My daughter got an inquiry from HYP around October 20. Their top recruit did not get a LL and ended up at a lower Ivy. Things happen.
“Lower Ivy?” Give me a break.
What happened? I thought “Lower Ivy” is an approved technical term on CC?
To make you feel better: and ended up at an Ivy League University that has lower average AI of the student body or has some less selective academic programs that give athletic coaches more flexibility in recruiting less academically accomplished athletes.
Lower Ivy is a new term for me as well. Ivy is Ivy --though admittedly some are tougher than others for admittance Baby Ivy is often used for NESCAC schools
Given that HPY are generally known as the upper tier of Ivies for admissions competitiveness, I knew what Tanbiko meant by “lower Ivy.” I doubt he/she was trying to be pejorative.
It’s the attitude of “lower ivy” by the a growing group of vocal parents in my kids’ high school that results in 20+ suicide attempts each year. If it is not HYP or MIT then their children have dishonored them…such BS. (Sorry to be harsh…last year they had two kids die and about two dozen that were admitted to inpatient psychiatric care…so this touches a nerve.)
I should add…I attended one of the lower Ivies. The middle class kid ahead of me in the graduation line is now worth $5 billion dollars. So no, a lower Ivy does not condemn you to a lower life. 
The attitude in that last post is just off the charts dumb. Not SwimmingDad, but the attitude he says is at his high school.
Personally I think it’s not a bad descriptive term, if we are being honest everyone knows what it means. Non-HYP. And I say that when my kid is probably more likely to go to a lower or lesser Ivy. That’s because at this level he is prioritizing other things over the snobbiness factor. I don’t think he is too worried that people will think he is lazy and stupid because he went to Brown or Cornell instead of Harvard or Princeton. He will decide which school fits him better (and which coach wants him) and proceed accordingly.
FWIW, I also don’t have a problem with people calling where I live “fly-over” country, even though I know some people who get bent out of shape about it. I think everyone (not just this board, but this country) gets a bit too sensitive sometimes.
From my experience as a moderator here, it is a commonly used term to describe non-HYP Ivy League colleges. But as far as an “approved term,” no, we just roll our eyes when anyone uses it, just like many other members.
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I think “Non-HYP” Ivy is just as accurate, without any judgement/disparagement baked in. I graduated from a “lower Ivy” and my life/career has turned out fine (enough). 
No need to be so defensive. I graduated from a no-name public technical university abroad and my life/career has turned out fine (enough).
My daughter’s summer IB intern group of 8 included 3 kids from an average state flagship (think Rutgers or University of Georgia) and they all got full-time offers for the next summer.
Did not plan to cause a collective eye roll - just tried to convey information in a most efficient manner - this is what engineers do. At least now we can have some fun with this discussion.
wow, people are really revealing their bias and perhaps insecurities…
How about Older Ivies vs Younger Ivies?
Can we all get along?
Penn is older than Princeton, so, alternatively, how about just mentioning the schools by name? 
^. Speaking of silly, the change your charter to try and prove you are older than another school thing is, to my slow witted non ivy self, hilarious.
According to Penn, Princeton is older…
How about Pretentious and Non-Pretentious Ivies 
;))
I think that goes back to @Ohiodad51 's comment above. Regardless, Penn uses the 1740 date, rightly or wrongly:
http://www.upenn.edu/about/history
Anyway, my point (which was admittedly too subtle) was that “Younger Ivy” is as ridiculous IMO as “Lesser Ivy.”
I agree it is ridiculous.
However, as it is a slow CC news day (1st wave of LL while officially announced today, may not be available until tomorrow), I wanted to offer the snowflakes among us an alternative to melting down.
FWIW, I have children at both Upper/Lower, Older/Younger Ivies and it is all good.
It seems that the people who have the biggest problems with the nomenclature may not have any skin in the game.
Lets not hide behind our fingers. The term lower ivy is widely used to describe the non-HYP ivies. That said it is toxic that many students think it is HYPSM or bust. Attending a so-called top ivy, Stanford,MIT vs the lower ivies will not really make a practical difference in your life.
Not sure what @superdomestique means by skin in the game, but I have two graduates and one current freshman (Brown, Harvard, Brown). My kids did not buy into any of the ridiculous college arms race, but many students do think that they are a failure if not admitted to a handful of schools. Referring to some schools as “lower” reinforces this sort of thinking - even if you don’t believe it yourself. This is a forum for students, primarily, and parents should remember that this is a resource.