHU, Taiwan, plus many other big groups, too. Very inspiring! My deepest admiration and respect to you! Thank you.
Wow! Thank you so much for your comment! You made my day!!
I’ve seriously never been able to relate to someone more omg. I’m applying to college this year and I thought I was alone in this process of being low-income, especially compared to everyone around me. Thank you so much for sharing!!! ❤️❤️❤️
I love your way of telling a story. Thank you for taking your time for this video
Thanks for the inspiring video! There is always someone who has less money/food/family than us and less opportunities; it's good to see that you are content with where your're at in life. You obviously worked hard to get there. My daughter is going to college next year, so I'm going to show her this video. She really wants to be a teacher, knowing that they don't make much money, so I am admiring that her only goals in life aren't to obtain more money or social status. My parents owned a gun shop when I was growing up, so I helped in there and remember the same kinds of things as you mentioned; fighting over money issues etc. Our home was physically connected to the shop, so it was basically our life and I remember thinking when I was in high school that only rich kids or kids who were really good at sports could go to college and I didn't really have anyone telling me otherwise, so I just didn't go. It's awesome that you came from a poor family and got to go to Yale! I love that! Thanks again for the vid!
You're welcome Anna! Glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for sharing your experience :))
This was a very interesting video to watch! Love how genuine you are.
glad you thought so!
It is likely just the viewpoint of a few here and there, but this is the most relatable video of Kevin I've seen.
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Ahh I wanna cry. Both of feeling better because there exist people that can understand, but also because of thinking about how challenges make you suffer, even after time has passed.
I have a friend who is about to finish Law School and is currently at Berkeley. She went to Yale for her master’s and say’s that she had a terrible experience. She is currently 150k in debt. We are both 28!
as a low income rising senior whos dream school is yale, this video is beyond helpful. im worried that the socio-economic barrier would have an effect on my college experience at a top/ivy school, and this video was very insighful. thank you so much!
Omg, same - exact same. Am a QB CPS, but worried about applying to QB National Match b/c my dream college is Yale and I have low SATs (for Yale).
As far as the "rich vs poor" and "Imposter Syndrome" are concerned, I can somewhat relate to those issues. With my complicated identity and middle-class background, I never felt like I could totally fit into any circle. I may be more financially/materially 'privileged' than many low-income students at my school, yet I don't have the same income bracket as the wealthier ones. Also, there are some 'middle-class' values I don't fully agree with (even in a social context).
Nevertheless, I'm glad that there isn't much of a rigid/stratified socioeconomic divide among the student population at my school.
There’s a million things I love about this video 🎉🎊🎉🎊 so inspiring
you are very humble and brave for sharing this story. you will be very successful one day and help lift up those who are around you!
Serious inspiration for me man, we all appreciate it!
woah i cannot believe you only have 3k subscribers with such a high quality video. this video really gave me a good insight, thank you and great video!
Wow, thank you for the kind comment g :))
i currently attend a private school filled with rich ppl with a scholarship. as a person from the lower class, i feel really embarrassed and inferior to my classmates. plus, theres more pressure on me to perform better in order to get out of poverty and i need to dress a certain way in order not to get bullied for having “low quality clothes”
Stay humble. Your kindness and genuine honesty is impressive. Wishing you all the success in the world.
This is so real. Thank you for being you. Best wishes for the future ✨
Thank you Ariel!!
The direct lessons of life are important; but, the indirect lessons of life can be even more powerful. Case in point: being comfortable and accepting of who you are as a person can be just as important as many of the more tangible, concrete skills, credentials, etc. that flow from any esteemed institution or even the actual content of this post. You probably had a pretty good sense of who you were and were comfortable being that person before you went on to university, and it has certainly carried over into your post-graduate life. Thanks for sharing your insights, opinions, and experiences.
I live in a country in Northern Europe and here, there are no university tuition fees. I am able to get a student loan and benefit from an authority. The loan part has an interest rate of 0.05%.
I am just going to my local university. The technical faculty is really good in a Swedish context and there are plenty of companies that work within the technical sector close to the university. It's easy to land an engineering job that pays well after graduation. With a few years work experience, my salary will be above average salary in Sweden.
Scandinavia has some of the highest living costs in the world, so even an average Swedish salary is high from an international point of view. I am pretty satisfied with going to a local university and earn more money than 95% of the world's population.
Kevin,. I am so proud of you.... God bless you!
Much love Kevin! Low income be tough sometimes
It’s ok Sawyer! We’re tougher 🏃🏽♂️
Hey Kevin! I've been recommending your vids to lots of my peeps in the admissions process and noticed you don't have a video about interviews...Yet! I think this would be super helpful in the middle of the interview season :)
Thanks for the suggestion Chuck! I'll make one this week!
so much love to you for creating this video. i'm doing something very similar but a little behind you in the process; i tutor weekly now and those daily 1-4 hour afternoon/night sessions are more than draining. thank you thank you thank you
This really gives me some perspective on what it's like because I am really wanting to go to Exeter and it's great to know that it's okay to not be completely special in a financial way in those high-level schools. Thank you.
