<p>I used to be obsessed with getting into “HAHVARD” or PRINCETON (the name brand schools), but then I realized, there were better schools for me. I am; however, considering Brown for its PLME program.</p>
<p>I’m only considering one (Cornell), and it’s often called the lowest Ivy :c. But oh well, I’m shooting for MIT as my super-reach.</p>
<p>I don’t really like Ivies because of the atmosphere where you feel like everyone but you is gonna ascend to greatness :x.</p>
<p>^lol, I agree.
Ivy leagues seem like they’ll be filled with everyone who is used to being the best, and still want to be the ‘best’. I don’t want a high stress environment for college.
I want happy people who aren’t all competing with one another.
That being said, my best friend goes to Yale and has bullied me into applying. So I’m not totally against Ivies. They’re just not my top choices, at all.</p>
<p>Me</p>
<p>They’re wayyyyy too competitive and nerdy. I’ve visited a few Ivys and Duke and the vast majority of students at those schools were complete nerds. They also seem to have an arrogance about them because they got into a school that is in the top 10 of the USNWR rankings (Ivy League snobs). I wouldn’t want to hang out with any of them because I much rather prefer to hang out w/ the athletic and laid back crowd. The people at my school that are applying to these types of schools are also complete nerds and their only focus in life is school. It’s quite amazing how “in to school” they are. I also don’t like the locations of any of the schools except Dartmouth. A lot of them are located in big cities and I will only attend a school with the college town feel (please don’t tell me that NYC and Boston are college “towns”). Also, they’re all located in the northeast and I prefer a warmer climate. I will also only attend a big sports school and none of the Ivys fit the bill. Ivy League schools are also very overpriced for upper-middle class students like me. A resident of North Carolina, for example, can attend UNC for ~17k/yr as opposed to ~$56-57k/yr at Columbia. A resident of California can attend UC Berkely and get a top notch education at less than half the price of an Ivy. Finally, after your first job after graduation, who really cares where you got your bachelor’s degree from? I’ll stick to top 20 public schools where I’ll be happy.</p>
<p>So Ivy League schools are basically the complete opposite of what I’m looking for in a college.</p>
<p>I was all for going to the Ivies when I first discovered this site, but I’ve since shied away from them. The only ones I’m considering are Cornell and Princeton, but I’m starting to favor some “lower” top tier schools (Duke, Vanderbilt), simply because I don’t think I could spend four years away from the South.</p>
<p>I don’t for many reasons.
I don’t want to attend school in the northeast. I don’t want to spend four years doing nothing but working; I want a well-rounded college experience. I would rather be one of the smartest people at my school than one of the stupidest. I would rather graduate at the top of my class with a great GPA than have to work incredibly hard to get just average grades. I wouldn’t want to be around people who have a sense of superiority. I wouldn’t want to be in a cutthroat environment. I’m extremely laid back, I don’t stress about school, I don’t take anything seriously, so I wouldn’t fit in at an Ivy. etc, etc.</p>
<p>uhhh
ivy or not, they’re just colleges.
if your reasons for not applying to an ivy is that you don’t want to work hard, or “have a less competitive environment,” think again.</p>
<p>i go to cornell, and the people here are smart, but extremely down to earth&hardworking,
and know how to have fun.
but then again, i go to the crappy one so what would i know, right?</p>
<p>sheesh. what is it w/ the ivy fantasies/preconceptions…</p>
<p>anyways, to future cornell applicants, way to go!
this place is beautiful& i’m just amazed at the sheer diversity of people and the number of courses you can
choose.
really, in this place, you can learn/take just about anything you want to.
oh oops
we don’t like the ivies, don’t we? what am i thinking…</p>
<p>and, another thing:
ivies don’t fit the bill? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!
do you have any idea how filthy rich they are?
they’ve got A LOT of money. more money than the nonivies. do you know what that means?
A LOT of financial aid.</p>
<p>i too was strapped for scholarships& money and hence applied to about 17 schools.
sure, some gave me full rides,
but cornell gave me SO MUCH aid that in the end, i could comfortably choose cornell.</p>
<p>guys, i really think you guys need to wake up from these preconceptions, and making
snap judgements on an hour long tour of the campus with a snobby guide.</p>
<p>Personally, I think the Ivies are great. The only reason I’m not considering them is location.</p>
<p>^I like Harvard’s location, but I won’t get in. lol. I just want to find a college where I’m not a number, I want to be a person trying to achieve success for myself, all the while making a group of friends and having fun.</p>
<p>I don’t like the locations since I want to go closer to home.
