<p>Nah, my 1st choice was JHU…I got in but couldn’t really afford it because i didn’t want to go into that amount of debt and they didn’t give me a scholarship. I ended up at NYU on close to a full ride and I’m happy here I guess. </p>
<p>The only ivy I applied to was Cornell (accepted) because their science programs are awesome but JHU has the #1 program for my major (neurobio) so I would’ve chosen that obviously. Ivies don’t always have the best program in everything, although generally they have tons of top 10 programs so I understand why it’s so appealing.</p>
<p>It’s not like I got into Harvard and had the option of turning it down or something lol - most CC kids don’t either…this entire forum isn’t valedictorians.</p>
<p>Just want to point out that Ivies arent intensely expensive… their aid is some of the most generous in the country</p>
<p>And, I think there are major misconceptions about the snobbiness of the Ivies as well. There are snobby kids, just as you would find a snob at any college in any country in this world. However, it is easy to avoid those people, and finding genuine people that love those schools is not hard to do. </p>
<p>If the Ivies arent the right fit for you for whatever reason, thats cool, I agree you shouldnt choose a school solely on namesake. However, you cannot disregard these schools just because you wanted to make a statement about how “you dont care for prestige cause you’re not a prestige whore”… the Ivies are the Ivies for a reason; stellar academics and great athletics and research oppourtunities to boot.</p>
<p>Well, I got into Cornell - but decided to go to Northwestern.
I guess I am a bit off the subject - since NU is not like a huge step down from Cornell.
Well, I hate to say this, but everyone has an ego - it’s just how much.</p>
<p>It never even entered my head to apply to Ivies. I knew my grades and test scores wouldn’t have made the cut, and I didn’t want to apply to a school that I had next to no chance of getting in. I mean, there’s a reach, and then there’s insanity.</p>
<p>But I love my school a lot, and I can’t see myself anywhere else. So I think it worked out for the best.</p>
<p>Daughter was certainly competitive for the Ivy Leagues and had no interest after taking stock of them. She rejected them for very sound and personal reasons.</p>
<p>She heads to Tufts, ED, and picked Tufts for no reasons related to prestige or rankings. In fact, she took inventory of the posters on campus, relieved that, like some schools, they weren’t predominantly pre-professional (e.g. MCAT, LSAT, GMAT, GRE review). She liked, among other qualities of Tufts, that Tufts was, clearly, very politically-charged and engaged and had a large and active Jewish population.</p>
<p>I also know kids who elected UNC@Chapel Hill (3 of them), CAL, Rochester, and Tulane over acceptances at the Ivies. So, the Ivies don’t hold everyone in thrall.</p>
<p>misunderstood question</p>
<p>I didn’t like Cornell and turned it down, it was kind of the only ivy I was interested since I’m doing engineering and I have a cousin at Columbia that I can’t stand. </p>
<p>I never cared for the ivys, I feel like I wouldn’t fit in to any one of them.</p>
<p>I preferred liberal arts colleges from the start, but I still visited all of the Ivies. My parents weren’t too happy, but I actually had a legitimate reason why I didn’t like some of them.</p>
<p>Columbia - didn’t want to be in NYC - I really don’t like being in cities, for some reason.
Cornell - bad tour, didn’t like the campus
Penn - the city thing, and also too close to my extended family for my liking - didn’t want the pressure to live with them to cut down on costs.
Yale - New Haven is really close and I dind’t like it
Brown - didn’t love Providence, bad tour</p>
<p>I actually did end up applying to Harvard; I really liked it, btu I pretty much knew I wouldn’t get in. My parents wanted me to apply to one, so I did, but my top choice was always Carleton. Which is still prestigious, but not an Ivy - people where I live seem to have “Ivy fever,” so few people even care about LACs.</p>
<p>Yeah I could have probably got into Ivy’s but I just wasn’t interested. They don’t seem like they would have given me the experience I was looking for…</p>
<p>Like reesezpiecez103, I preferred liberal arts colleges. I didn’t apply to any Ivy. Went to Haverford over Wellesley.</p>
<p>Not that I would have gotten into any Ivy’s if I had applied, but even if I could have, I still would have gone where I go (Big State U). It was kind of an obvious choice for me…</p>
<p>Yup, my son had the grades/stats/EC’s to go to an Ivy (4.8, 35 ACT, highly ranked tennis player) but he didn’t want to. He didn’t even apply to any. He chose UC Berkeley.</p>
<p><<he chose=“” uc=“” berkeley.=“”>></he></p>
<p>…and a sublime choice that was/is.</p>
<p>Nope, never wanted to go to an ivy (not that i could have gotten into one anyway). I’ve been to the Harvard & Yale campuses…and I don’t really see myself at any of them</p>
<p>I was doing a smaller engineering department, and Cornell was the only Ivy that offered a degree in it, so I pretty much ignored all of the advertisements in the mail I was getting from the ivies. Didn’t apply for Cornell for undergrad since I had heard a lot about its drinking culture and wasn’t too enthusiastic about it. I did apply and get in for grad school, though I wound up not going.</p>
<p>I’d gladly turn down any ivy if I get a full ride to a state flagship that wasn’t in the South. We shall see what happens next year…</p>
<p>I turned down Cornell (my dream school) for University of Rochester (full ride).</p>
<p>SWHarborfan - he thought so… He’s an Engineering Undelcared major. :-)</p>
<p>Absolutely. I knew graduate school was in my future, and I wanted to go to get the best deal at a reasonable school. I did intense research, applied to a bunch of schools, and ultimately put myself in a great position. </p>
<p>I will be heading to a top law school shortly, and it would have been a complete waste to attend an Ivy undergrad.</p>
<p>I didn’t want to go to an Ivy, I wanted a “normal” college experience at a good school, but not a school where I felt like I was having to constantly be fake. I’m intelligent, but I’m not a “scholarly” person. I enjoy doing mundane things, and I want partying and making mistakes to be part of my college experience.</p>