On CC, I simply see “Ivy+” as a short way of indicating a range of top colleges (very top.) (Separate from the fact that many, many not top colleges have some superior programs.) Beats writing out every school you mean and I assume, on a forum largely devoted to college quests, most posters who’ve been on a while get it.
For most people on this site that is already true. And for the vast, vast majority of people outside the CC world it is true already as well.
The idea that the University of Chicago would want to join the Ivy League as a sports conference is preposterous. U Chicago was one of the founding members of the Big Ten, and a dominant football power for many years under coach Amos Alonzo Stagg, one of the pioneers of the game. Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger was the first recipient of the Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later known as the Heisman Trophy. The University of Chicago Maroons were known as the “Monsters of the Midway” long before someone appropriated that nickname for the professional Chicago Bears—and it makes sense, because the University of Chicago is located along the Midway Plaisance, the original “midway” for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, the Chicago World’s Fair. (The Bears played for many years in Wrigley Field on the North Side, many miles from the Midway). The University of Michigan’s famous fight song “The Victors” was penned by a Michigan student returning by train to Ann Arbor after a hard-fought road win against Chicago, a formidable foe and perennial rival.
In the late 1930s, University of Chicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins decided that big-time college football was incompatible with the university’s academic mission, and the university abolished its football program in 1939 and eventually withdrew from the Big Ten entirely. Football didn’t return until 1963 when it was recognized as a club sport, and it was upgraded to varsity status in 1969 at the D3 level. But Hutchins’ attitude toward football still prevails. University of Chicago administrators, faculty, and alumni disdain the level of resources the Ivy League schools pump into intercollegiate athletics, and football in particular. They’d never agree to invest in the facilities and operating budgets they’d need to compete at that level, and they’d be appalled at the idea of bending their admissions standards to recruit top athletes, as all the Ivy League schools do (though to be sure, their athletic recruits have much better academic chops than the average D1 recruit). It’s just a bad fit, completely out of character for the institution, and there’s absolutely nothing in it for them–or for the Ivy League. If they changed their minds about the value of football, they could just rejoin the Big Ten and compete at a much higher level than the Ivy League. But that ain’t happening, either.
But many would argue, legitmately I think, that the real #1 right now is Stanford. And that Chicago, Duke, and Hopkins all are stronger than Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell. I can’t see any of those 4 wanting to be part of the Ivy League, for various reasons.
Ah, the allure, fantasies and myths about the Ivy League… Honestly, the quicker this “League” loses its luster the better for the students and parents of America. So much of the hype is pure baloney.
@twoinanddone
I think students who apply to all 8 Ivy league schools really have no interest in attending Dartmouth, but it’s part of the Ivies and if they want to claim they got into all the Ivies, they have to apply. If given a choice between Dartmouth and Stanford, I bet most take Stanford. Out here in the west, Stanford is the dream school. For sports and academics. Many more athletes want to get into Stanford than any of the Ivies."
That’s a pretty big generalization! We’re on west coast and most of my son’s teammates and classmates who excelled academically and were top recruits looked all over the country. Many were placed at an Ivy and are very much enjoying their experience. If Stanford was eyed it was because it offered the added plus of being local with no need to trudge cross country but it was by no means a slam dunk for those tippy top kids. They were perfectly fine with branching out 
Flag · Like Helpful · Reply ·
^^ But it’s also true that the Ivies don’t have nearly the kind of allure in the West that they do in the East. I’ve known people in California and Colorado who’d barely heard of Brown, and thought Penn and Penn State were one and the same.
@katliamom
That may be true for some students but I think for the majority of students out west who are *academically qualified and/or *student athletes who play a certain niche sport they are fully aware of the 8 schools that makeup the Ivy League…although I’m sure Dartmouth, Cornell and Brown get the shaft when it comes to being easily identified. I’m sure they will survive the slight…
Huh? They are all private. If you are thinking Cornell this is what they say about themselves, "Cornell is a privately endowed research university and a partner of the State University of New York. "
Many people here on CC are intentionally obtuse when it comes to the Ivy league. They throw around the old "they are simply a sports conference " while they know exactly what people are saying when using the term. So for the last time Dictionary.com defines it as “a group of long-established colleges and universities in the eastern US having high academic and social prestige. It includes Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Dartmouth, Cornell, Brown, and the University of Pennsylvania.”
