What ivies would suit me?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>I'm a pretty strong applicant, and I think I have a shot at ivies, so I plan on applying to a couple. However, I don't really know much about the "personalities" or atmospheres of the schools (and I haven't visited any)... so which ones do you think I would like?</p>

<ul>
<li>I'm not a huge partier, but I would like to have a social life. (So a school with things to do in the area would be a plus)</li>
<li>Not into varsity sports teams</li>
<li>I run recreationally and do martial arts</li>
<li>I'm pretty academic-focused. Very into science. Planning on med school eventually.</li>
<li>Liberal, but not extremely into politics</li>
<li>Atheist/Jewish background</li>
</ul>

<p>If you want to know any more info, just ask :)</p>

2

<p>The first two and the last two would lead me to say Columbia.</p>

3

<p>The "stuff to do in the area" makes me think of Harvard off the bat- It's in Boston. They're spending a lot of money on the science programs right now, too.</p>

4

<p>actuallly most if not all Ivies have a mostly liberal student body. I would choose which to apply for basically on location...urban or rural.</p>

5

<p>"stuff to do in the area" makes you immediately think of boston? not new york? hehe. </p>

<p>i think all of the characteristics you listed, except the first, can be applied to any of the 8 schools in different ways. it depends on if you want everyone around to be similar, i guess. overall, the social aspect is the most discriminating among the schools, so you should think more carefully baout what you want from your college. you say you don't party that much... so does that mean you don't want too much of a "party" atmosphere? that might eliminate penn and dartmouth. if you want "stuff to do around," does that mean you want a city? that would eliminate princeton and cornell. what kind of city - bigger or smaller? if bigger: harvard and columbia, if smaller: yale and brown.</p>

<p>more than that though, you should think about what kind of academic environment do you want? they're the ivy's, they're all gonna be "academically focused" to an extent. do you want a more pre-professional environment? more of a humanities focus? complete academic autonomy? more outside direction? these distinguish the ivy's from each other in addition to the social scene.</p>

6

<p>The second criterion eliminates all the ivies. The Ivy League is a Varsity, Division 1 athletic league.</p>

7

<p>haha good one "none". o wait, is that a joke? some of the ivy's care about sports but at none of them will you be in the minority for not paying attention at all. (penn and cornell <em>maayy</em> be exceptions.) the ivy league is D1, but they also do not give athletic scholarships. re: sports not that good/important...</p>

8

<p>"The 'stuff to do in the area' makes me think of Harvard off the bat- It's in Boston."</p>

<p>oh please. Columbia is in the Big Apple. there's something new to do everyday. Columbia seems to fit some of your criteria, but then again here's another way of looking at things:</p>

<p>"- I'm not a huge partier, but I would like to have a social life. (So a school with things to do in the area would be a plus)"</p>

<p>most of the ivies are not huge party schools to begin with. despite of what people perceive the ivies to be, there isn't really cut-throat competition like what people say. generally there is a pretty good social scene, but it's what you make out of it. i have lots of fun with the people i go to school with.</p>

<ul>
<li>Not into varsity sports teams</li>
</ul>

<p>if you're not into it then don't go to the games. if you're into it then enjoy it. this shouldn't really matter at all because, again, none of the ivies are like huge state schools where parties and sports dominate the atmosphere.</p>

<ul>
<li>I run recreationally and do martial arts</li>
</ul>

<p>Ok? from what i know, most schools have running clubs and taekwando clubs.</p>

<ul>
<li>I'm pretty academic-focused. Very into science. Planning on med school eventually.</li>
</ul>

<p>Most ivies are focused on academics really. Columbia has a great science program, but so do most of the ivies. so really it's up to you.</p>

<ul>
<li>Liberal, but not extremely into politics</li>
</ul>

<p>there's a good mix of people here. this should be no problem at all.</p>

<ul>
<li>Atheist/Jewish background</li>
</ul>

<p>likewise, i'm not jewish, but i know for a fact that almost all universities have a jewish student organizations and such.</p>

