The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group. The eight institutions are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania, and Yale University. The term Ivy League also has connotations of academic excellence, selectivity in admissions, and social elitism.
In addition, Ivy League schools are often viewed by the public as some of the most prestigious universities worldwide and are often ranked amongst the best universities in the United States and worldwide. All of the Ivy League's institutions place within the top 15 of the U.S. News & World Report college and university rankings; with five placing in the top six.
The University of Illinois Chicago is ranked #36 among the top universities in the US by QS World University Rankings and ranks #8 among the list of best value schools by Wall Street Journal and Times Higher Education. UIC Global offers international students 80+ undergraduate and more than 100 graduate degree programs in disciplines including engineering, education, public health, architecture, health science, and social science. The second most selective and arguably the most prestigious university in the country, Harvard University has been around for longer than the United States has been a country. Since its founding in 1636, the school has grown into a world center for research supported by a $40 billion endowment. The selectivity of Harvard admissions is topped only by Stanford University with its 4% acceptance rate.
What Are The Ivy League Schools In The Us Located in Upper Manhattan, Columbia can be an excellent choice for students looking for a top-ranked university in an urban environment. Columbia is one of the largest of the Ivies, and it has a close relationship with neighboringBarnard College, one of the nation's top women's colleges. Columbia admissions are among the most selective in the country, and straight "A"s and near perfect SAT scores are not always enough to get an acceptance letter.
Many graduate programs are also highly selective, and the university is home to an excellent medical school, law school, business school, engineering school, and numerous other programs. With a rich history dating to 1764, Brown University is the second smallest of the Ivies, and the school has more of an undergraduate focus than universities such as Harvard and Yale. The university's urban campus sits adjacent to the Rhode Island School of Design , one of the nation's top art schools, and students can easily cross-register between the two institutions. The Brown admissions process can be a bit daunting with the school's single-digit acceptance rate.
Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale are all top rated, but rankings are just one part of your US university research process. Explore prestigious colleges with reputations for strong programs, research and innovation, diversity, and support systems, and that are welcoming to international students. Georgia Institute of Technology, often referred to as "Georgia Tech," is a public university located in Atlanta. The school offers technology-focused education to more than 25,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six colleges and 28 schools focusing on business, computing, design, engineering, the liberal arts and sciences. 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. I created a table with each school's ranking, location, and undergraduate enrollment. The average ranking is based on counting the school's US News ranking twice. You can click on each school's link to see the average high school GPA of admitted applicants, its standardized test scores, and its acceptance rate. The institution was founded in 1746, making it the fourth oldest university in the United States. It is a medium-sized institution with around 5,000 undergraduate enrollments, and like Harvard, has an extremely competitive acceptance rate of only 5%.
Some of its most popular degrees include computer engineering, public policy analysis, and economics. It is rated #2 of the best colleges in America to study political science and public policy analysis. SAT grades range from 1440 to 1570 and ACT grades range between 32 and 35.
It is best known for its residential housing policy, its architecture, and its outstanding programs in the social sciences and performing arts. In particular, it's History, Sociology, Anthropology and Psychology departments are among the best int the world. Students live in one of 14 residential areas based on their academic pursuits, and remain there throughout their four undergraduate years. Yale believes that its residential colleges foster a sense of strong community and also allow for cooperation among students who share a common passion. Believe it or not, the Ivy League might not be the best place for you!
If you don't like cold weather, you may want to consider a prestigious university like Stanford. Many top-ranked non-Ivy universities also offer specialized programs not available at an Ivy League school. Research will help you determine if an Ivy League provides the programs and opportunities you need to land your dream job. Also, consider Ivy League acceptance rates, and don't forget to apply to a few schools that fall into your target and safety ranges. This was the case not only at Barnard College and Radcliffe College, which are adjacent to Columbia and Harvard, but at more distant institutions as well. The movie Animal House includes a satiric version of the formerly common visits by Dartmouth men to Massachusetts to meet Smith and Mount Holyoke women, a drive of more than two hours.
The University of Pennsylvania was founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin - the famous diplomat, author, inventor, and scientist. There are over 21,000 students at Penn, including 4,500 international students. In the past two decades, Penn has been home to 8 MacArthur Award recipients, 4 National Medal of Science recipients, 4 Nobel Prize recipients, and 2 Pulitzer Prize recipients. The University of Pennsylvania is consistently ranked as one of the best universities in the US and in the world. Each year US News & World Report ranks Penn in the top 10 of their national Best Colleges rankings.
The 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked Penn #18 among all universities worldwide. Penn's business school, Wharton, is the oldest school of business in the US and has been ranked #1 by Business Week, Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times magazines. 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%! Acceptance rates at Ivy league schools are between 5% and 10%, which in practical terms means that they reject times more applications than they accept. While getting into the Ivies is obviously quite challenging, knowing how to present students in the best possible light can significantly improve the odds of success.
