<p>"I personally don’t think this even matters. Let them say what they wanna say, bottom line is: Cornell is an ivy. People can say “ooh.. worst ivy..” but hey, it’s STILL an IVY. If you take the IVY part out of Cornell, then it might even fall farther.</p>
<p>In terms of rankings, Cornell is more or less the same level as Washington U in St. Louis and Chicago U. Yet, how much fame do these school get in the US.. let alone the WORLD. Yea, sure, they are stellar schools too. But are they ivies? No. Do they wish they were? I bet you anything they do (even if they don’t say it -_-).</p>
<p>All in all, the word “IVY” is a category. No one cares how good that school really is, but if it belongs in the IVY group, then it MUST be excellent. Groups are in general a lot easier to be famous and prestigious, esp when they are included in a group with the HYP. Yea, sure, HYP gets more fame. The real question is.. Who Cares?</p>
<p>When people say “worst ivy”.. they are just comparing it to HYP and the admission rate. It’s rather a compliment if you treat it like one. So what if Cornell is the worst “ivy”… how many schools would work and work and work to earn this spot?</p>
<p>It’s like a celebrity. If you’re famous, then you would be criticized no matter what. It’s impossible to please the entire world, so just ignore the insults and to hell with the comparisons. We all know that Cornell is excellent beyond words, and that’s that."</p>
<p>Sure, I agree that with the ivy membership comes a certain degree of the prestige. But how about this? I think that once Cornell stops being an ivy, its reputation can be as good as (arguably) Stanford. Try grouping Stanford with Harvard, Princeton and Yale and you will all the sudden get “Stanford, the worst of the HYPS League” (at least, number and ranking-wise, but sadly that’s a major source of a university’s reputation nowadays.)</p>
<p>Cornell academics, breadth, mission, unique constitution, alumni network, etc are all top notch. There is no reason why the students should identify themselves with the Ivy League, when the school is very much unlike the other ivies. Without that association, the school’s reputation can do even better. Much better, imo.</p>