After a viral social media post intensified conversation around the pressures of elite college admissions, Zoho Founder Sridhar Vembu has weighed in, saying the relentless chase for credentials is pushing students to leave home, take on financial burdens, and spend longer in higher education — often without acquiring real-world skills.
Vembu’s comments come in response to a student’s emotional post detailing their rejection from top-tier universities like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and California Institute of Technology (Caltech), despite stellar academic achievements.
The post, which highlighted the crushing disappointment of being denied entry into the “elite” institutions they had worked tirelessly for, has sparked widespread discussion about the flaws in the higher education system.
“He makes very important points about the higher education rat race and the chase for credentials where young people go far from home, pay ever more to stay ever longer in higher education, all too often without even gaining useful real world skills,” Vembu said on X (formerly Twitter).
Vembu also proposed alternative solutions suited to both the American and Indian contexts.
In the United States (US), he advocates for strengthening local institutions to provide quality education without requiring students to uproot themselves. In India, Vembu stressed the need to revive rural areas to retain and nurture talent locally.
“I fundamentally believe we have to revive our rural areas to revive our civilisation, and that means being able to retain and nurture talent locally,” he stated.
What did the viral post say?
Amid the highly competitive US college admissions season, a student shared a deeply emotional post on social media after being rejected by top institutions, including MIT and Caltech, despite an outstanding academic record.
The student, who had a perfect 4.0 unweighted Grade Point Average (GPA), a 1580 Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) score on the first attempt, and numerous Advanced Placement (AP) courses and coding awards, had expected at least a waitlist placement at MIT. Instead, they were met with outright rejection, leading to what they described as an overwhelming sense of devastation.
“I recently got back my MIT results and got absolutely crushed, rejected. As the worst case scenario I thought I would be put on the waitlist but no, nothing,” the student wrote.
“Now it feels like my world is crashing down, like I have separated from the palm of success, ambition, and exclusivity. The elite. Now, despite everything I've done, it is worthless, worthless. All the hours I've spent, I've turned down parties, girls, general fun, for NOTHING,” the post further wrote.
As the student awaits decisions from other top schools, the post has prompted discussions about the immense pressure placed on young scholars during college admissions.
