Is it crazy to choose a non-ivy over an ivy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Northwestern is ranked higher than several Ivies - Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell. But push comes to shove, I think most students would choose the Ivy.

I understand Columbia over Northwestern but nobody is picking Cornell or Dartmouth over it - only the people desperate to say they go to “an Ivy.”

Those who prefer to be in NYC, yes to Columbia. But Northwestern is the clear choice vs. Brown, Dartmouth and Cornell.

Yes, maybe to those of you writing from your house in Loudoun County. But try to realize that there is an entire class of people out there that don't make admissions decisions based on the latest iteration of US News.

I live in Manhattan, sent both my kids to “elite” prep schools, and would pick Chicago & Northwestern over Cornell, Dartmouth, and Chicago over Brown. This isn’t because of whatever list USNWR has created, and it’s weird you assume people from the suburbs default to USNWR while people in cities think Ivies reign supreme. Many of my kids’ friends picked USNWR T10s over Ivies; the Ivy label of the so-called “lower Ivies” doesn’t hold up against those schools in a head-to-head.

This is such a stupid comment. Cornell runs circles around Chicago and NW (and other Ivies) in engineering, computer science, architecture, and other majors (not to mention the many Cornell majors that arent even available at these other schools).

Many posters look down on Cornell contract colleges.

CALS: Ranked #1 in the nation for agricultural sciences.
ILR: Frequently ranked as the top school for industrial and labor relations.
Human Ecology: Recognized as #1 in its field.
Hotel School: Ranked #1 in the nation.

The previous poster was speaking form the perspective of a Manhattan prep school parent. This is not the target demographic for agriculture science, labor relations or hotel management majors.

Tell me you are not “Manhattan” without telling me. CALS and ILR are popular among NYC TT kids. The only school that’s not popular is the engineering school, which is for stuy kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just talking with DH about our D’s decision to ED to a SLAC rather than apply to DH’s alma mater ivy and other T10’s, which she was competitive for but didn’t feel drawn to. My take was, “Cool that she had the self-possession to look beyond prestige and make a choice based on other things she values.” His take, while fully supporting our D’s choice, was that the lifetime of doors that spring open once you have that ivy on your resume is a perk that’s well worth a less-than-ideal undergrad experience. He didn’t love his four years of undergrad, but says he would do it again in a heartbeat knowing the advantages his choice has since conferred. Hard to sell this viewpoint to a teenager though, so we’re now team LAC all the way.

I'm assuming that it is a top SLAC. If so, she'll be just fine as they open any door that an Ivy opens.

NP which LACs can truly open any door a top Ivy can?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just talking with DH about our D’s decision to ED to a SLAC rather than apply to DH’s alma mater ivy and other T10’s, which she was competitive for but didn’t feel drawn to. My take was, “Cool that she had the self-possession to look beyond prestige and make a choice based on other things she values.” His take, while fully supporting our D’s choice, was that the lifetime of doors that spring open once you have that ivy on your resume is a perk that’s well worth a less-than-ideal undergrad experience. He didn’t love his four years of undergrad, but says he would do it again in a heartbeat knowing the advantages his choice has since conferred. Hard to sell this viewpoint to a teenager though, so we’re now team LAC all the way.

I'm assuming that it is a top SLAC. If so, she'll be just fine as they open any door that an Ivy opens.

NP which LACs can truly open any door a top Ivy can?

The poster didn't say "top Ivy", which I assume means Harvard, Yale, or Princeton.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just talking with DH about our D’s decision to ED to a SLAC rather than apply to DH’s alma mater ivy and other T10’s, which she was competitive for but didn’t feel drawn to. My take was, “Cool that she had the self-possession to look beyond prestige and make a choice based on other things she values.” His take, while fully supporting our D’s choice, was that the lifetime of doors that spring open once you have that ivy on your resume is a perk that’s well worth a less-than-ideal undergrad experience. He didn’t love his four years of undergrad, but says he would do it again in a heartbeat knowing the advantages his choice has since conferred. Hard to sell this viewpoint to a teenager though, so we’re now team LAC all the way.

I'm assuming that it is a top SLAC. If so, she'll be just fine as they open any door that an Ivy opens.

NP which LACs can truly open any door a top Ivy can?

Any door Dartmouth or Brown can open, WASP can too. Dartmouth is mostly just wall street. Brown has more premed or prelaw.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just talking with DH about our D’s decision to ED to a SLAC rather than apply to DH’s alma mater ivy and other T10’s, which she was competitive for but didn’t feel drawn to. My take was, “Cool that she had the self-possession to look beyond prestige and make a choice based on other things she values.” His take, while fully supporting our D’s choice, was that the lifetime of doors that spring open once you have that ivy on your resume is a perk that’s well worth a less-than-ideal undergrad experience. He didn’t love his four years of undergrad, but says he would do it again in a heartbeat knowing the advantages his choice has since conferred. Hard to sell this viewpoint to a teenager though, so we’re now team LAC all the way.

I'm assuming that it is a top SLAC. If so, she'll be just fine as they open any door that an Ivy opens.

NP which LACs can truly open any door a top Ivy can?

Any of the top NESCACs, top C5s, along with Swarthmore.

