Hollywood is not Harvard. It never has been and never will be. A teenage career in the entertainment industry will never be the same as an education from a highly selective university, even if your parents are Kardashians. The culture in the southern half of the Golden State is quite remote from the ivied campuses of the northeastern U.S. Still, we at Ivy Coach would hope that the stars and starlets of Hollywood would have a healthy reverence for the most significant opportunities available for their children. It might not surprise that this strange cross-section of the American elite continually dashes this hope.

Take the Varsity Blues scandal, for example, when Hollywood power couple Lori Laughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced to prison for participating in an illegal scheme to get their kids into. . . the University of Southern California. Don’t get us wrong, USC is a great school. But if you were going to risk it all to get your kids into a top-notch school illegally, wouldn’t you aim a little higher? How about actress Felicity Huffman, who hired a body double to take her daughter’s SAT on her behalf? Whatever happened to investing in some good old-fashioned tutoring with a highly-trained professional?

Elite College Culture Shock: UCLA and USC are the Ivy League’s Understudies

Varsity Blues was not the exception to the rule as much as the most extreme example of a widespread cultural divide between Hollywood’s elite and everyone else. The Ivy League cache doesn’t hold the same regard in the City of Angels as it does for the rest of the country. If celebrities’ children attend college, they often attend such schools as UCLA and USC. And when it comes to Hollywood’s rising stars, the trend is no different. USC can currently lay claim to big names like pop star Olivia Rodrigo, who took a poetry class there while penning songs from her latest album.

Perhaps USC makes logistical sense for Ms. Rodrigo as she reaches new heights in the Hollywood-centered music industry nextdoor to campus. However, as for everyone else, we can only assume that these celebrities live in the clouds and don’t understand the true meaning of educational prestige. There’s something in the water down there that we have no interest in drinking because we’ve long known that a degree from Yale or Princeton will open doors that a degree from USC can’t. The rest of the nation doesn’t have the privilege of only recently awakening to that reality. If you’re aspiring to become a celebrity like Mom and Dad, ignore this chiding by all means. But don’t say we didn’t warn you when your career stagnates later in life!

Where Hollywood Kids Go Wrong on Their Applications to the Ivy League

Those ambitious students with Hollywood origins who take the leap of faith into an East Coast education often need to improve in a few key areas. Unsurprisingly, these high schoolers were raised on a diet of name-dropping and clout-chasing. Admissions officers will be none too impressed by your letter of recommendation from your friend with five million followers! And they won’t care for your essay peppered with mentions of A-listers. It will just make you seem unlikable and entitled (remember, admissions officers, even those at Ivy League schools, don’t live the wealthy lifestyle you might!). And we won’t even mention the pitfalls of having your parents illegally intervene on your behalf.

Instead, ambitious high schoolers in Los Angeles should use the ingredients that everyone else uses to make it onto a prestigious college campus:

• Stellar grades and scores
• Compelling letters of recommendation from teachers and the school counselor
• The power of the singular admissions hook, showcased through activities and essays

With exceptions, elite college admissions is a relatively level playing field no matter where you’re from or who you know!