<p>Your reasoning may not be as “faulty” as you think. If you’re the type of person who sees the glass as half empty all the time (as your “location” implies), then you may want to try to be more optimistic, otherwise you’re going to be unhappy at any college. If you legitimately felt like you couldn’t picture yourself at any of the Ivies, it’s very possible, though, that none of them are a good fit for you. It happens; there are other Ivy-caliber schools that have just as much prestige and are just as lucrative (in terms of future contentment and income) for their students. Have you tried Stanford, MIT, CalTech, Washington University-St. Louis, Tufts, Amherst, UVA, Swarthmore, etc? You might have better luck at some of those schools.</p>
<p>If you are convinced that you must attend an Ivy League institution, here are some of the pros and cons of each, which may help you see more merit in them. (I’ve visited some of these, but know about others only through the grapevine.)</p>
<p>Columbia
Pros: In NYC, broad core curriculum
Cons: city distracts from on-campus social life, little sense of community</p>
<p>Brown
Pros: a lot of personal liberty, diversity, easy to explore different interests, easy to change concentrations
Cons: could be overwhelmingly liberal</p>
<p>Harvard
Pros: possibly the most prestigious of the bunch (especially on an international level), house residence system for upper classmen, special dining hall (Annenberg) to encourage freshmen interaction, near Boston but has its own great little community in Cambridge
Cons: very research-focused, a lot of pressure, heavy courses</p>
<p>Yale
Pros: 12-college residence system, great community service participation by undergrads
Cons: New Haven, could also feel grad-school-focused</p>
<p>Dartmouth
Pros: emphasis on outdoors, good for nature-lovers
Cons: rural, cold</p>
<p>Cornell
Pros: good engineering, very scenic, Ithaca
Cons: bad reputation among other Ivy Leaguers, high suicide rate</p>
<p>UPenn
Pros: close enough to NYC, main Philly & Baltimore, great social life, bigger undergrad population
Cons: not-so-nice area of Philly, party scene could be overwhelming</p>
<p>Princeton
Pros: it’s in Jersey (I’m biased, though), very aesthetic campus, feels focused on undergrads
Cons: suburban area could feel claustrophobic after 4+ years, eating clubs potentially intimidating, limited social scene</p>
<p>Just remember that deciding where to attend college depends a lot on your personal connection to each campus and student body; I think it has a lot to do with self-evaluation and you should be wary of fitting yourself into an Ivy mold. That said, all eight schools have some fantastic qualities and some not sp great ones. </p>
<p>Good luck wherever you end up!</p>