What's the REAL difference between an Ivy and any other decent private university

[Anonymous]

Let's say Joe goes to Harvard and John goes to Bucknell. I know Harvard is way higher in the rankings, has a higher endowment, and a much lower acceptance rate but what's the REAL difference in the education Joe and John are getting? What makes Harvard or any other Ivy objectively better than any other decent private university?( besides its ranking, and all the other hype)

[Anonymous]

It has been a while but my BFF went to Dartmouth and I went to Bates. She had a far greater exposure to influential people but I had the much better academic experience ( mutually agreed).

[Anonymous]

One word - access.

Strength of OCI/OCR & networks as well as quality of peers is what separates the good from the great.

[Anonymous]

Options. If you go to an Ivy planning to major in one thing and after your first year you realize you actually want to major in another thing, the another thing department is probably really strong too. And you can major in anything without it closing career doors the way it would at most other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Options. If you go to an Ivy planning to major in one thing and after your first year you realize you actually want to major in another thing, the another thing department is probably really strong too. And you can major in anything without it closing career doors the way it would at most other schools.

Agree. This has been my experience. My wife's peer group and opportunities were much greater from her Ivy than her sister from a excellent, but lesser known top school. However, does not prevent equal levels of success. Just one has to work harder than the other.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I think it depends on the Ivy. Princeton, Yale, or Harvard will probably give you more connections because of a tradition of obscenely wealthy and connected legacies, but it's not at all clear to me that you would have a better experience or more impressive classmates at Cornell than you would at, say, Williams.

At a certain point, it's all kind of a wash. Each of the top schools has many times more qualified candidates than they can admit, so those not lucky enough to be chosen end up at another SLAC.

The exception is if you want to make your career working in Asia. In that case, it's Harvard or nothing.

[Anonymous]

I didn't care about connections, but had a great intellectual experience at Harvard. Professors, resources (libraries, museums, bookstores), and environment were all really important to me, in terms of quantity, quality, variety, and intensity. But, honestly, that's not what most undergrads want from college.

No way in hell could I have found what I was looking for at Williams. OTOH, I doubt I'd have found it at every other Ivy -- and I know I could have found it at other excellent research universities, including a few public flagships.

[Anonymous]

Connections.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I didn't care about connections, but had a great intellectual experience at Harvard. Professors, resources (libraries, museums, bookstores), and environment were all really important to me, in terms of quantity, quality, variety, and intensity. But, honestly, that's not what most undergrads want from college.

No way in hell could I have found what I was looking for at Williams. OTOH, I doubt I'd have found it at every other Ivy -- and I know I could have found it at other excellent research universities, including a few public flagships.

Which ones?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Connections.

Will someone please explain these "connections". Are there really employers where everyone went to the same school and they only hire people from that school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Connections.

Will someone please explain these "connections". Are there really employers where everyone went to the same school and they only hire people from that school?

Not necessarily. But having an Ivy League name on your resume helps. I graduated from Penn almost 20 years ago and people still comment on it when they see my resume – and it's not Harvard. For what it's worth these are usually people who did NOT attend Ivys. I don't believe the quality of the education was that much better than a non-Ivy school, but certain people are impressed by names.

I don't think the alumni community is any stronger than any other university. People often give a resume a second look if they went to the same school as you did regardless of what that school is. Certain schools will be more strongly represented in certain areas of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Connections.

And job and college placement. Any top twenty university and top 5 slack will probably be roughly equal once you get beyond HYPD butmtheremismambig drop off thereafter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't care about connections, but had a great intellectual experience at Harvard. Professors, resources (libraries, museums, bookstores), and environment were all really important to me, in terms of quantity, quality, variety, and intensity. But, honestly, that's not what most undergrads want from college.

No way in hell could I have found what I was looking for at Williams. OTOH, I doubt I'd have found it at every other Ivy -- and I know I could have found it at other excellent research universities, including a few public flagships.

Which ones?

Certainly Berkeley, Madison, and Ann Arbor. Others depend on field -- for STEM, I'd also look at UCSD and University of Washington -- Seattle. Don't know UCLA and UT Austin well enough to have an opinion re where strengths and weaknesses are.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I didn't care about connections, but had a great intellectual experience at Harvard. Professors, resources (libraries, museums, bookstores), and environment were all really important to me, in terms of quantity, quality, variety, and intensity. But, honestly, that's not what most undergrads want from college.

No way in hell could I have found what I was looking for at Williams. OTOH, I doubt I'd have found it at every other Ivy -- and I know I could have found it at other excellent research universities, including a few public flagships.

Which ones?

Certainly Berkeley, Madison, and Ann Arbor. Others depend on field -- for STEM, I'd also look at UCSD and University of Washington -- Seattle. Don't know UCLA and UT Austin well enough to have an opinion re where strengths and weaknesses are.

Thank you. And to clarify, these schools had the intellectual environment or the research opportunities? Or both?

Also, what were your experiences with research at Harvard as an undergrad?

[Anonymous]

connections, resources, name recognition, and in-house support systems...