Yeah, I was really bored over winter break.
I don’t understand why you would apply to all 8…you can’t possibly be a fit for each one, so why waste the money?
I don’t really understand that perspective, @jamesjunkers. The $70 application fee is very small compared with the actual fee of attending college. Obviously, that’s not to say $70 is nothing but I think it’s worth it especially if you’re not very particular about fit. Some people truly don’t have many preferences and their biggest criteria is academic rigor and prestige.
@insideandout those people lack judgement and hopefully won’t end up at top ranked college that they are miserable at. If you have unlimited money and time why would you not try to figure out where you would be happy? Also why not visit schools if money isn’t a problem? I’m not saying it’s terrible to apply to all ivies but those two areas mentioned shouldn’t be your biggest factors and I think all people have preferences they just might not realize it. They are pretty different institutions and there are many other schools equal or greater in rigor and similar in prestige. I guess some people just really like mentioning they went to an ivy and the ability to do so controls their college search.
Considering that their RD admission rate is 5% or something, why would I risk falling in love with Brown or Yale when I am unlikely to get in even if I was an amazing candidate on paper which I do not claim to be. As for applying ED, sure that makes sense especially if FA is not a consideration (yes I know you can get out but it is better to have the offer before committing) but it still requires a lot of visiting and spending time on campus and frankly my parents were not willing to let me stay overnight on a campus until this year. Just going on the tour does not give you the vibe you need. It is much easier to go visit the schools I get into Ivy or not, knowing that it is now up to me than to visit bunches of schools knowing that it may be an exercise in futility. Obviously if you did this correctly you had to have researched online at least and figured out what appeals to you about each school since it usually needs to be discussed in the essay as the why us question. You have a crappy why us answer, you are not getting in and they will take the next future noble laureate instead. If, and it is a huge if, I get in anywhere I will visit and see if the vibe suits me. The downside is opening one after another. I have never gotten more than 3 a day and that was pretty bad because it was never my favorite that was the acceptance. Also, I expected to have a real backup at this point and I am better with my choices than last week but still do not have that real fallback. I ended up getting WL to my first choice.
One of the non Ivy schools I almost did not apply to is currently my top choice, go figure
I applied to all 8 Ivy League schools as well. In response to the poster above, do I think I’ll be a perfect fit at all of them? No. Do I think I could be happy at any of them? Absolutely.
When I went to apply to my schools, I sought academic rigor, small campuses (compared to state schools), great alumni networks, and prestige (not going to lie).
My thought process was this: I would rather apply to schools that I may not be a perfect fit for and get in to maybe one or two of them rather than only apply to schools I’d be a perfect fit for and get rejected (or waitlisted) by them and then end up at my safety next year.
Good luck to you all. I applied to just the ones I wanted to go to, didn’t see any point in applying for any other reason.
My son applied to all but Cornell. I believe the “fit” is over hyped while prestige has its real practical value. It does open more doors.
I think when kids go to the best ranked college they get into and hate it they realize that fit is far from overhyped. I’m sure a lot of times it works out and people love that best ranked school but fit matters. Also I just don’t get how Dartmouth and Columbia ever end up on the same list.
Agreed. Personally, I could not see myself at either, so I did not apply, but I can’t imagine how I could convincingly write essays when the schools are so different. But, if the strategy works for you, knock yourself out and good luck.
@SKTT1Impact, Have you heard from any schools yet or are you going for broke on Ivy Day?
@cttwenty15 None. I got my rejections from Rice and Stanford already, so there’s that!
To everyone else in this thread:
Fit for Ivy leagues means nothing. The only people that should be worried about how they “fit” with a school are kids who can undoubtedly say they can be accepted on the spot, such as with strong athletes or regular academics that just happen to be URM (Ok, not really as much, but it’s definitely different).
For your average high achieving student, the difference between being an Ivy League graduate and not is greater than any comfort in the world at a homely state school. I don’t mean to sound arrogant, but the takeaway from any of the ivies both as an academic and as a person is far greater than at lesser schools due to the discrepancy in drive, talent, and ambition. At every single one.
And with Ivy League schools admitting one in twenty students now, there’s no reason to not give the Ivy crapshoot 8 chances instead of one.
My flight is leaving, but there’s my rant. Go team
It makes more sense to me to apply to all 8 on a whim than to apply to all 8 for serious reasons; they’re all so different. I think fit is important, and on that we disagree. But, in any case, godspeed! I’m rooting for you. It’s a story, at the very least.
Hey OP, you keep doing you, I don’t know why other people here care so much about your rationale of applying.
For any underclassmen stalking this, however, let me say that if you’re qualified, don’t waste your time hedging with application strategies like these (A friend of mine actually applied to every top 30 school: this is another thing you shouldn’t do). Take advantage of early application programs, nail your essays and get good recs, and you will be fine. Applying to a crap-ton of schools like this serves only to make each application weaker.
Let’s see how the crazy eighters (myself included :p) do on ivy day. Let’s post back here and say which one, if any, of the 8 we got into!
@SKTT1Impact
Please, he’s on TIP now 
We’ll see in two days how everyone who applied to all 8 fared. So far, I’m 1 for 8:)
@Shreyas56
Haha, really? I just remember making my account when I was watching his stream, and I decided, why not? I’m sad they’re not together anymore.
I only applied for 2 ivies, but my dad ended up disappointed that I didn’t apply for more. I guess I should have apply to more ivies.
Applying to all 8 is really the only way to go