Everything about this video is perfect. You might not have spent too much to make it or practiced a lot but trust me, your originality is top-notch. 💗
hey kevin! great video as always.
just a suggestion- i would really like to see some videos where you talk about how you invested your money and made wise financial decisions because that is something schools across the world fail to teach
Sure! Honestly, my investment philosophy is to pick stocks that I think will minimum 2x. If you want to get a head start, I recommend watching alllll of Chicken Genius and Dave Lee on Investing's videos. They literally helped me make $50k during quarantine absolutely bonkers stuff!
Very helpful and thought provoking video. Thanks for putting this together as I can empathize with your story! Best to you and your family.
Glad you enjoyed the video Jacob!
@@elevatedschool thanks! Looking to binge on your videos because we have two kids who are college bound in a few years… I showed this one to my son and he def. enjoyed it. Again, very helpful.
This is the one the most honest review I have heard so far.
I wish you well.
I'm honestly glad I did not get into a more expensive school because my parents were paying. I live in California so getting into a good school would be one of the UCs. I didn't get into any so I just went to the state university near my house. Now that I graduated I realize the university doesn't matter nearly as much as choosing the right major and internships.
yes 1000%!!
What major did you choose? And I'm assuming it's a Cal State, so if I may ask, which one? - current hs senior trying to figure out what career i want or at least, can manage
you're a down to earth guy though who is a lot more relatable and likeable and i think that that's not often a trait one comes across with rich people. they probably take a lot of things for granted and have an entitled attitude. you actually know and appreciate the value of your parents' hard work, etc.
Just wanted to drop by here and tell you that you come across as a super genuine and relatable guy. You'd make a good friend!
Congratulations to you! You are such an inspiration. Thank you for your candor and humility. I'm very happy for you.
thank you for this kind comment Blair!!
@@elevatedschool You're most welcome.
I don't know why this video popped up and started automatically, but I really enjoyed hearing about your experiences. I realized that unsolicited advice is generally dropped in the circular bin, but I thought that I would give a few insights that I've picked up over the years. Like yourself, I grew up in poverty. When applying for financial aid, our mid 1980's adjusted income was under $6,000. I went to one of the best public high schools in my state and graduate #1 of 435, and I was told that I could go to an Ivy League school for virtually free. While I could have, I wound up going to an honors college at a state school. Like yourself, I "worked" about 40 hours per week. One job was pretty laborious as it involved being a TA for a math class, but the other was being the night watchman at my dorm for 3 or 4 8 hour shifts a week. (Think paid study time without distraction and having to get up every hour to walk around the dorm for 5 minutes.) Pretty much everyone in the Honors College got into a top notch graduate school. I pretty much only applied to two schools in science (CalTech and MIT) and got into both and my top choice in English Lit. The point is that it doesn't matter where you went to undergraduate IF you are going to go to graduate school anyway. No one looks at a resume and says ...I see that you have a PhD from MIT, but I'm sorry we can't hire someone who went to an undergraduate state school. This point is for disadvantaged people watching the link and thinking that their world is over because they didn't get into an Ivy school.
Here are some specific pieces of advice for you:
1. Any fool can make money in today's market. A market correction is coming shortly; it might be a good time to stop trading options. I have found that I've been best served by just looking for the lowest cost index funds, placing the money into the fund, and forgetting about it. Unless you want to do investing for a living, you are more likely than not to get crushed eventually.
2. My first (and only job) after school was as a strategic management consultant. During the first 10 years of my career, I traveled for about 200 to 300 days per year. I never really adjusted from my lifestyle in college. Having roommates is a good thing if you are only around 1 or 2 weekends a month. Also, if you have spent your time eating at high end restaurants for the past two weeks, a simple sandwich and fruit looks awfully appealing during the weekend. Bottom line: Try to not adjust immediately to a higher income. Spend the rest of your 20's growing a nest egg. By my early 30's (late 90's to early 00's), I was investing about $5-$10 K / month. Everything banked then, has multiplied 4x.
3. Worrying about money has never been an issue for me, and you shouldn't let it distract you. I don't compare myself to anyone else or am obsessed with material rewards. One great advantage of living well under your means is that you attract partners who also don't care much about money as well. Several women dropped me on a 3rd or 4th date when they saw how I "lived." Several asked why do you live in 1 room when you could live in a mansion?
4. Really draw boundaries around extended family. As you get wealthier, extended family will come out of the woodwork. You mention that you do help your parents and that is fine. What is not fine is loaning money to a deadbeat cousin.
