<p>I think people who say only academics matter don't really know what college is like at all. You're going to be doing more than studying, and all these other factors should be an important factor in where you apply</p>
<p>i'm applying to all but penn</p>
<p>IMHO, applying to all 8 Ivies is unnecessary - it's insane, in fact. If you did your college research and thought carefully about what you are looking for in a college there is no way you could love all 8 Ivies equally - they all differ so greatly. Understandably, internationals have a harder time discerning between the top 8 schools as internationals often don't get a chance to make a college visit. But reading any college website or book will highlight the differences in terms of environment, undergraduate student body, school size, majors, professors, resources... </p>
<p>Just take a look at:
Brown's open curriculum vs. Columbia's core requirements
UPenn's sheer size vs. Dartmouth's isolation
Cornell's rural location vs. Harvard cosmopolitan-near-Boston</p>
<p>Also, applying to all 8 does nothing much to boost your chances. If you get rejected by Harvard, chances are you won't be accepted by Princeton or Yale either, so why waste the time and money? </p>
<p>Warning: If you use the common application, and apply to a ridiculous number of schools (16+) you will risk being rejected by all the schools. The Common App Board compiles a data list of who uses the Common and how many schools they applied to, and they reject those students who "abuse" the application by applying haphazardly to several schools, without considering which school they really would attend, if accepted.</p>
<p>Think carefully before applying to colleges. This is not a game.</p>
<p>"The Common App Board compiles a data list of who uses the Common and how many schools they applied to, and they reject those students who "abuse" the application"</p>
<p>uh....how does the common app board reject people? and what do they reject them from?</p>
<p>Kosuke - "they" refers to the colleges, not the Common App Board.</p>
<p>From what I have heard, the CA Board shares such lists with the schools that are under agreeement to use the Common Application. It is obviously up to the discretion of each school, but most schools would look twice at an applicant who has sent the exact same application to 30 other schools, n'est pas? And if a school feels an applicant is immature, or that the student is not truly interested in attending their school (combine this with a shoddy/badly-presented "Why Here" Essay) - it's easy to see how such a student might be rejected.</p>
<p>who told you this?</p>
<p>I applied to 4 Ivies Swarthmore and Stanford. I was accepted Ea to Yale, but I intend to go to Dartmouth if I'm accepted in the RD round, I love the school, what can I say.</p>
<p>I also applied to Harvard
Penn was my safety though I will no longer need it because I would obviously go to Yale over Penn.</p>
<p>I was looking for an atmosphere and a particular ideal along with a good education.
The idea that there would be something peculiar about applying mainly to the ivies seems misguided to me.</p>
<p>Would there be something wrong with applying mainly to the UC's, etc? I wouldnt think so.
This PRESTIGE envy cuts both ways, though few would admit it.</p>
<p>Kaliedoscope- Penn is a safety? How can a school that only accepts 20% RD be your safety?!?!?!?! Congrats on Yale though.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I applied to all of them except colombia and princeton. I did this because i guess location and size dont matter to me but education is the most important factor and i think at these schools i will get the best education.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I'm sorry, I read this and just couldn't stop laughing... seriously though... If it wasn't for the name "Ivy League" no one in their right mind would like Dartmouth, Brown, and Penn (and 3 other Ivies too?). Maybe 1 of the 3. But never 2. 3 is ridiculous. Brown is ultra-liberal and urban, Dartmouth is a rural frat school, and Penn is urban preppie. I can't imagine the same person having legitimate interest in all three.</p>
<p>It's a shame that high school students don't have enough time to learn about the various colleges. They hear from someone's mother that the "Ivy League" is really good and so they look up which 8 schools those are and then pick from the list. If you had more time to look into it, you might hear about the places that are actually much better places to get educated. Rice, Caltech, Williams, Oberlin... etc., etc.</p>
<p>...liberal arts colleges, etc, etc...</p>
<p>
[quote]
The idea that there would be something peculiar about applying mainly to the ivies seems misguided to me. Would there be something wrong with applying mainly to the UC's, etc? I wouldnt think so. This PRESTIGE envy cuts both ways, though few would admit it.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Kaleidoscope, the UC's are all very similar schools. Many of the Ivies have almost nothing in common with each other (weather, urban/rural, preppie/liberal, fraternities/residential colleges).</p>
<p>Prestige envy doesn't cut it for people who went to schools like Rice, Northwestern, U of Chicago, Berkeley, UVa, etc. They can get into any graduate school that you can from Yale, given the same GPA and test score (LSAT or GRE or MCAT or GMAT). Going to Yale may be prestigious to an 8 year-old, but it isn't prestigious to an admissions committee at Yale Law School or Stanford Law School or wherever you want to go. If you aren't looking to go to grad school, the job market also won't give you many advantages. A UVa grad can get to Wall Street easier than a Yale grad (since UVa has a business school and larger, more effective networking on Wall Street than Yale does). UVa and Yale even share the same alumni club in NYC (granted, it's called the Yale Club and not the UVa Club, but it's the same place and the same people).</p>
<p>
[quote]
Warning: If you use the common application, and apply to a ridiculous number of schools (16+) you will risk being rejected by all the schools. The Common App Board compiles a data list of who uses the Common and how many schools they applied to, and they reject those students who "abuse" the application by applying haphazardly to several schools, without considering which school they really would attend, if accepted.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Gianievve- where did you hear this? It is not only immoral to reject someone solely based on the number of CommonApp institutions to which a student applies, but I am fairly sure it is illegal and discriminatory. This is clearly a ridiculous myth. Unless you have facts or some kind of credible article to back up this outrageous claim, then I would ask you to please stop smearing unfeasible hearsay on these boards. Not only does it tarnish your reputation as a reasonable and trustworthy poster, but it also causes unnecessary concern in students who are already too worried about the whole admissions process.</p>
<p>And by the way, 16 is not a "ridiculous" number of schools to apply to; my brother had carefully researched many schools before applying, made many lists of pros and cons, carefully weighed options, and finally decided on applying to 19- all of which he would be happy to attend. This is not "abusing" the CommonApp: it is using it for the purpose for which it was invented.</p>