Ivy League Overview

What is the Ivy League?

The Ivy League refers to eight of the most prestigious and historic “ivy covered” private colleges in America, including: Harvard, UPenn, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Princeton, Yale, and Brown (sometimes called “the ancient eight”). So why aren’t other great universities like MIT or Stanford on this list? The simple reason is that although the term Ivy League has largely become synonymous with “prestigious university,” it technically refers to an athletic conference that was formed among those eight colleges back in the 1950s and still exists today.

What’s the best Ivy League university?

Asking what’s the best Ivy League is a lot like asking “What’s the best city to live in?” or “What’s the best car to drive?” It depends a lot on who you are and what you value most.

In this article, we’ll briefly highlight the key pros and cons of each school, because there are considerable academic and cultural differences. It’s worth remembering, however, that all of them are prestigious, all of them are extremely difficult to get into, and all of them will set you up nicely for a career in pretty much whatever field you choose. In that regard they have more in common than they have differences. Trying to parse which one is “best” using annual rankings or any other metric is largely a waste of time because much of it is subjective. The trick is to find the one that’s the best match for you: your personality, your values, and what you hope to achieve with your undergraduate education. Not only will you be happiest there, but it will give the best chance of admission.

Cornell: pros and cons

Cornell is, by far, the largest Ivy with 16,000 undergraduates, whereas the others average only about 6,500. It’s so big, in fact, that one quarter of all Ivy League undergraduates attend Cornell. It’s located way up in upstate New York, in the small city of Ithaca, which students describe as “beautiful” but “cold and gloomy.” While some students treasure its remote location, others go crazy during the “never-ending winter.” (Administrators had to add “suicide nets” to a number of high suspension bridges after a spate of suicides.) Cornell students are described as “hard working” “very friendly” a bit “hippie-crunchy,” and benefit from an “awesome alumni network.” Also, the undergraduate engineering college is ranked #1 in the Ivy League and top ten in the nation.

Yale: pros and cons

Yale is the second-oldest Ivy (after Harvard), and has educated the second-most US Presidents (after Harvard). You get the idea; Yale is always compared to Harvard. Harvard wins when it comes to location: Cambridge, MA (Boston) is infinitely better than New Haven, CT, which is described as “charming and diverse” by some, but “dreary and dangerous” by others. But the Yale student body is chock-full of “brilliant” “interesting” “enormously creative” and “fun” students who seem to really enjoy their time together. There’s none of the “stuffiness” or “elitism” you find at Harvard, although students are known as “PC warriors” and “woke extremists.”

UPenn: pros and cons

UPenn is the most “intensely pre-professional” of all the Ivies, meaning that students are either “focused” or “obsessed” with their careers, depending on your perspective. When you apply to UPenn, you have to apply to a specific college within the larger university to study either business, engineering, nursing, or liberal arts. The good news is that once you get into UPenn, you can take courses from any of the four great colleges. The bad news is that you’re locked into the college that accepted you — it’s very difficult to change your major and transfer to another college. While UPenn provides “world-class career training,” many students find the “unrelentlingly competitive” school culture “toxic” and “exhausting.”

Brown: pros and cons

Brown is arguably “the most liberal Ivy,” and nearly 40% of Brown students identify as LGBTQ+. Brown offers an incredibly “diverse and nonjudgmental” campus community, and many alternate lifestyle students find a warm, supportive family at Brown. One of the biggest draws of Brown is its signature Open Curriculum, which enables students to take whatever courses they want “without the hassle of core requirements” like you find at all of the other Ivies. Students can also take any courses pass/fail, which encourages risk-taking and exploration. This unprecedented level of freedom and flexibility gives Brown students the power to truly “design their own educational experience.”

Harvard: pros and cons

As the oldest college in America, Harvard is one of the most recognized and venerated institutions of higher learning in the world. Whether you’re the son of a Saudi king, an Olympic figure skater, or a math prodigy, “everyone wants to go to Harvard.” But while the benefits of a Harvard degree are undeniable, the campus culture has often been described by students as “elitist” and “exclusionary,” favoring students of extraordinary wealth and privilege. This obviously won’t be true for everyone, but many students complain about the “hierarchical” nature of life on campus, where everyone is fighting to get accepted into the “right” extracurricular clubs, competitive student groups, or exclusive members-only “final clubs.” “It’s a shark tank,” says one student.

Dartmouth: pros and cons

Dartmouth is “the smallest Ivy” with only 4,500 undergraduates, which makes it feel more like a small liberal arts college than a large research university. (Though it’s technically a university, Dartmouth is the only Ivy to still calls itself a college.) Dartmouth is located in the “remote” “freezing cold” foothills of Hanover, New Hampshire where it’s surrounded by “astonishing natural beauty,” but it’s also hours from the nearest decent city. Dartmouth is lauded for its “incredible professors” and focus on undergraduate teaching, plus its “tight-knit student community,” “abundant school spirit,” and “incredible alumni network,” though it is “predominantly white and wealthy.” Social life is fun and open to all, but with nearly two-thirds of students involved in Greek life, you might feel left out if “frat basements and beer pong” aren’t your thing.

Princeton: pros and cons

Princeton has recently been ranked both the #1 Ivy and the #1 university in America by US News & World Report. It tends to attract extreme overachievers: applicants who are not only “valedictorians” but exceptionally accomplished in one additional extracurricular area such as music or sports. Princeton earns high marks for its “excellent undergraduate teaching,” but has also earned the dubious title of a “total grind school” because even the best students frequently feel “crushed” by the “insane courseload” and “rampant grade deflation.” The school is also known for its “hyper-competitive culture,” which makes even high-achieving students feel like they’re “never doing enough” to keep up with their peers.

Columbia: pros and cons

Columbia is located on the Upper Westside of New York City, which gives the university a distinctively urban, multicultural, intellectual flair. It is the most ethnically diverse of all the Ivies, with the smallest percentage of white students (30%) and the largest percentage of international students (16%). Manhattan provides unparalleled options for entertainment, cultural events, international foods, and corporate internships. But it also creates a “diffuse” campus culture where many students don’t feel connected to the school; it regularly ranks last in the Ivies for school spirit. Finally, Columbia’s notorious Core Curriculum is the most restrictive in the Ivy League, requiring all undergraduates to take many of the same courses on Western thought.

Final thoughts.

Bear in mind that you can still have an extremely successful career without attending an Ivy League. There are many other private universities, as well as world-class public universities, that offer similar (and sometimes even better) academic programs in specific fields. The Ivies offer enormous prestige, valuable contacts, and other tangible benefits, but attending one is not a silver bullet for lifelong happiness or success. Each year, dozens of students transfer out of their Ivy League college to attend another school. It’s just something to keep in mind if you don’t get in.