<p>suze: Institute of Higher Education is fairly well recognized...probably the most out of the "World Rankings," it just doesn't have the most professional website.</p>
<p>What are you looking for? Penn and Cornell have the most to offer in terms of different departments and can add a lot of breadth to your undergraduate studies. If you want a small, intimate environment, go to Princeton for hard sciences/engineering, Yale for humanities, Brown for hippies, and Dartmouth for frat parties. Columbia has a whole other factor for undergraduate education with the core because all undergrads take many of the same classes the first 2 years and have similar experiences. It all depends on what your definition of "best undergrad" is. Different people want different experiences. Personally, I liked Penn and Cornell because I felt I could get the most out of my education, and TAs aren't so bad. If you need small classes and must attend an Ivy, apply to Brown, Dartmouth, Princeton, and Yale. Personally, I think WASP and other top LACs will give you a more personal education than any Ivy, but to each his own.</p>
<p>Princeton is the land of undergrads...and we love it. Sorry Penn, but the Quaker is STILL a dork.</p>
<p>princeton or dartmouth!</p>
<p>Asking these ranking questions won't get you much since it's all opinion. I went to one of the HYP and LOVED it. I suppose the other two are excellent too -- I can't really say about them or the other five. </p>
<p>Regardless, you need to visit and speak w/the students. Frankly, the differences are pretty slight as they are all excellent.</p>
<p>These threads quickly devolve into my opinion versus someone else's opinion. You know what they say about opinions and something else ... Everyone has one.</p>
<p>These opinions focus primarily on the undergraduate foci of the various Ivies. I think there is a ring of truth in them.</p>
<p>Quality of Undergrad Education</p>
<p>Tier I - Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth;
Tier II - Harvard, Penn, Columbia, Cornell </p>
<p>Yale - Extraordinary academics (though skewed away from the hard sciences). Provides luminaries on the faculty combined with a stunning array of intellectual offerings (formal courses as well as unique extra-curricular (ECs) like Grand Strategy). Reigns supreme in the fine arts, offers great leadership and service opportunities. Greatest undergrad focus [tutoring, mentoring, residential college housing, funding for ECs] with the possible exception of Dartmouth. Market leading endowment performance has Yale rolling in dough. The brand name is second to none. And it feels closer to the centers of American power than perhaps all the other top schools (Good Shepherd anyone). Major issue - old New Haven, which is still depressing after all these years </p>
<p>Princeton - Phenomenal academics, probably the most balanced of the Ivies across all fields of study. World class in arts, humanities, social sciences, hard sciences AND engineering. Only Stanford can surpass Princeton among the elite private schools in this regard. Pound for pound it's the best academically for undergraduates of all the Ivies with the largest endowment for undergraduate academics and a pristine idyllic campus. Major issue - Old Nassau is elite and it FEELS elite --> Is Princeton too cultured & manicured? Does it simply have too much money?? </p>
<p>Brown - the place for independent students who are brave (or foolish enough) to design their own programs of study; very, very good academics especially in the humanities; new arts link with RISD may effectively place Brown in the same league as Yale; stellar and very self-selecting student body and lots of momentum because of strong University leadership. And then there's the aura of celebrity which hangs over the campus like a golden halo. Major issue - lack of research-heavy grad schools means Brown will increasingly NOT be perceived as a top school by rankings that favor engrg & med school focused universities (an issue also hurting Princeton). </p>
<p>Dartmouth - weakest academically among the Ivies (due to its limited graduate programs), but still one of the very best in the nation for a classic liberal arts education. The focus on undergrads is rivaled perhaps only by Yale and the demanding rigor of its course work is unparalleled among its peers (think MIT). Mentoring is reputedly the best in the Ivies, and lots of resources ($$$) are committed to the undergraduates and to undergraduate research. Does a fantastic job of creating a strong bond among and with its students. Very self-selecting student body. Major issue - those long and cold and long and cold New England winters.</p>
<hr>
<p>Harvard - #1 brand. #1 endowment. And Harvard manages both aggressively. Overall, Harvard has more - more money, more Nobelists, more books, more museums, more labs, more of everything. The school is loaded with superstar faculty (Nobels, National Academy members, etc). Harvard College has the highest yield and one of the lowest admit rates; it may have more students that are really off the charts than any other school in America. The place is Institutional with a capital I. Major Issue - Harvard clearly favors its graduate schools, and the abandoned undergrads don't complain too much because they count themselves lucky to even be there. A low-level and pervasive unhappiness though pervades most undergraduate psyches, as many believe that their peers are getting a better education and having more fun elsewhere.</p>
<p>Penn - Academically, great breadth across many disciplines. Unrivalled in undergrad business and nursing, top notch in arts and social sciences. Maybe the weakest among the research-oriented Ivy in the hard sciences. Increasingly prominent in humanities ECs (Kelly Writers House, Civics House, Humanities Forum, etc.) to counter pre-professional Wharton-itis. Lots of academic freedom and perhaps the most flexible after Brown; Penn works hard to ensure cross-disciplinary work. Students can take classes at all Penn's schools (except for Med), benefiting from what may be the second best group of graduate schools among the Ivies. Work hard, party hard ethos. Major Issue - Sheer size and grittiness mars the Ivy experience and an anemic job market in Philadelphia (no incentives to stay local unlike Harvard/Cambridge or Stanford/Palo Alto). </p>
<p>Columbia - Blessed with a long legacy and unrivalled NYC location. Any professor who wants to live in NYC most likely wants to teach at Columbia. That creates great resources for students. Unique Core Curriculum defines the experience, and Columbia is stellar in many areas. One of the very best in arts and social sciences, very strong in sciences too. Famously political and activist, though jobs on Wall Street seem to carry the day with students. Advising, facilities and access to popular courses draw chronic complaints from the students. Campus expansion may help, although there's never enough space in Manhattan. Major Issue - Does Columbia rely too much on the lure of NYC for students and faculty alike? </p>
<p>Cornell - Big Red!!! Awesome academics can't be touched in engineering and the hard sciences. Unrivalled and unique offerings (agriculture school, labor relations, hotel mgmt) within the Ivies. Don't pooh pooh the admit rate - Cornell is the biggest among the best and - more importantly - it has a slightly different mission that the other places, namely it's the land grant school for NY state. It's a major research center even for undergrads. Another idyllic - perhaps isolated - locale for college and the life of the mind. Student diversity varies tremendously between the undergraduate schools (there are eight). And the academic programs are very structured, (aka, rigid). Major issue - Immense academic pressure at a competitive place (aka grind), and those bitter winters.</p>
<p>Wow, BalletGirl. Very impressive for someone still in high school!
Good luck with your applications.</p>
<p>Thanks Danas,</p>
<p>I really can't take credit for this as I pulled in from a few sources.</p>
<p>I do think it makes some very good points and it turns on its head some of the myths surrounding the Ivies. Too often on CC we don't discuss the Ivies in the context of the quality of the undergraduate experience. In that way as well, many of the great LACs are too often excluded from discussion.</p>