<p>There have been hundreds, if not thousands, of threads on CC like this, but I’ll make a couple of points. First, anybody who is applying to all the Ivy League schools and no other highly selective schools hasn’t thought things out carefully. However, the differences among the Ivies aren’t really all that great. Many, many students would thrive at all, or almost all of them. (My own kids declined to apply to Cornell or Dartmouth because of their locations.) If what you value most (and this is the case for my family) is going to school with the most accomplished and able fellow students as possible, then it makes sense to have a number of Ivies on the list, as well as other highly selective schools.</p>
<p>I note, in passing, that nobody on CC ever criticizes anybody for applying to the 8 most selective LACs.</p>