<p>I noticed that a lot of you stated you are applying to a ton of ivy league and ivy caliber schools, so I take it that many of you are simply looking for an extremely prestigious school and are not specifically focused on, say, Yale. (By the way, the only ivy/ivy caliber school I'm applying to is Yale; it's the only one I really want to attend.) What I'm wondering is, what is pushing you all to apply to all these places? Is it personal drive or pride, parent, peer, or teacher pressure, or a feeling that you're a nobody if you don't go to one of these schools? Or is it something else? Do you all know? Why are you pushing in this direction? I am just curious...please give me your thoughts.</p>
<p>I'm only applying to Harvard because, hey, you gotta have a safety in there somewhere!</p>
<p>:D</p>
<p>my problem is that i can see myself at a wide variety of schools. if im not accepted early to yale (an overwhelming possibility), i want to have a lot of choices when it comes the time to make my decision. additionally, i would like to stay in the northeast, but i don't particularly want to go to a) an enormous state school or b) a tiny liberal arts school. the ivy league schools are a perfect in-between. all of them have a tremendous amount of resources to offer, as well as interesting, motivated students. so i guess the answer is, i'm applying to so many schools because i could see myself at any one of them, and i don't want to have it be april and wish i had applied to one that i hadn't applied to.</p>
<p>I really want to have a variety of options once March/ April comes; I applied to a variety of schools all over the U.S. with acceptance rates ranging from **9.4% to 59%<a href="So%20you%20can%20see%20that%20I'm%20not%20just%20all%20about%20that%20ivy-league%20prestige;%20I%20considered%20what%20schools%20I%20thought%20would%20be%20a%20good%20fit.">/b</a>. Same as the person before me, I can see myself at a lot of different schools. But, once I know what options for colleges I have, it'll be easier to put all my focus on choosing the perfect one. It might be just me, but I think that it's more efficient to narrow down to that "perfect fit" after knowing my possible colleges instead of trying to narrow down early etc. I guess I've had the benefit of being able to apply to a decent number of schools; I used most of one of my scholarships for all my app./ postage fees. But, I think it's worth it. As people say, "not applying gives you a 0% chance." And I'd hate to regret not applying to a college/university that might've ended up being a great fit.</p>
<p>Just my humble opinion :)</p>
<p>Certainly many people apply to Ivies because of peer pressure, parental pressure, or simply ego. But many others apply to the Ivies AND other Top Schools because they offer the intellectual atmosphere and opportunities that they want in a college education.</p>
<p>Anyone who applies to only Ivies is clearly there for selfish means, but if a person includes places similar to Georgetown, Johns Hopkins, or University of Michigan, then they are attracted to the atmosphere and connections.</p>
<p>I don't know, I think it's misleading. I've met plenty of people who applied to many Ivies and other schools, using the "other schools" as a means to justify their claim that they are not all about prestige. The thing is, I don't think many people would take the "non-Ivy" school over the Ivy if given the choice (people oftentimes use the non-Ivies as merely backups in case the Ivies don't take them), although I have mostly seen this happen before with financial barriers as factors. My point is, people apply to a bunch of schools really only caring about the Ivies. You can still apply to many Ivies in addition to other schools with similar programs and still be after prestige. What percentage of your college list is made up of Ivy League schools?</p>
<p>Many of the Ivies are different from one another anyway that it is hard to say that one doesn't care about prestige if they are applying to multiple ones (Columbia's Core compared to Brown's free-curriculum policy... they are like opposites!). Not to say that seeking prestige is a bad thing, because I certainly would agree that it is important. If you were rejected from the Ivies but only got into one or two of your supposed "good-fit" schools, how happy would you be? It all depends. Many people in the Ivies would be better fits elsewhere. There are only 8 Ivies out of how many colleges out there with different programs and structures? Then again, others argue that the Ivies provide better education than if one were to go elsewhere.</p>
<p>Thoughts?</p>
<p>(Note: I am not bashing people that are after prestige. I think it's naive to say it doesn't matter in today's society. You're the one that demonstrates your abilities anyhow, not the school you went to. However, the Ivies do have quite a bit to offer.)</p>
<p>Yale was the only Ivy applied to, Iowagal. It was the only one I liked, to be honest. </p>
<p>I am against the prestige whores you see so often on "What are my chances" threads (no, I'm not criticizing all the WAMC threads, just the pw's). Maybe it's an overreaction, but it really irritates me when people apply to all eight Ivies- they are definitely different enough that I can't imagine the same person being truly happy at all eight. Prestige is important, I suppose, but tooting your own horn only goes so far. If you look at where professors at top schools went to college, look at grad school placement rates of "2nd tier" schools, or look at where student researchers go to school, the Ivies don't seem quite as impressive- most of the students in the REU programs I've looked into come from state schools. I support the idea of finding a good fit, which was (and is) far more important to me than prestige. I'm also of the school of thought that any of the top 30 schools can provide equal educations. I'm also a proponent of LACs, which for some odd reason, people tend to overlook in the college selection process. Last year I turned down several much higher ranked schools (including scholarships at U Chicago and Johns Hopkins) for Wake Forest without thinking twice because I was positive I'd be happier there.</p>
<p>yeah, i only applied to yale, i'm also applying to loyola college of maryland, william and mary, and maybe boston college. honestly, after visiting, i'd rather go to william and mary. i just liked it better. but i'd already applied to yale. alas. but i applied to yale for the prestige, the theatre, and the freestyle dueling association, because i'm weird too, so i knew i'd fit in.</p>
<p>im only applying to yale (among the ivy's) because it has the best liberal arts focus of any of the other ivys (residential college, etc). also, i have a legacy without which i wouldnt have a shot. other schools im applying to, to give you a sense of what my focus is, are amherst, davidson, pomona, middlebury, kenyon, carleton, grinnell</p>
<p>i think the ivys (like many other schools) provide and foster a thirst for knowledge and thought. personally, i want to be able to have a existenital debate with my friend and then go out and party with her the next. i'm applying to 3 ivies: yale, columbia, and penn, which i feel also have the more urban environment i'm looking for as well. im also applying to duke, northwestern, tufts, nyu, gw, bu and penn state.</p>
<p>I completely agree with everything pianoking said.</p>
<p>However, I've arrived (or rather, will arrive) at my college list based largley on the process of elimination. My first criterion was a good name - and I don't just mean prestige - so I hunted out all the liberal arts and comprehensive colleges and universities (everywhere from Northeastern to Northwestern, from Boston to Brandeis to Brown <-- that was SO hot). Then I filtered out the ones that didn't follow my most fundamental criteria, such as state location, surrounding area, ethnic proportions (I need my Asians!!), size and such. Ironically, no liberal arts college met all my fundamental criteria (mostly because they're too small). I ended up with like 40 universities. Then I narrowed it down with more specific criteria. So the schools on my list - which includes 7 ivies; Dartmouth is too far but the others are fine - may not necessarily resemble each other. But it's the best group I could find. I don't have to decide on ONE school until May anyway.</p>
<p>I suppose it depends, like the other posters have already said. There are plenty of prestige whore's out there who believe that after all of their hard work, it should be "Ivy or bust." Personally, I'm applying to Yale because I've always loved it, and I can't really see myself anywhere else. Of course, once December rolls around, I may HAVE to see myself somewhere else...</p>
<p>The only other Ivy I really like is Dartmouth. Besides that, I like Rice (even though I want out of Texas), Williams, and Swarthmore. I just want a school that's not too large, with a great curriculum, a beautiful campus, and plenty of good times to offer.</p>
<p>I like your attitude, dualanya</p>