<p>. .</p>
<p>Yes they are. Other than Yale, none of them intrigue me enough to care.</p>
<p>I think they are!
I'd rather go to Stanford or Duke....or UCSD, UCLA, or UCB :)</p>
<p>Stanford could beat out Harvard any day of the week.</p>
<p>Why is Yale such a hot Ivy these days?...Everyones top choice school if it was an ivy at my school was YALE. Are Harvard and Princeton out of style?</p>
<p>^^ agreed.</p>
<p>And yes, of course they are.</p>
<p>Maybe they think Princeton and Harvard are elitist although all the ivies are elitist maybe except for Brown and Cornell.</p>
<p>Yes, Ivy's are overrated alright. That's why most of the competitive students apply there.</p>
<p>crazyscientist: Yale is not as hot as you think, with a drop of around 10% in applicants from last year, when most of the other ivy's had sizeable increase.</p>
<p>^^^ I think that's just because a lot of people wanted to be among the last to take advantage of Harvard and Princeton's now-nonexistent early programs.</p>
<p>Harvard and Yale are not overrated. The rest are.</p>
<p>Yes and no. All 8 Ivy League universities are among the top 20 undergraduate institutions (including LACs) in the nation. By that reckoning, they deserve the reputation they have earned. All 8 Ivy League universities have endowments that exceed $2 billion. Only 15 or so other universities have such large endowments. Most exclusive companies recruit heavily on 20 or so campuses around the nation, and 8 of those 20 or so campuses are the Ivies.</p>
<p>However, on this forum, the Ivies tend to be overrated. Many posters seem to think that the Ivy League are 8 of the top 10-12 universities and that they are significantly better than all other universities. That attending an Ivy League means discussing the meaning of life and the universe in which we live with Nobel Laureates in a highly intimate environment. That attending an Ivy League will guarantee job placement into the most exclusive companies and/or admission into an elite graduate program. In this sense, the Ivy League is overrated. The Ivies are indeed awesome, but they are no better than a dozen or so other colleges and universities.</p>
<p>Of course they are overrated. Doesn't mean they are "bad" though.</p>
<p>Exactly. I don't think the fact that they are overrated is going to make you feel low about an acceptance.</p>
<p>The Ivies are not overrated. The average SAT 75th percentile at the Ivies is over 1540.</p>
<p>There are only about 10 other schools in the country with that level of selectivity. Two of them are tech schools: MIT and Caltech. Stanford is the only other school with an Ivy-caliber reputation. The others are Duke, Chicago, Washington U, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and Rice. But, Hopkins, Chicago, and Rice accept substantaiily more students who are not in the top 10% of their graduating class. </p>
<p>That is pretty elite company but lesser prestige and reputation than the Ivies except for perhaps Stanford and Duke.</p>
<p>Cornell's stats may seem lower than the other Ivies overall but Cornell's College of Engineering and Arts and Sciences (and perhaps others) are on par with other Ivies. The specialty colleges at Cornell are nevertheless extremely selective but admission is based less on stats (Architecture, Agriculture, Industrial relations, Human Ecology).</p>
<p>You are kidding yourself if you think the Ivies are overrated.</p>
<p>? I was not saying the Ivies were bad, or that they deserve a bad reputation. Of course the Ivies are top schools, very selective, etc. They deserve a very high rating/ranking/reputation. However, I do think it's fair to say that there is a limit to the "greatness" of the Ivies. They aren't perfect but people seem to think they are--that is why I said they are overrated.</p>
<p>I was not saying that less selective schools were better. The Ivies are overrated independent of the reputations of other schools (Hopkins, Chicago, etc.) Many of those schools are overrated, too--Hopkins, for example.</p>
<p>I think the Ivies are overrated in that many people believe they are the be all and end all for a great education. There are several public universities and tons and tons of great LACs with comparable programs and quality of education.</p>
<p>An Ivy may be able to attract better professors and a slightly higher caliber of student, though, because they get to pick and choose. They're all great schools, but there are tons of great schools.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The Ivies are not overrated. The average SAT 75th percentile at the Ivies is over 1540.</p>
<p>There are only about 10 other schools in the country with that level of selectivity. Two of them are tech schools: MIT and Caltech. Stanford is the only other school with an Ivy-caliber reputation. The others are Duke, Chicago, Washington U, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and Rice. But, Hopkins, Chicago, and Rice accept substantaiily more students who are not in the top 10% of their graduating class. </p>
<p>That is pretty elite company but lesser prestige and reputation than the Ivies except for perhaps Stanford and Duke.</p>
<p>Cornell's stats may seem lower than the other Ivies overall but Cornell's College of Engineering and Arts and Sciences (and perhaps others) are on par with other Ivies. The specialty colleges at Cornell are nevertheless extremely selective but admission is based less on stats (Architecture, Agriculture, Industrial relations, Human Ecology).</p>
<p>You are kidding yourself if you think the Ivies are overrated.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This pretty much sums it up.</p>
<p>
[quote]
^^^ I think that's just because a lot of people wanted to be among the last to take advantage of Harvard and Princeton's now-nonexistent early programs.
[/quote]
No... Harvard and princeton only declared the abolishment of early admissions after the applications for the early round were received. As for the RD applicants, how would it make sense to "take advantage" of a program that is inherently against their chances of admissions?</p>
<p>
[quote]
An Ivy may be able to attract better professors and a slightly higher caliber of student, though, because they get to pick and choose.
[/quote]
This is the exact reason why the Ivies have an edge over other schools. Students love to proclaim that the best part of their college experience are the people they get to meet outside the classroom. Difference in teaching is often arbitrary, but the ability of the ivies to attract the best and the brightest creates a community where networks can be created to benefit the students for the rest of their lives.</p>
<p>I totally agree with the prestige. (If he is being a little sarcastic/critical that is)</p>
<p>I wasn't being sarcastic at all. I was agreeing 100% with collegehelp's earlier post.</p>
<p>er...oh. interesting.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The Ivies are not overrated. The average SAT 75th percentile at the Ivies is over 1540.</p>
<p>There are only about 10 other schools in the country with that level of selectivity. Two of them are tech schools: MIT and Caltech. Stanford is the only other school with an Ivy-caliber reputation. The others are Duke, Chicago, Washington U, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, and Rice.
[/quote]
If by "school" you mean "university", then maybe so. However, the top-ranked liberal arts colleges also compare favorably to the Ivies and these other schools, as measured by factors such as SAT scores, selectivity, or per-student endowment.</p>
<p>You are right, Corbett. Some LACs are Ivy caliber: Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Harvey Mudd.</p>