Great video.
thanks for the advice kind sir! I stopped trading options last year and have just been holding TSLA and some crypto.
“Cloud of insecurity” - I felt that at a instate “affordable” university.
I left after a year.
so honest. keep going brother your future is bright!
Very insightful story. Thank you for sharing.
Hey! An international student over here applying to USA with financial aid.
I just wanted thank you for your insightful videos!! They are absolutely amazing and so are you!!
You're so welcome!! Thanks for watching my videos! Please share with friends
I'm in the same boat :)
@@ayomade7496 I hope you get into an amazing institute!
@@hogwarts2356 you too :)
I hope that feeling of being poor goes away, however, I hope you retain HUMILITY.
Also, I came from working class (little different). My parents were totally unprepared to help me financially to send me (hmm? extinct, now) nursing school in hospital.
I worked for everything and I appreciate that and myself.
Same. I come from low income, but with a catch - parents who are poor but dedicated to living simply. They don't care about ivy leagues, none of that "crap" - maybe a blessing, in some ways, but to me...I have to do all the work myself. All the research, all the planning, all the contacting, all the working. And they actively make it more difficult because they same I'm becoming a workaholic. I'm just a high school junior. I dream big and I won't stand for anyone telling me I can't make it because of my demographic.
Great video! Thanks so much! What an insightful perspective.
Kevin, Thanks for sharing this video. I admire your intelligence, hustle and strong work ethic. You will go far.
Thank you Cynthia!!
you're just such a genuine person! :))
i do it for the kids Tejasvin
God bless you Kevin, great story!
God bless you Mr. Castillo!
Thanks Kevin for validating my thoughts and feelings! I’m currently attending Wharton at Penn, and I definitely feel like a lot of the more wealthier people here are skating by with more options and resources to help them. However, I always keep myself grounded with the friends I have with similar backgrounds :)
You're not alone!
Thanks for your honesty. I see that you are resourceful! Success is 80% mindset and 20% Mechanical.
College and University life is what you make it. You are very inspirational. Thanks for sharing your experiences
🤗😃🙏🏼.
Thank you lucky for watching!!
i love this video so much. it helps a lot with me try to get into princeton and i had a meeting with them (all we talked about was the transfer program and financial aid). this school has been my dream school for as long as i can remember but i come from a family that makes maybe at best 25,000-30,000 a year. but now i have a meeting with harvard this coming up thursday and it’s really about the same thing as princeton. but the thing is i have more support from my counselor at my high school then i do from my family…..
he's such a chill, original and kind hearted dude, love him already lol
Thank you for this. As a student coming from a single parent household, I struggle to find videos regarding the FGLI experience at an Ivy. This video really boosted my confidence and was one of the main reasons I ended up applying.
The good thing is that their life will change. At least this was my experience. I will prob be able to pay that high tuition for my kids in the future having been a scholarship kid. While I really enjoyed my college experience, it was simultaneously stressful. Being poor is effin tough. You would feel it juxtaposed next to wealthy kids but even more when you actually feel like you don’t want to call home for financial help. Kudos to every student out there getting through. Remember to always reach back! You got this!
Thank you, as always, for being so open and poignant. Tbh I'm really nervous about being a scholarship kid at Yale. And my parents...everyone in my life has always had a bad relationship and attitude towards wealth, and that's left me with a really bad relationship with money. Like I feel guilt for the money I have saved for college, knowing thst my dad is thousands of dollars in debt. Like I feel if I ever do make it--if I ever get out of this whole--I will somehow be betraying who I am. Like I feel like I'm not worth the scholarships I'm getting. Idk this is getting to rambly and personal for a TH-cam comment. But thank you for being open and honest with how difficult all this can be.
You're welcome Lizzy!! And don't worry - if you find even 1 or 2 other low-income kids/friends at Yale, it makes the ride waaay smoother. I'm also here if you wanna chat!
@@elevatedschool Thank you :)
I am a parent with a high school junior. I’ve seen many smart kids who struggle because of their parents. Let me tell you this. You saving up for college is not betrayal. You might end up saving your whole family some day. Don’t feel guilty. I am close to 50. Young people don’t realize if a person is not in financially good standing at age 40 and above, that means that person has made quite a few risky bets in his/her life or has unhealthy financial habits.
The children cannot educate their parents financially. Forget about your parents’ situation. It will just drag you down. Just think of yourself first. When you become financially independent, that’s when you can start helping your parents. If you start helping them too soon, you just create the financial dependency between you and your parents. If your parents are still young enough to work, that financial dependency will destroy both of you. They won’t work as hard making all sorts of excuses, and expect more money from you as their health deteriorates with age, and you will not have enough foundation to grow yourself both in career and in personal finance at all.