<p>so in the end, it's really up to you. but it seems like you don't have a specific preference, it just has to be an ivy? that's usually not the best reason to apply to a school.</p>

9

<p>
[quote]
the ivy league is D1, but they also do not give athletic scholarships. re: sports not that good/important...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Tell that to all the Ivy League coaches who have been fired for poor W-L records.</p>

<p>Actually, despite not giving athletic scholarships (otoh, need-based grants are a way around such limitations) - Ivy League Universities take their sports pretty seriously (even if the student bodies don't).</p>

<p>For instance, there have been a series of articles about the misbehavior of Ivy League FB players this past season, which raised the question of whether this was the result of the pressure to win.</p>

10

<p>What about Emory? It's not an Ivy ... but it sounds perfect for you.</p>

11

<p>Have you stumbled across any other, non-Ivy schools that appeal to you in terms of academic style, atmosphere, location, etc? That might help us. </p>

<p>Other people have said a lot of what I was going to. Basically, what it comes down to, is that all of the Ivies fulfill most of your requirements (with you maybe wanting to ditch Cornell, Princeton and Dartmouth for location, and/or Penn and Dartmouth for party scene). </p>

<p>Here are some other factors (especially about the remaining Ivies) that might make a difference to you:</p>

<p>Columbia has an extensive core curriculum. Brown has NO required classes outside of the major or even distribution requirements. Do one of these systems appeal to you, or would you prefer a middle ground, such as only distribution requirements with maybe a few required classes (I think this is what the other Ivies have, correct me if I'm wrong). </p>

<p>I know that at least Harvard and Yale have a "house" system, which seemed pretty nifty to me. Learn about that: does it appeal to you, socially? </p>

<p>Undergraduate size and size of whole University. I don't know these numbers, but I know they are different for the different Ivies. Would you prefer a bigger school or a smaller one? What size student body would make you most comfortable? </p>

<p>At Brown you can cross register some courses as RISD. At Columbia, you can take classes at Barnard (there might be cross registration options at other Ivies, but they aren’t as conveniently across the street, as far as I know). If you are interested in art at all, the former would be really awesome, or perhaps you'd like to be able to take some LAC classes?</p>

<p>Campus visits also help! For instance, I thought I was going to love Columbia, but then I visited and has a strong gut reaction against it, whereas I ended up liking Yale far more than I thought I would. Of course, the reactions will be different for everyone, so visit if you can.</p>

12

<p>Thanks to all for your help.</p>

<p>Part of my problem is that I don't know exactly what I want. I knew about the Columbia core curriculum thing, but I don't really have strong feelings either way about that. Same thing with size of school-- my high school graduating class has ~500 kids, and that seems fine, but I don't think I would mind being in a bigger or smaller class.</p>

<p>I'm not into art, but I would like to take some LAC-type classes, like French, but I'm sure there would be offerings at any of the Ivies.</p>

<p>The non-Ivies I'm thinking of applying to are Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, University of Chicago, Amherst, and possibly Carnegie-Mellon.</p>

<p>Jane2-- I'll read up on Emory :)</p>

13

<p>"Tell that to all the Ivy League coaches who have been fired for poor W-L records."</p>

<p>Wait, the coaches care about their teams? NO WAY!</p>

<p>"Ivy League Universities take their sports pretty seriously (even if the student bodies don't)."</p>

<p>So when a prospective student asks about the sports at a school, we're not talking about what the students do and think, but rather the administration? Oooh, okay...</p>

14

<p>Columbia really seems like a good fit for you.</p>

15

<p>^ Yes, I was thinking that. I'll probably go with Columbia and Brown :)</p>

16

<p>Given the other schools you are looking at, I agree with the others...Columbia sounds like a great fit! Possibly Yale too.</p>

17

<p>Read this!
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18

<p>JewPenn, baby.</p>