What Makes Ivy League Schools Better

As a student currently attending an ivy league college, I must point out that you are wrong in a lot of areas of this article. A degree in philosophy or other humanities can still appear marketable, especially if the student has graduated from Harvard and has access to their job network. Top-tier schools have also developed need-blind admissions, meaning your financial situation will not influence your admission unless you are an extremely rich legacy whose parents will donate millions of dollars. In other words, these select schools have sufficient financial aid programs to never deny admission solely because an applicant can't pay.

I also know plenty of students on financial aid who are currently paying much less than they would at their state's respective public universities. Of course, wealthy students are still much more likely to get in and attend due to the advantages they receive, but this problem is more deeply rooted in society. Otherwise, I completely agree that anyone can get a great education outside the Ivy League! What are the extra perks at small liberal arts colleges that even Ivy Leagues don't offer? Amherst College, for instance, offers the "Five College Consortium", where students can learn up to 27 different languages and take classes at any of the five participating colleges at no extra cost.

Swarthmore is part of the "Tri-College Consortium", with Bryn Mawr and Haverford, where students can also take courses. In engineering which makes it unique in that students get the freedom to pick creative courses in a liberal arts environment alongside. And colleges such as Bowdoin keep student's SAT and ACT scores as optional on the college's application form, as they believe in assessing students on other variables rather than heavily relying on standardized test scores. These are frequently called the "happiest schools of America", and for good reason. But there are many kinds of advantages that exist, and an Ivy League education is just one of those.

Having the space to grow and explore is a luxurious advantage, and one that liberal arts colleges offer in spades. At the most crucial and impressionable time of life, young people thrive among like-minded peers. Being surrounded by people having similar goals and interests is a wonderful way to thrive.

This goes on to show that students have varying levels of not only interests but also goals - neither of which is reflective of their intellect. It is easy to say "plan ahead", but there is a lot of advantage in knowing what school and program you would like to attend in the future. If you are certain about which school you want to enroll in, it might be wise to apply through the Early Action/Early Decision program. This way, your deadline for application is earlier, but so is your response date. To utilize this opportunity, you must research your school of choice and determine whether you are a good fit for the program to which you're applying. Early Action programs give you an early answer as to where you stand in the admissions process.

According to most recent data, Cornell's acceptance rates for their early decision program is 22.7%! There is no denying that obtaining an Ivy League education brings with it a sense of name recognition and prestige. These eight private institutions of higher learning are also known for their selective admissions processes, making them sought-after destinations for the best and brightest students. Founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1740, the University of Pennsylvania has a long history of academic excellence. Today, the school continues to be ranked among the leading institutions of higher education in the country.

It's not the school's reputation that attracts them to its campus for many UPenn students, though. Instead, students who enroll at the university find unparalleled opportunities for extracurricular involvement, social activism, and service-learning. The strong sense of community at Penn translates to a tight-knit and active alumni network post-graduation. For many graduates, this influential network provides even more value than the degree itself and is worth the somewhat-pricey tuition many times over. Although Cornell University has the highest acceptance rates of all Ivy League schools, this does not mean that it's an easy school to get into. To be a competitive applicant for any of these eight prestigious institutions, you cannot slack off when it comes to your applications.

Start planning your acceptance strategies early, which means studying hard at school and planning ahead for your standardized tests. If you have not been involved in an extracurricular activity since childhood, plan to seriously commit to an activity as early as you can. Choose something you love to do as this will be evident in your application components. Most importantly, do not choose to go to an Ivy League school for appearances. Choose a program you actually want to attend and graduate from, rather than a program that will look good on your CV. Prestige and social status do not necessarily translate into better educational fit for you.

Choose happiness and invest in your education in a school you truly want to attend. For thousands of students across the globe, attending one of the eight Ivy League schools is their biggest dream. Some of the most impactful men and women in history have attended Ivy League schools including global leaders, world-changing researchers and scientists, era-defining artists and more.

What Makes School Ivy League For that reason, many people believe that attending an Ivy League school – or one of the other more prestigious and competitive universities in the United States – can act as a golden ticket to future success. With that being said, with acceptance rate typically in the single digits. For that reason, if you end up getting accepted to one of these wonderful schools, you better have a pretty good idea when it comes to what you are going to study while you are there.

