Hello, I am a housewife living in Palisades Park. Today's topic is a staple subject for Korean parents: the Ivy League.

People in Korea often say that sending kids to college is easier if you live in the U.S., but the reality is far from that.

Here, it's not just a battlefield for college admissions; it's almost a hell of admissions. Especially these days, my son's obsession with that name, UPenn, is making my life feel shorter every week.

The morning air in Palisades Park is hotter than in Korea. When I sit with a cup of coffee on Broad Avenue in the morning, the conversations at the next table are almost a set repertoire. "I heard that SAT prep school is really good there." "Someone's kid took ten AP classes." Hearing such things makes my heart race.

Just like the moms in Daechi-dong in Korea who are running to send their kids to SKY universities, moms here in New Jersey also play the role of supporters to send their kids to the Ivy League. Managing rides, contacting tutors, and scheduling sports. Juggling all of this has turned my mental state into that of a Marine long ago.

One day, my high school son looked at me and said very seriously, "Mom, I think UPenn is the one." At that moment, my mind started calculating. UPenn. The University of Pennsylvania. The Ivy League school that produced Trump and Elon Musk, home to the Wharton School.

From that day, my trials officially began. UPenn is not a place you can just get into with decent grades. A good GPA is a must, and the SAT score needs to be nearly perfect, along with leadership, volunteer work, sports, and musical instruments. You have to be an all-around player. When my son said, "I want to go on a campus tour in Philadelphia this weekend," I outwardly said, "That's a good idea," but inside I was worried about gas prices, tolls, and what if he gets his hopes up too high when we get there.

College admissions to the Ivy League are indeed a competition of the kids' abilities, but what's even scarier is the mental battle among the moms.

This is really important. You must not be swayed by others' gossip, but when you hear stories like, "Someone got into Harvard without doing any sports," your heart inevitably wavers.

When my neighbor Jenny says her kid won an award in some competition, and it seems like my son is just playing games in his room, that feeling of inadequacy hits hard. Of course, he claims he's coding. By the time he's a senior, the atmosphere at home is almost like a frozen storage. My son stays up all night writing essays, and I'm there preparing late-night snacks, trying to be discreet. If I say something like, "You need to write your own story," I get hit with, "Mom, you don't understand."

UPenn, especially being a school that values pragmatism, seems to require more than just being smart.

They look at what you can do in society and how much impact you can make. Seeing my son at the Palisades Park library, holding onto SAT books late into the night, makes me feel both sad and when a B shows up on his report card, my mental state shatters.

If you thought sending kids to college in the U.S. would be easy, that's a big misconception.

Here, you need money, information, and patience all at once. But above all, what's most important is the mom's steel mentality. When your kid hits a slump and shouts, "I don't want to go to college. I want to go to community college," you need the composure to say, "Sure, that's an option," while internally screaming that it absolutely cannot happen.

Honestly, going to UPenn would be great. But what if he doesn't? There are plenty of great restaurants in Palisades Park, and as long as my kid grows up healthy, I remind myself of that every night like a mantra. Of course, when I wake up in the morning, I'm back to searching college admission sites.

Today, while helping with my kid's homework, I sigh and think of all the moms in New Jersey and New York who are blankly staring out the window while driving. The Ivy League isn't everything, but if that's where your child's dream lies, you have to be willing to support them.

Just remember one thing. If the mom collapses before the kid, the game is over.

For today, close the study room door, and take some time to chat with friends at a café in Palisades Park to recharge your mental state. Next time, I hope to return with a story about how the world doesn't end even if you don't get into the Ivy League, but if possible, please pray that my son gets into UPenn.