I’m not an applicant but I’m just really curious about this. Over the summer I worked with a student at Columbia and at one point she mentioned that there is an A and an Ivy A. The way she put it is that it only matters if you get an Ivy A, which means getting your professor to write you a recommendation on top of achieving stellar grades.
So I have two questions. Is this a real thing? Why was there so much emphasis on “regular” A’s not mattering? Yes I’m sure it is great to receive a recommendation, but that won’t be represented on your transcript and beyond the job you apply it to. So, I don’t see how it is that big of a deal.
Never heard the “Ivy A” term myself, but I think what she meant is that there are two types of outstanding performance in a course, which are different in kind.
One is when you ace the course, get an “A” but the prof doesn’t know you other than as a name on a list.
The other (the “Ivy A”) is when the prof, for whatever reason, takes a direct interest in your future academic or work career, writes a recommendation, hires you as a researcher, talks you up to VIPs or otherwise advances your interests. Example, people with Rhodes scholarships got there with “Ivy As,” whether or not they actually attended an Ivy.
As a teacher, I’ll write recommendations for certain students calling them “among the most outstanding students I’ve ever known” sometimes even if they didn’t get A’s. In fact the kids who got B- benefit most from this and are most grateful. Who knows, I might be working for them someday.
One of the reasons the Ivies are prestigious is that the academic and social communities of these schools take networking most seriously and are the best at it.