For many students, finding out what programs schools particularly excel in can help them make a final decision in regards to where they attend. That's why we at AdmissionSight have broken down the three most popular majors at the Ivy Leagues. All of these benefits of smaller liberal arts colleges come at, on average, significantly lower costs than that of an Ivy League. For example, for a college like Williams, graduates earn an average Early Career Pay of $70,600 and an average Mid-Career Pay of $150,300, with the cost of attending with tuition being approximately $72,270 (according to payscale.com).

For Pomona, an average Early Career Pay is around $70,200, with a Mid-Career Pay averaging at about $131,300, and tuition being around $56,284. Compare this to Princeton, which offers an Early Career Pay of $81,800, and a Mid-Career Pay of $161,500, with tuition being around $75,500. The comparable pay scale versus tuition remains roughly the same for the smaller liberal arts colleges and the Ivy Leagues, meaning a great return on investment - so that should be one worry off potential students' minds. First of all, we recognize that Ivy League schools are remarkable universities that provide very high quality education to their students, but like any other university, they are not perfect in every aspect nor are they for everyone. This way, you can make sure that the Ivy League school you're applying to is a good fit for you.

The fit a school has with you may seem insignificant to some people, but in reality it is probably the most important aspect when picking a college. The area where the college is located, the school culture, or the diversity among many other factors can make or break your college experience, which can have a negative impact on your academic performance and success. Each Ivy League college has its own unique accomplishments that make it important. All carry a certain reputation with them, and each school has programs that excel primarily in the medical and law fields, making them some of the most sought-after schools in the world. Their admissions process is very selective, which helps the schools ensure that they only accept the best and brightest.

Many famous people have graduated from Ivy League schools, including recent presidents George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama. This prestige leads many to believe that these colleges are only for the wealthy and elite. Often, companies look for Ivy League graduates as potential employees, usually preferred by law firms, medical facilities, and large corporations. It has long been coveted to have earned a degree from an Ivy League school.

Today, there are other competitors that some claim to be just as good as their Ivy counterparts. Some of these well-known schools include Duke University, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Vanderbilt, and Georgetown University, to name a few. The Ivy League schools are still excellent in both academia and in sports, and they have left a legacy of higher education with an exceptional track record and reputation to go along with them.

These colleges are known for being selective in their admissions; since the year 2000, the acceptance rates at each of the universities is said to have varied from 6 to 16 percent. In fact, in the most recent academic year, seven of the eight Ivy League schools reported record-high applications; seven also reported record-low acceptance rates. Even though Ivy League schools have impeccable reputations, they do not produce the most students who ultimately earn doctorate degrees. According to a 2010 CBS Money Watch report, liberal arts schools dominated the top 10 list of students who eventually earned doctorates. For example, liberal arts schools produced twice as many students with science doctorate degrees as compared to other institutions, including Ivy League schools. If you are planning to pursue a doctorate, you might look beyond Ivy League possibilities and examine additional opportunities.

If you're thinking about attending an Ivy League school, then you are on the cusp of making a potentially life-changing decision. A degree from one of these prestigious higher learning institutions can open up many doors of opportunity that otherwise may have remained closed. On the other hand, enrolling in one of the Ivies is a huge commitment that can carry many different costs, such as monetary expenses and sacrifices of both time and effort. To help, our editors have compiled a list of some of the most frequently asked questions about these private universities and some general answers and information.

It's best to visit the school's website or speak to an admissions counselor directly for specific details about a particular school. The third-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, Yale University, is home to many of the same top-rated academic and professional programs that the other seven Ivies offer. In addition, though, Yale is well-known for its visual and performing arts programs. Another standout feature of this particular Ivy League school is its residential college network.

Upon admission, all undergraduate schools are assigned to one of over a dozen residential colleges within the university system, granting them access to a tight-knit academic community within the bigger Yale experience. Cornell University is not only one of the nation's prestigious Ivy League schools, but also the state of New York's land-grant institution. As such, the school is committed to enriching the lives of its students and contributing to the common good of its community, its state, and the world. Founded in 1865, the university is currently home to more than 15,000 undergraduate students.

Though its founding mission is to provide quality education in all academic disciplines, the university is best known for its standout business programs and its undergraduate offerings in engineering and computer science. Located in New York, New York, Columbia University is one of the oldest and most respected post-secondary academic institutions in the United States. Known for its excellent undergraduate programs in engineering and computer science, the school is also an active research hub that welcomes a diverse student body and faculty. In sharp contrast to some of the other Ivy League schools , Columbia University relies on a prescribed core curriculum as the basis for its undergraduate program. Regardless of major, all students accepted to the university must take a common set of classes.

