Ivy...and the phenomenon

<p>ok... as an international candidate ive heard a whole lot abt the phenomenon called IVY!!! Here's the question... is the phenomenon as big as it really is made out to be? What r the advantages of gettin thru an Ivy league school? Does it boost the brand value a whole lot?
guys give me ur views on this topic please...</p>

<p>ivy league schools are known to be "the best." The ivy league was originally formed as an athletic conference in the 1950's. This still exists today, but it has significantly more meaning than just athletics. Today, ivy's are more associated with elite academics and prestige. The ivy league schools are wide and varied in their size, and each one has something unique to offer. The ivy league schools are also known as the toughest to get into.</p>

<p>But, alas, one should not pick a college because it is "an ivy." A college choice should be determined on peronal taste. Picking a school like Cornell solely on prestige can lead to 4 tough years ahead ... and college should be fun!</p>

<p>It boosts the "brand value" a little, but there are few real advantages IMO. It's kind of like a mythical prestige that surrounds us. It's a group of some of the oldest and best universities in the northeast which play each other in the same athletic conference.</p>

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ivy league schools are known to be "the best.

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<p>By the uneducated.</p>

<p>To be sure, there are many other schools which would be considered better than at least some of the Ivys.</p>

<p>All Ivy League schools are good schools but not all good schools are in the Ivy League. With strangers on the street, you may get brownie points for going to an Ivy League school. People in the know will regard Ivy League schools on the same level as any other great school like Duke or Stanford.</p>

<p>whts the etymology of the term "IVY League'... I abt the football league stuff... but why the word IVY</p>

<p>Because these schools were known for having ivy growing up the sides of their buildings because they were so old. Literally.</p>

<p>"Ivy" comes from the division #. The schools that now make up the "Ivy" league, were in division 4 of a particular football conference, or something like that. The Roman numeral for 4 is IV, and saying the letters that comprise the numeral gives you "Ivy"</p>

<p>The tour guide went I went up to visit Cornell back in February told me that.</p>

<p>I thought it was because it originally had 4 members...</p>

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I thought it was because it originally had 4 members...

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<p>Nope, that is a myth, it came up in my writing seminar, and the teacher who is knowledgable about Cornell and the Ivy league history told us it was false.</p>

<p>Every school in the Ivy League is tough/prestigious/hard to get into, but that doesn't mean there aren't equally competitive/prestigious schools that aren't in it. Duke, Georgetown, Hopkins, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, William and Mary, UVA, UC-Berkeley and UCLA, even Tufts are all very prestigious as well, in addition to top LACs like Williams or Bowdoin.</p>

<p>Link to Ivy League History
<a href="http://www.ivysport.com/history.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.ivysport.com/history.php&lt;/a>

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The designation Ivy League [is credited to] Caswell Adams of the New York Tribune in 1937. The tag, premature of any formal agreement, was immediately adopted by the press as a foreshadowing of an eastern football league which, at the time, was big news to everyone except the athletic directors involved.

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<p>"But, alas, one should not pick a college because it is "an ivy.""</p>

<p>oh, but i know SOOOO many people in my school who are doing it.</p>

<p>its a pain, cause im applying to two, and they are applying to them all just for the fact that they are prestigious. applying to columbia vs. cornell, or penn vs dartmouth doesnt seem right...they are total opposites, and its just not cool!!! i actually like the school for more than ivy prestige!!!!!!!</p>

<p>BAH!!!</p>

<p>its kinda scaring me that I'm going to an ivy... everyone talking about how intense and competitive Cornell is is getting me nervous. I get good grades but I don't even think im in the top 5% of my class.</p>

<p>Hah me too litagee, I keep thinking that if everyone that goes there is really smart and everything is graded on a bell curve, it will be really tough or something. I am not even a partier and am willing to put a lot of time into it and I still feel like it's going to be crazy hard.</p>

<p>It's not that hard...</p>

<p>for the record, i'm pretty sure the top picture on the site that link goes to is of cornell. The first pic in the left hand column is in central campus.</p>

<p>litagee, i feel the same way. my counselour was in the top 2% of his high school class and when he got to MIT, he said he was surprised to be surrounded by people who were smarter than he was. i like being in a... smart environment, but i'm scared to come to cornell and be in the bottom half of our class.</p>

<p>yuppp. Thats my fear. I'm scared im gonna be the dumbest one in my classes too, even though I know I'm not stupid. And also.. I'm willing to put time into it but I don't want academics to take over my life and I'm not used to studying that intensely.</p>

<p>relax...remember what I said...it's not that hard. The ones who are pulling all nighters every night like my friend's roommate at princeton....they have terrible time management skills. I thought I had bad skills, but I had very little trouble getting stuff done and still having a lot of fun first semester.</p>

<p>yea, I guess. But its not only the trouble of getting stuff done.. its the idea that my work might be low quality compared to all the other brilliant Cornell kids.</p>