Im having a very though time deciding which college to apply early to.
I am interested in studying Computer Science/Engineering or something in the technical field.
Currently I am an athletic recruit at CMU.I loved the school when I visited.My only worry is that it’s not an ivy league school.
Do you all think I will be at a major disadvantage if I do not go to an ivy league school.I am just a bit worried about the fact that CMU may not have the name of the Ivy league colleges.
if you want to join just about everyone else from the school with a CS/engineering degree that goes to work on Wall Street, go to an Ivy. If you want to work in the field, go to CMU.
The thing is that I am a recruit for CMU so I have a much better chance at being accepted.Is it worth the risk to let CMU go and apply early to an ivy?
You don’t seem to be reading the replies. It appears that you are looking for confirmation for your decision already made that you should go Ivy. You will not likely get that here except from other Ivy obsessed high school seniors.
I have friends who went to ivies and friends who went to other excellent, well regarded schools, both research universities and LAC’s and I promise you, I can’t tell the difference from their careers. You’re an athletic recruit at a school you love that has a stellar reputation in the field you’re interested in. Everyone should be so lucky. Go to CMU.
If you are worried about the chances of getting into one or the other I can tell you from experience I have a student friend that applied to both CMU and Cornell. Cornell has the highest earlydecision rate of all the ivys. In the end he got accepted to CMU and got rejected to Cornell. That is just one example and doesn’t mean that there is a linear equilibrium against all students, some schools may look for certain aspects in your bio that the other doesn’t. I only gave that example to show one factual example that indicates to me that CMU is easier to get into than Cornell.
Now with regard to what everyone else has been commenting, they are absolutely right. Don’t go with prestige, go with where you will graduate with pride. When you’re talking about CMU and Ivys this is a right approach, the only time I’d suggest go with Ivy, over another school is if the other school is way lower in academic rating, but CMU very near to the Ivys so that is moot.
The vast majority of successful, happy people did not go to Ivy League universities. The Ivy League is simply an athletic conference; there are many excellent universities outside of those 8 schools.
If you love CMU and are an athletic recruit then don’t hesitate to go there. Carnegie Mellon is a very recognized school and you will have plenty of opportunities coming from there.
" The Ivy League is simply an athletic conference…"
I see this phrase used frequently here on CC. Imo it is not a fair descriptive term. The Ivy league makes up 8 of the top 15 universities in the US. It is a way to basically encompass some of the top colleges. There is no other conference where this term is apt(the closest would be Pac 12 with 4 Stanford, Cal, UCLA and USC top 25). To put it another way one could say the Ivy league is simply the best academic conference there is by far.
For computer science, it is difficult to match CMU. That is what CMU is famous for. MIT, Berkeley, Stanford and CalTech are the other great CS schools.
Whether the Ivy League has consolidated this position among U.S. colleges would be debatable (e.g., the NESACs offer a stronger undergraduate focus). Even if modern perceptions align with the quoted statement, by historical academic standards, the members of the Ivy League appear to have been fairly widely dispersed:
^^^ You can debate anything but the overwhelming consensus is they have. Are other schools on the same level as pick 1-8? Of course…Stanford, MIT, Cal, JHU etc…would certainly fit the bill. That said there is NO collection of schools where ALL are ranked in the top 15. Not even close Thus imo when people state they would like to go to an Ivy league school I believe they are more generalizing a top university instead of having to list those that qualify individually. So to respond as to say the Ivy league is SIMPLY an athletic conference is being disingenuous and dismissive.
I think @moscott is correct in that the term “Ivy League” is used by the uninitiated to mean “top college”. I would say most people cannot name all 8 Ivies, and I’ve met a few who believed Stanford, JHU, MIT, and other schools at the same tier were also Ivies.
CMU is an Ivy in terms of CS and Engineering, and I think it’s an Ivy-equivalent overall. It’s very good. If you like the campus/environment, coaches, and whatever else is important to you, then it’s an outstanding option.