For students with all-star statistics (test scores, GPA's etc.), having anything less than stellar applications can negatively impact the likelihood of acceptance. Applications prepared by NC Global's team of admission experts have yielded significantly better outcomes, including far more likely acceptance into Ivy League colleges and universities. Dartmouth College Known for being the smallest Ivy League with a student enrolment of about 6,400, Dartmouth is renowned for its excellence in liberal arts, medicine and international relations. With an acceptance rate of 11%, Dartmouth is relatively an easier school to get into, although the university is reputed for its undergraduate courses, and not so much for its graduate programmes.
Interest in this answer stems from the Ivy League being synonymous with America's most selective, prestigious, and elite colleges. In other words, not only are Ivy League acceptance rates among the country's lowest, each school carries a strong brand name that follows its alumni throughout their educations, careers, and networks. Penn is one of the larger Ivy League schools, and it has a roughly equal population of undergraduate and graduate students. Its campus in West Philadelphia is just a short walk to Center City. Penn's Wharton School is one of thetop business schoolsin the country, and the university is also home to one of the nation's top medical schools.
If you look a UPenn admissions statistics, you'll see that the school's relatively large undergraduate population doesn't make it any less selective than other Ivy League schools. Princeton's New Jersey location makes both New York City and Philadelphia an easy day trip, and rail access makes internships in either city a possibility for students. Like Dartmouth, Princeton is on the smaller side and has more of an undergraduate focus than many of the Ivies.
Princeton admissions gets more and more selective every year, and the school's acceptance rate currently matches Harvard's. The school's 500-acre campus with its stone towers and Gothic arches frequently ranks as one of themost beautiful campuses in the country. Sitting on the edge of Lake Carnegie, Princeton is home to numerous flower gardens and tree-lined walks. Cornell's hillside location in Ithaca, New York, gives it stunning views of Cayuga Lake. The university has one of the top engineering schools and top hotel management programs in the country.
It also has the largest undergraduate population of all the Ivy League schools. Cornell University admissions may appear slightly less selective than the other Ivies, but don't be fooled. You're still going to need an exceptional academic record, high standardized test scores, and impressive extracurricular activities to be admitted. 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. The University of Virginia, is a public university located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Founded by Thomas Jefferson, the public university enrolls approximately 16,777 undergraduate students and is known for its law and business schools as well as for its strong athletics program.
Ivy League schools have a reputation for being elite institutions, with high selectivity during the admissions process. Harvard University is currently the most selective university in the country. Out of 57,435 applications received for the Class of 2025, Harvard admitted only 3.4 percent of applicants.
While the admissions process is extremely selective, it is not impossible for first-generation students to earn a spot in these world-class schools. For example, 16 percent of Yale's Class of 2025 are the first member of their family to attend university. However, the Ivy Leagues have recently come under fire for their admissions processes, which critics say favors legacy students to the detriment of minority students. 10 faculties are offering undergraduate and graduate-level programs in fields differing from professional fields like law, medicine, and business to degrees in liberal arts and social studies. Being a private university, it is more costly than many well-ranked public universities in the United States. Always at or near of the top of everyone's list of best colleges, Harvard is the oldest college in America, founded nearly 400 years ago in 1636.
As such it is steeped in tradition, and unsurpassed in the quality of its programs, research, professors, and overall academic experience. It is relatively small, with less than 7000 undergraduates spread across more than 50 majors. While earning your LAS degree, you can choose from over 50 concentrations, many of which are interdisciplinary.
About a third of classes at Harvard satisfy core requirements, while the rest satisfy a concentration or dual concentrations. You would be hard pressed to find a concentration that is not considered among the best and most respected throughout the world. 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. All eight are in the top 20 for number of sports offered for both men and women among Division I schools. Unlike most Division I athletic conferences, the Ivy League prohibits the granting of athletic scholarships; all scholarships awarded are need-based . In addition, the Ivies have a rigid policy against redshirting, even for medical reasons; an athlete loses a year of eligibility for every year enrolled at an Ivy institution.
Additionally, the Ivies prohibit graduate students from participating in intercollegiate athletics, even if they have remaining athletic eligibility. The only exception to the ban on graduate students is that seniors graduating in 2021 are being allowed to play at their current institutions as graduate students in 2021–22. This was a one-time-only response to the Ivies shutting down most intercollegiate athletics in 2020–21 due to COVID-19.
Ivy League teams' non-league games are often against the members of the Patriot League, which have similar academic standards and athletic scholarship policies . If you're planning to apply to any of the Ivy League schools, be realistic about your chances of being admitted. Using a free tool at Cappex, you can calculate your chances of being admitted. 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. When you look beyond rankings for the best universities in the USA for international students, a non-Ivy university may be a top school for international students and a better fit for your goals. For instance, Cornell University is an Ivy League school — but if you want to major in hospitality and do not like cold weather, then Ithaca, New York (average -9 degrees Celsius in January) may not be your top pick. FIU or UCF, on the other hand, may provide a much more rewarding experience that can set you up for success. Baruch College is one of 13 four-year colleges in The City University of New York school system.
