Yes, Ivies carry a lot of weight in the US, but so do plenty of other non-Ivy universities, depending on the field. For example, in engineering, other universities will carry more weight than a degree from Harvard or Yale.
The US is extremely popular destination for students from around the world, and the Ivies are mostly small universities (Brown has 8000 students compared to Edinburgh 33,000).
Edinburgh acceptance rate is ~10% which is similar to Brown's.
– Those Times international rankings are based on reputation only. Brown isn’t as well known globally as Harvard, Yale etc. (This is no way reflects the quality of education of the institute or even its reputation in the US.)
@MYOS1634 you’re right. I think I’ll probably decide to stay in either KCL or Edinburgh (if I fulfill the IB conditions!) and perhaps take a year to experience US life. This if I decide to go to Edinburgh, since KCL doesn’t offer study abroad in my course unfortunately.
@insanedreamer@moooop thanks a lot for your advice. It is really helping me get a better grasp of these universities.
@insanedreamer I agree. That’s why I was even more doubtful about the whole thing, but just wanted to make sure I wasn’t throwing away a once in a lifetime opportunity. If I had gotten into Harvard or Yale I wouldn’t have thought about this twice but, unfortunately, I did not so
Well, to be fair, Brown may not be Harvard in terms of prestige, but on the scale of university quality, it is very close to Harvard academics, living/learning conditions, opportunities, etc.
@MYOS1634 one thing though is that Harvard is need blind for international students so it would probably have given me something (I am guessing) if I had been admitted. All those FA applications though… Such a waste of time as I was not admitted :’(
