<p>I'm just putting this question out there. One of the biggest "pros" of Cornell over my other schools that I hear when I talk to family and friends is its Ivy League status.</p>
<p>In your guys' opinions, how "helpful" is an Ivy League degree?</p>
<p>In terms of the education you will receive, the graduate school you go to, and the job offers you will get, the Ivy League doesn't really do much. Sure, you run into some people who will be floored over by the fact that you went to an Ivy League school. But that's more of an embarrassment than anything else. But no employer is going to discount you because you went to Cornell over Northwestern or Duke over Penn.</p>
<p>For some campus extracurriculars it may matter -- for instance all of the Ivy student governments meet twice a year. And then there are film festivals, etc. across the schools as well.</p>
<p>It matters a little bit when it comes to meeting people in your professional life as an alum -- a lot of cities around the country will have All-Ivy events. But generally MIT, Stanford, Duke, etc. alums are invited to these events as well. For example, I was in an Ivy Alumni softball league last year in Boston.</p>
<p>It mostly matters for varsity athletes -- in the way that they get recruited and the explicit academic requirements. </p>
<p>Don't go to Cornell simply because it is in the Ivy League. Go to Cornell because you want to go to Cornell.</p>
<p>well the fact that it's an ivy is a bonus (although i'm not sure why bc the ivy league is simply a sports league)...but if that's your main pro, its a bad basis for making a decision</p>
<p>and if youre worried about grad schools and employers, they make it their business to know what the top schools are because they want the best people. they're sophisticated enough to look beyond who plays harvard in ice hockey. it's the general public that's the most fascinated by ivy vs. non-ivy.</p>
<p>I always get they "woooow...you go to Cornell?" and it's such an awkward moment because many of the top universities are just as good...if not better and so I never know what to say to people :-)</p>
<p>Come here b/c you want to be here....not b/c it's Ivy...every college is awesome in its own way :-)</p>
<p>i think it helps not necessarily b/c it is an Ivy, but employers and grad school adcoms know that students at Cornell get an AMAZING education. And a lot of employers and grad schools are often so impressed with students from Cornell, they try to recruit more and more each year. I'm going to Columbia med next year for a PhD in the biomedical sciences. In the specific graduate group I applied to, there are 5 first year students- 2 of them went to Cornell for undergrad.</p>
<p>It is an Ivy, but I don't think the Cornell name is all that recognizable, so many people might not know it is.</p>
<p>it is not so much that 'ivy league' title gives you a leg over others from non-ivy schools. it is just that ivies all happen to be exceptional schools w/ exceptional students. Other smart students from other good schools such as Duke, Northwestern, MIT, Georgetown, etc. do very well too.</p>
<p>dropping the "I go to an Ivy" is best received by those who don't matter ... the semi-educated people in the general public or anybody who only knows it as a prestigious tag. </p>
<p>Employers, grad schools, etc ... doesn't make a difference if it has the Ivy tag or not.</p>
<p>Cornell is the 12th ranked school, so I can assume that people in the know pretty much rank it around there as well (around with WashU, Johns Hopkins, Northwestern).</p>
<p>Just spend a few days wearing Cornell gear and watch how many people approach you. Half the battle in the real world is knowing somebody. Cornellians are very proud and loyal. They seem to go out of their way for fellow alumni.</p>