I wouldn’t say the students at each ivy have certain types of personalities but the universities will certainly have different orientations. To put it simply, the Ivies are some of the most diverse schools in the world socioeconomically, politically, intellectually, ethnically, racially, etc. etc. etc. Some people (many of whom have never even seen an Ivy campus, much less graduated from one) like to criticize them for their homogeny but the lived experiences of Ivy League Students are soooooo widely different that to lump them into one group or to separate them into groups by school would be preposterous.
That being said, there is no doubt that each campus has a different vibe based on it location and history. For example, the students at Columbia have VERY different social experiences from those at Dartmouth or Cornell by virtue of the fact that Columbia is in Harlem and Dartmouth is in Hanover. Columbia has the Core Curriculum and Brown has no required classes outside of the majors. Yale’s undergraduate population is comparatively small and has a narrower range of academic options than a place like Cornell with 14,000 undergraduates and schools like the Hotel School, CALS, and Human Ecology offering courses taught nowhere else in the ivy league. Penn was founded by Benjamin Franklin who believed students should learn both everything ‘practical’ and 'ornamental." As a consequence the mixture between professional and the liberal arts and the emphasis on interdisciplinary opportunities is much more highly valued at Penn than at other universities where the focus has been more limited. Penn and Yale both have beautiful, contiguous campuses in urban environments but Penn is in America’s fifth largest city while Yale is in a much smaller town. Harvard and Yale both have 4 year college house systems while Penn and Princeton have 2-4 year college house systems, Dartmouth/Cornell/Columbia have traditional college dorms, and off campus housing is very common at Penn and Cornell. Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell (and somewhat Yale) have vibrant greek scenes but Greek Life is MUCH more popular at Dartmouth and Cornell than it is at Penn and it’s much more popular at Penn than it is at Yale. Meanwhile, Princeton’s eating clubs often act as co-ed fraternities/sororities, throwing parties and getting in trouble and Princeton’s off-campus frat scene is growing. All the while Harvard has all male final clubs. All of this is to say that your experience at each school would be VERY different in some extremely meaningful ways and those differences might attract students with somewhat disparate interests, preferences, and ideas of what constitutes fun. But at the end of the day, it would be impossible to say “the kids at Harvard are all obsessed with wall street while the kids at princeton are all OCD nerds.” Each environment may differ but they each attract the most diverse array of students imaginable. Sure you will find more student’s interested in hiking at Dartmouth than you will at Columbia but you’ll probably find an equal number of valedictorians, high SAT-scores, and ambitious, sharp young minds.
Also LOL @ Deresiewicz. He’s just capitalizing on the Ivy League brand to sell books by bashing it. It’s a genre of writing that only grows in popularity as the Ivy League brand grows ever more powerful in the mind of young high schoolers and their parents. I literally can’t imagine meeting a person who thinks that Princeton students are anti-intellectual. And sure, Penn has a pre-professional vibe but it’s also has some of the most well funded and well regarded programs in the humanities in the WORLD. There isn’t a scholar on the planet who is plugged in to academia that wouldn’t be aware of the strength of Penn’s English department or the incredible minds that populate Princeton’s programs as well. In essence, I’m saying there is nothing of value to be gained from his book besides a good laugh.
Don’t get hung up on stereotypes. Instead, consider where you feel you might fit in best, comfortable in the knowledge that if you are accepted, you are the type of student that goes there and there will be other students very similar to you who will be there as well.