These classes are rooted in the liberal arts and emphasize oral and written expression. As well, sixty percent of liberal arts college graduates said they felt "better prepared" for life after college than students who attended other colleges, according to the same survey. Ivy League schools offer exceptional educational opportunities but so do many other colleges in the US and worldwide.

Schools like Stanford, MIT, Rice, and CalTech are not Ivy League schools but often rank higher in specific programs than some Ivy League schools. Many of them also offer lower tuitions and have higher acceptance rates. Consider your area of study and see if another top school provides opportunities that will help you succeed. At New Trier, which spends about $21,000 per pupil, 24 graduates in the 2012 class enrolled at Ivy League schools, according to data from an electronic system the high school uses to track college applications and admissions.

That's more than any other top school in the state and represented about 2.4 percent of the graduating class of more than 1,000 students. A main difference between Ivy League schools and regular liberal arts schools is their acceptance rates. Ivy League schools are notorious for having highly competitive acceptance rates, and according to a 2012 CNN Money Report, those rates are getting even lower. Harvard and Yale had 5.9 percent and 6.8 percent acceptance rates, respectively, and the Ivy League school with the highest acceptance rate was Cornell at 16.2 percent.

In comparison, some highly esteemed non-Ivy-League liberal arts colleges, such as Carnegie Mellon, University of Virginia and Northeastern, had acceptance rates of 27.8 percent, 29.6 percent and 31.9 percent, respectively, according to U.S. As the smallest of the Ivy League schools, Dartmouth College enrolls just under 4,500 undergraduate students per year. Founded in 1769, the school is home to undergraduate schools of engineering, arts, and sciences as well as graduate programs in business, medicine, and engineering. Despite its impressive academic offerings, the school manages to maintain a quaint and intimate feel. The student to faculty ratio is just 7 to 1, meaning students have the potential to receive a fair amount of individualized instruction and one-on-one mentoring from professors. You may be surprised to learn that for some students, the real value of attending an Ivy League institution is not the school itself, per se.

Instead, the best perks come from being immersed in a community of scholars committed to learning at the highest level. It sounds cliché, but the Ivies really do attract the best and brightest students across the nation (and beyond!). These schools are highly selective and only admit those applicants with the highest grade point averages and college entrance exam scores.

This means that their classrooms are filled with some of the most intelligent young minds in existence. Students tend to feed off one another's ideas as they engage in collaborative group projects and lively debates and discussions. This in itself is worth the price of an Ivy League education, according to some alumni. Ivy League undergraduate admissions are difficult to assess because each school claims to take a holistic approach to reviewing students' applications. A holistic application review considers a broad range of student's accomplishments and circumstances.

This allows admissions committees to consider your candidacy as a whole, rather than focusing on only one component of your application. A good example of this theory is the elimination of GPA stats for Brown's applicants. The college announced that it does not calculate its students' GPA and relies on other criteria for evaluation, such as students' coursework, course performance reports and letters of recommendation.

As you might have noticed, the majority of the Ivy League schools do not have specific GPA or standardized test score requirements – all of this is meant to demonstrate that no ONE application component outweighs the other. The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term Ivy League is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools as a group of elite colleges with connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism. Its members are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, the University of Pennsylvania, Princeton University, and Yale University.

These institutions are home to some of the most cutting-edge facilities in the world, their faculty members are leaders in their fields, and their alumni are highly accomplished as well. In some cases, you can 'shop around' in your first week, attending a mixture of taster lectures and seminars, before you sign up to particular courses. In a nutshell, while Ivy league colleges provide the necessary headstart to students in terms of brand-name, liberal arts colleges are no less and they provide opportunities for an all round development. It's for the students to look at the critical pointers discussed in this article and make informed choices in terms of the right fit. Although it may not be the case with other higher learning institutions, the Penn LPS Online platform was specifically designed to make the Ivy League experience accessible and affordable to working adults.

If you're motivated to pursue a high-quality liberal arts education at Penn LPS Online but are wary of the costs, you can learn more about reduced tuition rates, financial aid, and payment plans that may be available if you qualify. That 35 percent wage gap still looks pretty big, but those top earning Ivy Leaguers may just be hardworking by nature. It's plausible that the types of students who have what it takes to get into prestigious schools also have what it takes to be successful, no matter where they get their degree. It's also worth noting that many students who graduate from Ivy League schools have other success-bolstering resources at their disposal, like wealth and family connections. All eight are in the top 20 for number of sports offered for both men and women among Division I schools.