I grew up and live in Europe. English is not my native language. When I was a teenager, the words Stanford, MIT or Ivy League were totally alien to me. In fact the world and the metaphor they represent were all unknown to me.

I wish I knew of their existence, but nothing in my environment prepared me for being one of their students.

So of course these institutions are for an elite. Not everyone gets the same opportunities, because not everyone is even aware of those opportunities.

A sense of sadness suddenly shocks you when you realize it's too late for entering in the circle.

The article and the comments here are mostly American-biased. In fact, HN is many times very American-biased. There's nothing wrong about it, but please realise it.