Mental illness is rampant among students at elite colleges because these kids were always the best of their class, their teachers and parents were always praising them, inflating their egos. That overinflated, not-based-in-anything-real sense of self-esteem is then completely wrecked the moment they're no longer the smartest kid in the room.
Lol, if anything it’s the opposite for a lot of them, especially Asians. Often they had really strict and high expectation parents who rarely doled out much praise. With a lot of these overachievers they never developed any real sense of purpose beyond pleasing their parents and everyone around them and now have nothing to base their life on. Sure their teachers praised them, but parents? It was always never enough. They always had to do better, you have to constantly be number one are you are nothing. And now what? That’s why so many are suffering.
Of course you want an excuse to demonize these kids as just spoiled brats who think they are owed the world because they don’t vote the way you like so for that purpose your characterization works better.