While Merriam-Webster defines it as “of, relating to, or characteristic of a group of long-established eastern U.S. colleges and universities widely regarded as high in scholastic and social prestige”
It’s pretty cut and dry people. It’s like say the NFL is simply a group of teams that are made up of former college athletes. While technically true it is also waaay down the list of what people conjure up when using the term NFL.
Re: “allure in the West,” you can bet the Ivies are getting a deluge of apps from the coastal western states.
"Huh? They are all private. If you are thinking Cornell this is what they say about themselves, "Cornell is a privately endowed research university and a partner of the State University of New York. "
Here’s what Cornell A&S grad Ann Coulter thinks about the Cornell Ag school degree of her nemesis Keith Olbermann:
“If you’ve ever watched any three nights of his show, you know that Olbermann went to Cornell. But he always forgets to mention that he went to the school that offers classes in milking and bovine management. Indeed, Keith is constantly lying about his nonexistent “Ivy League” education. Except Keith didn’t go to the Ivy League Cornell; he went to the Old MacDonald Cornell. The real Cornell, the School of Arts and Sciences (average SAT: 1,325; acceptance rate: 1 in 6 applicants), is the only Ivy League school at Cornell and the only one that grants a Bachelor of Arts degree. Keith went to an affiliated state college at Cornell, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (average SAT: about that of pulling guards at the University of South Carolina; acceptance rate: 1 of every 1.01 applicants).”
Pretty funny stuff.
The Ivy League brand is a lot about snobbery. So no surprise that Ivy Leaguers (and even Cornellians) would sometimes make fun of the place that has in-state tuition and Aggies.
: )
What would a school have to do to ‘join’ the Ivy League? They’d have to join the athletic conference There is no other joining that would make them part of the Ivy League. Academically, they already have alliances and joint projects but they don’t get to claim they are part of the Ivies.
@twoinanddone Ah but that is the rub. IF the Ivy league added 2 schools(wouldn’t add 1) they would HAVE to be a top school academically or they would lose the Ivy brand as it is known…which is for academics. Yes , technically they would also join the Ivy conference for sports but again that isn’t the allure for CC kids. THE top concern would be to add top academic schools NOT top sports schools.
Just to clarify for CC readers about Cornell and the perception of it being a “state university” there is a great video explaining what exactly is a “land grant” university. Cornell being the youngest of all the Ivies was founded by a land grant established by the Morill Act of 1862. Ezra Cornell and A.D White had the vision of establishing a university where ‘Any person can find instruction in any study’; they basically took land offered by the government instead of cash to establish Cornell. Being that it’s land granted to them by NYS, that puts the university in a unique partnership with New York to benefit the state and the research that has come out of the Ag school has been tremendous in helping the agriculture industry in New York. Today its research is impacting the world. The four of seven colleges within Cornell that are funded by NYS but controlled and stewarded by the University are the Ag school (or CALS), the Vet school, the School
Of Human Ecology and The School of Industrial Labor Relations. The admissions process for these four colleges is still competitive and the Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management (SC Johnson College of Business) is in the ‘Ag school’ and is one of the hardest schools to get accepted into. I believe until this year, to apply to CALS/the Ag school, you had to declare a major whereas with CAS (College of Arts and Sciences) you can apply undeclared which may explain why CAS probably gets more applications compared to CALS.
I think overall, it’s one of the best universities where one can truly study just about anything and where the university fosters an environment of learning to apply knowledge in an impactful way. I know many threads on CC have discussed the selectivity of tippy tops but once you look past that percentage and really see what each school is about (their mission) and how they foster that in their culture, that should make more of an impact on how a student chooses their school.
Anyway, hope that helps some people understand the school a bit more 
Seven pages to discuss if other elites, that have differing football divisions, should be in the Ivy league? Too funny. it nice distraction from the hurricane.
What would I care about what Ann Coulter says about anyone? I can assure you her view is not the norm.
BS in Communications Arts, far cry from milking cows. Not his fault how Cornell is organized. And the snark dates to 2009. So the relevance?
@mathmom I’m no Coulter fan but are you contending everything she says is wrong? If you know anything about her education background she is at the very least intelligent.
Seriously, moscott? The quote wasn’t offered to show her depth and reliability. Rather, her snark. I hope no one thinks it was any more than that. She’s a master of putdown.
Sure, Cornell has a state school aspect. Now let’s get back to work.