[Anonymous]

From recent Forbes article when having interviewed hiring executives

“That Ivy League-wariness persists, with 37% of respondents this year saying they are less likely to hire Ivy League grads than they were five years ago, and only 6% saying they’re more likely to do so. Those numbers are reversed for public universities, with 42% saying they’re more likely to hire these grads and just 6% less likely to do so.”

This is from C-suite executives.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
From recent Forbes article when having interviewed hiring executives

“That Ivy League-wariness persists, with 37% of respondents this year saying they are less likely to hire Ivy League grads than they were five years ago, and only 6% saying they’re more likely to do so. Those numbers are reversed for public universities, with 42% saying they’re more likely to hire these grads and just 6% less likely to do so.”

This is from C-suite executives.

Link?

[Anonymous]

yes, it is crazy to pick Stanford over Penn. *rolls eyes*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
From recent Forbes article when having interviewed hiring executives

“That Ivy League-wariness persists, with 37% of respondents this year saying they are less likely to hire Ivy League grads than they were five years ago, and only 6% saying they’re more likely to do so. Those numbers are reversed for public universities, with 42% saying they’re more likely to hire these grads and just 6% less likely to do so.”

This is from C-suite executives.

Link?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/aliciapark/2026/04/08/how-forbes-selected-the-new-ivies-for-2026-our-third-annual-list/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just talking with DH about our D’s decision to ED to a SLAC rather than apply to DH’s alma mater ivy and other T10’s, which she was competitive for but didn’t feel drawn to. My take was, “Cool that she had the self-possession to look beyond prestige and make a choice based on other things she values.” His take, while fully supporting our D’s choice, was that the lifetime of doors that spring open once you have that ivy on your resume is a perk that’s well worth a less-than-ideal undergrad experience. He didn’t love his four years of undergrad, but says he would do it again in a heartbeat knowing the advantages his choice has since conferred. Hard to sell this viewpoint to a teenager though, so we’re now team LAC all the way.

I'm assuming that it is a top SLAC. If so, she'll be just fine as they open any door that an Ivy opens.

NP which LACs can truly open any door a top Ivy can?

Any of the top NESCACs, top C5s, along with Swarthmore.

What is C5s?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
From recent Forbes article when having interviewed hiring executives

“That Ivy League-wariness persists, with 37% of respondents this year saying they are less likely to hire Ivy League grads than they were five years ago, and only 6% saying they’re more likely to do so. Those numbers are reversed for public universities, with 42% saying they’re more likely to hire these grads and just 6% less likely to do so.”

This is from C-suite executives.

This article has zero to do with SLACs and I would imagine the people responding to this Forbes survey (who are nearly all middle management at F500 companies) would probably respond with a confused look if you asked them to now rank SLACs. It’s about the “New Ivy” schools 10 private and 10 public, like CMU or University of Wisconsin.

The responses weren’t actually from the C-suite. Not sure how you came to that conclusion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just talking with DH about our D’s decision to ED to a SLAC rather than apply to DH’s alma mater ivy and other T10’s, which she was competitive for but didn’t feel drawn to. My take was, “Cool that she had the self-possession to look beyond prestige and make a choice based on other things she values.” His take, while fully supporting our D’s choice, was that the lifetime of doors that spring open once you have that ivy on your resume is a perk that’s well worth a less-than-ideal undergrad experience. He didn’t love his four years of undergrad, but says he would do it again in a heartbeat knowing the advantages his choice has since conferred. Hard to sell this viewpoint to a teenager though, so we’re now team LAC all the way.

I'm assuming that it is a top SLAC. If so, she'll be just fine as they open any door that an Ivy opens.

NP which LACs can truly open any door a top Ivy can?

Any of the top NESCACs, top C5s, along with Swarthmore.

What is C5s?

Top Claremonts. Harvey Mudd and CMC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
From recent Forbes article when having interviewed hiring executives

“That Ivy League-wariness persists, with 37% of respondents this year saying they are less likely to hire Ivy League grads than they were five years ago, and only 6% saying they’re more likely to do so. Those numbers are reversed for public universities, with 42% saying they’re more likely to hire these grads and just 6% less likely to do so.”

This is from C-suite executives.

And that’s debunked with their article last month that said due to poor job market they are mainly hiring from the Ivies/T15

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
From recent Forbes article when having interviewed hiring executives

“That Ivy League-wariness persists, with 37% of respondents this year saying they are less likely to hire Ivy League grads than they were five years ago, and only 6% saying they’re more likely to do so. Those numbers are reversed for public universities, with 42% saying they’re more likely to hire these grads and just 6% less likely to do so.”

This is from C-suite executives.

And that’s debunked with their article last month that said due to poor job market they are mainly hiring from the Ivies/T15

c'mon. Are you sayin the Forbes reporters and authors of that article made it up? wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
From recent Forbes article when having interviewed hiring executives

“That Ivy League-wariness persists, with 37% of respondents this year saying they are less likely to hire Ivy League grads than they were five years ago, and only 6% saying they’re more likely to do so. Those numbers are reversed for public universities, with 42% saying they’re more likely to hire these grads and just 6% less likely to do so.”

This is from C-suite executives.

And that’s debunked with their article last month that said due to poor job market they are mainly hiring from the Ivies/T15

https://www.jraeducationalconsulting.com/blog/ilbanwadumbrt8ckaym8bzpw2hnkx0