I don’t feel that I need to get a name brand education. It works for some people, but I feel that I can get a good, even great, education elsewhere.</p>
<p>It’s all about fit. Not about how impressed your neighbors are.</p>
<p>@elbeeen</p>
<p>Yes, because I definitely refer to my username in everyday speech and conversation which makes it all the more annoying than using “chillax.”</p>
<p>I don’t want an Ivy-league education because it’s expensive, it’s overrated, there are fewer opportunities for undergraduate research, it’s too small, and their sports teams suck. However, I still do want to attend an Ivy-league or other prestigious school for graduate school.</p>
<p>^ Everything is false (expensive, small, little research opportunities) except for the sports teams and overrated (which is actually subjective). Ivy League colleges have significantly better financial aid than state flagships. I know this guy attending Yale who is only paying $5,000~ a year whereas another person I know of the same financial status (parents make around $60,000 total annually) who attends UC San Diego and has to pay $40,000 a year. And no, they are definitely not small. They are actually bigger than most colleges. Search up the statistics and you will be overwhelmed at your misconception. HAHHAHA I LAUGHED AT “LITTLE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES.” LOL. IVY LEAGUES HAVE THE BEST RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES. Why else are Ivy League graduate schools like Harvard Medical School cited a majority of the time in major articles and studies?</p>
<p>^There is a huge difference between good financial aid and being really expensive. It depends on your income bracket.</p>
<p>And using any UC school as an example is laughable because they are known for being ridiculously expensive and have no financial aid.</p>
<p>^^You cite Harvard MEDICAL school for its great research opportunities. What about undergraduates? I toured at Harvard. My tour guide was getting his first research opportunity after his SENIOR year. At Penn State, there are GUARANTEED research opportunities for their honors college students, even the freshmen, and plenty more available for everyone else. I would know, I’VE DONE MY RESEARCH, THANK YOU VERY MUCH.</p>
<p>Ivy Leagues do have better financial aid packages. But if you’re getting $20,000 a year from a school that cost $55,000 to begin with, you’re still paying a boatload of money. State schools still have great financial aid packages, and they’re cheaper to begin with. I know one girl who got a full ride to the University of Delaware PLUS a laptop PLUS free room and board PLUS free study abroad PLUS a living stipend.</p>
<p>Ivy League schools are big? Dartmouth has under 2,000, you call that big? HAH. Yes, Cornell is the biggest with about 13,000. But that’s the BIGGEST school. 4-5 thousand people in a school is small by my standards. I know a high school that’s bigger than that.</p>
<p>Yes, Ivy league schools ARE overrated. Why do you think people apply to all the top 10 schools? Each of them is completely different, so students aren’t applying to all of them because they’re “perfect matches”. They want the “Harvard” or the “Yale” or the “Princeton” on their college diploma. You know a school is overrated when the name on the diploma is worth more than the education you receive there.</p>
<p>I am disliking this thread
I have two Ivies on my college list because quite frankly, they’re good schools, nothing to it. for those people who say ivy leaguers are snobby, nerds, etc. whatever, you couldn’t be more wrong or more misguided. first of all, there are snobs everywhere. maybe they’re snobs at ivy leagues, but they’er probably bastards at other schools, anywho there are people we don’t like.
and yes, ivy leaguers are nerds which is simply a term that refers to people who work hard in school. i know i’m glad i’m a “nerd” and yet i am very athletic. if you think ivy league students don’t do anything but study, maybe that’s just your own misconception cause any other student can do that. it’s up to you to go find something to do other than study, not the school.<br>
and anyone who says they want a laid back environment, i think you’re in the wrong place, son. you go to college for education and to work hard, not to necessarily have fun (that’s not why colleges exist). ignore those big sports stars- i wonder what they’ll be doing when they don’t make it to the pros.</p>
<p>this is getting long, i’ll stop now. 
</p>
<p>for the record, i’m not for or against the ivy league in any particular way. there are plenty of schools that are ivy level. it’s just a sports division. just a name.</p>
<p>^I didn’t say anything about Ivies being nerdy or snobby. The snobbiest and nerdiest schools I can think of aren’t Ivy-league. I’m more concerned with problems in the Ivy league education, not in its student body.</p>
<p>^^ Then why would you go to a thread that asked why people DON’T want an ivy league education?</p>
<p>What did you think you would encounter?</p>
<p>^Hahahaha 
you go romani</p>
<p>@ NervusBreakdown +1</p>
<p>Some of the points on here are good, while the rest are just illogical. If you want to post something like this and say how you hate something, at least have a good reason…not they have poor research…ok…and what Ivy are you talking about??? This is a broad generalization, that does not hold true for every school.</p>
<p>Just if you are going to bash something, bash it well and intelligently. :)</p>