<p>What does this term mean? I've seen it pop up on various threads and I'm curious to know.</p>
<p>It’s a term used by some people who imagine a bright, red line distinguishing Harvard/Yale/Princeton from the other 5 Ivy League schools. A few people take it a step farther and distinguish “middle” Ivies from the upper and lower. These tortured distinctions reflect perceived differences in selectivity or prestige.</p>
<p>There isn’t any such thing. It is a somewhat derogatory term used by foolish people.</p>
<p>these distinctions reflect the poster’s mind more than reality.</p>
<p>A “lower Ivy” must be a college in the Ivy League Conference that fields bottom half of the conference sports teams. :)</p>
<p>HYP</p>
<p>Middle:
Columbia
Penn</p>
<p>Lower:
Dartmouth
Brown
Cornell</p>
<p>Dartmouth and Brown.</p>
<p>All of them are equally hard to get in.</p>
<p>As the others stated, “lower ivy” schools are just Ivy League schools that are generally regarded as easier to get into in comparison with the rest of the bunch. However, every Ivy League school is very presitigous and selective, so to attend any of those schools would be a great accomplishment.</p>
<p>All Ivies are great schools and all of them are VERY hard to get into. However some of the Ivies (eg. HYP) are universally accepted among the very best universities in the world, while others (eg. Brown) while still very good schools are not ranked among the elite (eg. Brown ranks 65th in the world according to ARWU, 42 according to QS and 51 according to the times).
I would warn you though if you are thinking about applying to a “lower” tier Ivy they are STILL ultra competitive to get into.</p>
<p>Also anyone know why Dartmouth tends to do so poorly when it comes to academic rankings (compared to other Universities that are popularly considered elite)? </p>
<p>University rankings
National
ARWU 68–85
Forbes 34
U.S. News & World Report 10
Washington Monthly 32</p>
<p>Global
ARWU 151–200
QS 113
Times 124</p>
<p>Is it because of its small size (and thus cant generate a lot of research) or because it is a liberal arts institution?</p>
<p>Saying “lower” Ivy is like saying “slower” athletes who are in the finals of the Olympic 100m dash.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Most of the global rankings are based on research production which Dartmouth isn’t as inclined to as some of the other top schools.</p>
<p>It’s like if you say you’re going to an ~Ivy League~ school and then someone asks which and you say Cornell and you get no reaction.</p>
<p>It depends on the person. Lower or lesser Ivies are generally considered to be B, D, Cr.</p>
<p>I feel like this distinction only matters on CC.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Dartmouth is no more or less a “liberal arts institution” than the other Ivies. </p>
<p>ARWU, QS, and Times are variations on a faculty-focused approach. They reward universities with high research productivity, more or less regardless of undergraduate student inputs (selectivity), student outcomes, or institutional financial resources. QS factors in 10% for the percentage of international students and faculty.</p>
<p>Ranking differences are all about the chosen criteria, how they’re measured and how they’re weighted. You can Google for detailed descriptions of each one’s methodology.</p>
<p>I love how some of you are calling schools like Dartmouth and Brown a lower ivy when most of you wouldn’t even get into either school. In my eyes, there is no such thing as a lower ivy because they are ALL great schools.</p>
<p>The lower Ivies are UPenn, Columbia, and Princeton in that order. Those are the southernmost Ivies and thus the lowest ones.</p>
<p>High Level Ivies
Stanford
Harvard
Yale
MIT
Princeton</p>
<p>Mid Level
Columbia
Penn
UChicago
Duke</p>
<p>Lower Ivies</p>
<p>Brown
Dartmouth
Cornell</p>
<p>I’d say in that order ABOUT. Again all ivies are great schools but in terms of prestige I’d rank about that. I emphasize about because it is hard to rank top schools against each other.</p>