Bests and Worsts of Ivy Leagues

College Confidential Community
1

What are the best and worst aspects of attaining an Ivy League education?

2

Pro: Prestige
Con: Cost

3

Each Ivy League school is different and will have its own pros and cons.
Each person at each school is different and will have his or her own pros and cons.

4

Pro: It would be challenging to create a list of colleges superb across diverse liberal arts and sciences fields – from mathematics to literature --without including a high concentration of Ivy League schools.

Con: Some smaller colleges would be equally superb for these fields while offering a stronger undergraduate emphasis.

5

Pros:

  • some of the best students, faculty, and programs in the country, if not the world;
  • huge endowments to spend money on almost unlimited academic fields, new buildings, etc;
  • great connections and alumni support;
  • brand name recognition and prestige

Cons:

  • very expensive for most families;
  • possible elitism;
  • not as diverse as other colleges, especially publics;
  • not strong/good for some programs/majors;
  • All located in a relatively small geographical locations (NE);
  • weather is generally bad (cold, snowy winters/hit humid summers);
  • no big time sports teams of national importance;
  • school spirits might be lacking, especially for pre-professional ivies (e.g Penn)
6
  • no big time sports teams of national importance

Except ice hockey!

7

@momofsenior1 re: hockey only 6 of the 8 ivies even have a hockey program and the league has only won 1 championship in the last 28 years so I would say they don’t have big time sports programs especially when you compare them to the SEC, ACC, PAC 12 and Big 10.

8

You’ve never been to a Cornell hockey game ; )

9

Pros: Vast academic resources.

For the most part, excellent need-based aid.

Cons: Feelings of inadequacy when surrounded by so many brilliant people.

Discrimination/jealousy in the workplace.

10

re #6, Cornell has not succeeded nationally to the extent they used to in the days when Ken Dryden was in net, but they are usually pretty good. They won ECAC titles in 1980, 1986, 1996, 1997, 2003, 2005, 2010 . And they made it to the NCAA tournament or regionals in 1980, 1981, 1986,1991,1996,1997,2002,2003,2005,2006, 2009,2010,2012,.2017,2018, and 2019.

Since their teams are usually competitive their games have high fan interest and excitement.

reputation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_UrhA-ilWQ
https://herosports.com/news/d1-mens-ice-hockey-top-25-all-time-programs-north-dakota-michigan-harvard-rochester-minnesota#16

the fan atmosphere:
In recent years they’ve played a Thanksgiving game at Madison Square Garden, and whenever I’ve looked the game had sold out the Garden:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQjATMbzivQ

Back home at Lynah Rink:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBGbyqhuE_A&list=PL53470E6A9984DDB5&index=1
(and keep scrolling down the list)

I don’t pay much attention to the others, but I believe Yale has been good in recent years, and Harvard at least used to be good too. ECAC hockey can be quite exciting.

11

Cons:

  1. If a college does not match your interests in what you want from a college experience, it is a bad idea to pick it based purely on the prestige of its being part of the Ivy League athletic conference.
  2. Harder admissions odds than almost any other colleges in the nation (with a few exceptions), so you will need to look at other colleges as well and not get your heart set too much on the Ivy(ies) to which you apply.
  3. If you want MERIT aid beyond what you would receive in need-based financial aid based on the net price calculators, then look elsewhere. The Ivies offer among the best NEED-based financial aid packages in the nation to truly needy students.
  4. You can’t lump them. Different colleges within the league will have different pros and cons relative to your interests and needs.

Pros:

  1. Among the best resources in the world. The best need-based financial aid. You may find that the aid provided by an Ivy makes it more affordable than your local public university! The best-regarded professors. Tons of resources available to students- great equipment, extracurricular and curricular opportunities, support systems, etc., etc.
  2. A lot of learning at college takes place outside the classroom, in informal conversations with your peers. At the Ivies, you are guaranteed a super-smart, intellectually oriented peer group. You also will be part of a diverse group, because the Ivies are capable of attracting top students from all backgrounds and walks of life.
  3. A well-connected group of alumni who have been around forever, are loyal to their college, and are eager to help future students with internship and job opportunities.
  4. Prestige and name recognition. Obviously. Most people have heard of the Ivy League, and many have heard of at least some of the individual colleges within it.
  5. Again, you can’t lump them. Different colleges within the league will have different pros and cons relative to your interests and needs.

In short, if you are attracted to certain Ivy League colleges, think about what makes them attractive to you, and you will be able to find options both within and outside the league that will be a good fit for you.

12

Pros: name recognition.
Cons: name recognition doesn’t guarantee a fabulous job and lots of money. And lots of people have only heard of Harvard or Princeton. Plenty of people don’t know about Cornell or Penn State. Or maybe they’ve heard of Penn State…

Faux pas intended:-)

13

re#11, Cornell is pretty well known, actually, moreso than some of the others. Ironically some of the programs people like to criticize (hotel, agriculture) are responsible for some of that recognition, along with its strong graduate programs.

I was surprised when I worked in the lower midwest, when one day somebody asked me to confirm that Cornell was in the Ivy League. I didn’t expect him to know, but he did. But next he asked me if Rutgers was in it also, so…

Regarding this thread I agree with #8 above.
Additionally:
I’ve often said that the key feature of the school alone is that people who don’t really know you, beyond this fact, might presume you are pretty smart.

That is a “pro” if you actually are pretty smart, because you are associated with a cohort of high-capability individuals. Which might help for getting jobs, eg.

However it can be a “con” if you are actually nothing special, because then people who eg hired you in part on reliance on this may feel that they have been duped.

That’s where some of the worklace issues suggested in #8 can come into place, when the guys who went to state u figure out they are better at the job than you are. There would be no backlash if you also went to state u.