In your situation, being selfish is the best way to save your family. No parents want to be a burden to their kids until they experience the comfort of free ride on the back of their children. Do not spoil them. It is up to you whether your family can make it to a comfortable life down the road. You just have to make smart decisions.
I recommend you to read many personal finance books. You did not inherit the way rich people think but you can educate yourself from reading books. Rich Dad Poor Dad is a good starting point. Good luck to both of you. I have seen good handful of people who were self made. You guys can do it, too.
Hey, you do you. Forget about your family's relationship with money. The best way you can help your family is to do well. Pick an in demand well paying major. Then you will do well and be able to pay off your dad's loans if you choose to. This is your time.
Thank you for talking about it. You are inspiring
First time I have seen your videos and my takeaway from this, other than the great wisdom you are sharing is, you are a really wonderful human. You exude kindness and through a screen that's not easy to do. I wish you so much good fortune for your future.
wow, thanks for the kind comment Aussie Sarah!!
@@elevatedschool you are welcome. My daughter is in her 2nd year at Uni (all Australian tertiary are called university) and all this info is helpful for me as well, so I can understand when she talks to me about it all. We have a financial scheme over here that I'd say every student, except the rich ones, are on to pay their fees. It's government run and you repay slowly after you've finished uni and earn above a certain amount of income. It does alleviate some of the financial pressure in the short term. Again, thanks for your channel. You are inspiring.
I'm going to be applying to colleges in less than a year as a middle class person from India and I already struggle with many things you mentioned. I loved this video. Thanks a ton :)
Once you no longer need to worry about to make the ends meet, the only thing that troubles you is how to shake off the feeling of being poor. It will be harder after you experienced the difference between the rich and the poor in college.
I experienced that the first hand and it still haunts me from time to time.
Wishes you goodluck for your future success. Looking to hear your success in later years as you sound like someone grounded with good values. Focus & do not feel dejected for your ethnicity & status. Good luck Kevin Zhe. New subscriber.
Imposter syndrome! Thank you!!
When I transferred from state to private (for high school and better overall education) I realised that I discredited a lot of what I did simply because I am from a lower-working class background! Someone's mum even told me I was 'a trouble maker' simply because I was talking and laughing with my friends during a game of rounders.
It definitely hits harder when you are a poc too!
Thank you so much Kevin for sharing this
Thank you for your excellent topics. 😊
you're welcome FoxFire GLO!
Hi Kevin, I was a Questie at UPenn the first year they had the program (there were ~10 of us then I think). I also worked 3 part time jobs all the way through school, and that money had to go to healthcare and housing (i.e. being homeless over Christmas break when my dorm closed, etc). The rich/poor divide was enormous. I remember how alienated I felt listening to people having a conversation about how their parents gave them $1k a week in allowance, or how they were taking a family helicopter to NYC for the weekend. I had a friend argue with me for hours that he was typical middle class, even though both parents made over $200k a year, and he had gone to a boarding school in Europe and had 20k in random birthday money saved up in his bank account. It was wild.
Even now that I make a lot of money and am very successful in my career, I've found there is a lifelong background anxiety that something could go wrong, knowing I don't have a safety net from family and friends. If you grow up in poverty you can never escape the mindset entirely. The feeling of being poor will always stick with you.
That said, I'm really glad to see people like you making these types of videos now and helping build that sense of community for other FIGLI students. I am sure it would have really helped me prepare better if I had had something like this when I was first going to college. :)
It’s an honest perspective on your experience at Yale! I wish you the best in life and hope you find happiness and prosperity for you and family!
Thank you so much for the kind comment!!
I do Instacart and DoorDash and I see the disparity between the wealthy students and the poor students especially here in the West Coast where are two major universities have very distinct neighborhoods. The majority of the people who have money they live in condominiums and the other people who live on campus Our in dormitories or townhouses.
This video was so inspiring, thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed it Mofe!!
Recently transferred from a local community college to the biggest school in my state, I really resonate with a lot of what you said. My school isn’t nearly as prestigious as Yale, but it is greek life heavy. Seems to create a similar atmosphere in regards to the types of folks you interact with. That tutoring grind you did is crazy though! I’m sitting here giving serious consideration to near-minimum wage jobs, but man, I just don’t want to go back to retail. I still have a little money from financial aid for now, come a few months though and I’m going to have to work. If it’s something even just decently compensated I’d be happy, that’s where frugality pays off. I’ve always struggled to tutor because of confidence, but maybe this will be my year!
you can totally do it! just starts with one tutoring client/customer, then work your way up using referrals :)
What do you mean "Greek life heavy"?
@@_my_insomnia_blink562 strong presence / many people who participate / many sororities
@@WizardTideTime908 you live in Greece?