WOW!!! thanks everyone, this is so so helpful. From what i’v researched and heard I think Dartmouth, Princeton and Williams are more for me but i will still apply to Yale of course. For those asking, I’m only applying to these ones as my choices in the UK are Oxford and Durham.
Does anyone know what the typical Princeton, Williams and Dartmouth applicant is like so I can get a feel about the ‘social vibe’. Also, at my school we have boarding houses, is that a sort of equivalent to Greek life?
Your first question is impossible to answer other than to say they are high performing students which, including athletes, are the top 5% of all students.
US schools are very diverse in student-type and generalizing, especially at this stage of process, is pointless. If you try to select the group on this criteria your chances of getting into even one drops precipitously from a small chance.
Many US students of this caliber apply to a large group of top schools and make their final choice from one or two. Many high stat international students seem to think these schools are waiting and hoping for their application. It is going to much harder for you than you think.
The Boarding Houses are somewhat similar to fraternities and sororities but Boarding Houses are school specific whereas the others are part of a national organization. Socially they are similar systems more or less. I went to Templeton College for one year, so I remember them.
To the OP: plenty of applicants in the top 1% get rejected from these schools. The Ivies&equivalents don’t have enough space for all of the top 1% of American students (and they certainly don’t take just that group as holistic admissions means all sorts of factors come in to play).
As you’re probably aware, scores alone do not guarantee you admission to Oxford either, though if you do well enough on A-levels, Durham certainly could be your safety.
Thank you, I understand that universities are so diverse, but, for example, it is said that Harvard students are very nerdy. Now although this is probably not completely true, it must display some truth.
So i guess i’m really just asking about stereotypes with some basis in reality. I know it’s terrible to judge it on stereotypes but I am interested in finding out what others would think of these schools and what sort of person {vaguely} these schools take in.
Let me help you out with this. Would you say you are a Posh speaker or more Cockney or Estuary.
Let me help you out some more: right now, you don’t have any choices to make because you have no options (besides maybe Durham). If you actually manage to get in to some of these schools, then you may consider stuff like fit, culture, etc.
I would probably classify myself as the first of the three, I’m also applying to Leeds (as my safe choice), UCL and LSE but Durham and Oxford are my top 2.
but I pretty much know all the culture and ‘types’ of these Unis
Ok that is very helpful.
Here is how I see it.
Yale - Posh
Harvard - Posh
Columbia - Estuary
Cornell - Cockney
Dartmouth - Cockney
Brown - Estuary
Penn - Estuary
Princeton - Posh
Williams - Posh
oh, ok. I always thought that Dartmouth was more posh then the completely other end of the spectrum. Thank you this is useful
Yes overall it is very, but relative it is more of a rough and tumble crowd. Hard-nosed types.
How did Williams get on your list. To me Bowdoin fits a Brit much more and the location is dramatically better.
oh, ok, thank you
red pants will feel at home at all of the ones that you are interested in 
i prefer rural settings, and i like the term plan at williams
well, I prefer a rural setting and after comparing courses i preferred Williams, I think i might apply to Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin and Middlebury to. I’m still not sure if LAC’s or universities are for me though
@BatesParent2019, wut.
Dartmouth is so not Cockney.
Heavy drinkers and partiers, yes, but preppy all the way through.
British and American social classes (or even stereotypes of them) don’t match exactly.
Also, categorizing Harvard as “posh” seems rather outdated. They (and Stanford) just want the best in all fields (so do Y & P for that matter, but H & S would win out more). The fact of the matter is that all the Ivies now (and most Ivy-eqivalents) will have similar mixes of social classes.
He was interested in stereotypes
Back to English lit, the online article, “The 25 Most Literary Colleges in America,” includes and briefly discusses both Williams and Princeton.
thanks, i’ll take a look
They obviously downloaded an image for Williams without a lot of thought – the photo is of Oxford University.