Anonymous wrote:Penn and Cornell. But Duke, Northwstern and Michigan should be on the list.

Agree with this as a graduate of both big 10 and an Ivy. Good luck with the search OP - your comments make sense.

Isn’t this the reason Sasha Obama turned down Yale and went to Michigan? She wanted that Big 10 vibe and experience.

Sorry everyone is so hard on you OP. It’s fine to explore things that are different. I think go into the experience expecting it to be different. My daughter grew up on SEC football and when I took her to my Alma mater and the Harvard-Yale game she thought it was hilarious. But she liked the school anyway. Sports aside, Dartmouth and Princeton have the most school spirit.

Yale alum here but grew up in an OG Big 10 city. I was raised to believe that everything about ivies was better and would make my life better, too. I was so disappointed by my historic but dark and dirty dorm, the relatively small size of campus, and how low key sporting events were save for hockey games. The tradition of the Game is special but I was expecting Ohio State-Michigan and it seemed so tiny and sad in comparison. The friends I made from my alma mater are priceless but the competition for opportunity there was so intense that I wonder if I would have had even more post-grad opportunities elsewhere.

If your DD is looking for Big 10 atmosphere, steer her towards actual Big 10. There are smart kids and amazing programs at all kinds of colleges and I spent way too long hoping that the school of my dreams would be what I had actually imagined vs. what it really was.

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Anonymous wrote:Just let her go to the school she wants! You sound awful and Ivy obsessed.

Oh lord, please don't tell me that if your child were qualified for an Ivy you wouldn't explore them applying. We are a proud Big Ten family, hence why I said I understand her interest in those. I think the top ones provide the best of everything! I know very little about any of the Ivy schools and I thought this would be a place to get some useful input on subjective criteria.

Northwestern is just as good as most of the Ivies. If my kid was “qualified for an Ivy” and wanted a Big 10 experience, we’d tour and see if she wanted to apply ED.

Anonymous wrote:Penn? I mean that’s a bit of a stretch though, none of them really. Why not look at honors colleges in big 10 or northwestern

Northwestern is Big 10.

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Anonymous wrote:Just let her go to the school she wants! You sound awful and Ivy obsessed.

Oh lord, please don't tell me that if your child were qualified for an Ivy you wouldn't explore them applying. We are a proud Big Ten family, hence why I said I understand her interest in those. I think the top ones provide the best of everything! I know very little about any of the Ivy schools and I thought this would be a place to get some useful input on subjective criteria.

Actually my oldest definitely had Ivy stats and toured Penn, Columbia and Princeton and none of them made his list - in the end he got into Northwestern, Georgetown and full BK at UMD. He decided to take the scholarship. Go Big Ten!

Thanks. She hasn't toured any of the Ivies yet and she isn't sure which one she is interested in touring.

Well, someone who yearns for Michigan isn't going to find that atmosphere at Yale.

If she has a realistic chance at T20's, I'd look at Stanford, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, USC, Northwestern, Duke, Michigan, Berkeley and UCLA.

You are not going to find that atmosphere at any Ivy. None. Not Harvard at the Beanpot. Not Cornell for anything. Not Dartmouth football.

Of course Stanford, Northwestern, and Vanderbilt are likely to lose. But the Big 10 and the SEC are a vibe. And having hopes crushed is a useful life lesson.

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Anonymous wrote:One of my kids was accepted to Ivies but went to Michigan. Had the experience of a national football championship during their time there (ie this past year) and wouldn't trade the combination of academics and school spirit for anything.

There is nothing quite like the atmosphere of Big Ten sports! I wouldn't have traded it for anything either.

Cornell grad here, with a good friend who went to Michigan. If someone finds the big 10 attractive, a school like Cornell or any other ivy will be a very poor substitute.

My friend and I have had similar careers. An ivy school is no guarantee of some amazing financial success.

If you ignore football, Cornell and Michigan have a lot in common. Cornell's early academics were influenced by a key U of M prof. Both were early to admit women and minorities while most Ivies evaded admitting them. Cornell's state-funded contract colleges (only part of the university) and diverse student body made it a less elitist place back when the Ivies were still WASP male bastions. This is the source of much of the sniping at Cornell that still rudely goes on today. But I think their history as larger, more politically liberal institutions makes Cornell and Michigan intellectually similar. They are also both located in well-regarded college towns.

The Cornell vibe is more of a grind. It has always been a tough school for intellectual challenge and grades (my grandparents liked to tell stories). Michigan is more of a suitable school for all-around good kids who like to kick back a little. It's more rare to hear Michigan grads tell stories about doing terrible on tests after studying hard.

I understand from sketchy data that Cornell loses quite a few accepted students to Michigan. And I know Michigan benchmarks Cornell as a competitor. So I actually see the similarities. To me, if you want to be employed post-grad in New York or New England, I'd pick Cornell. DMV, maybe Cornell...because Ivy. Anywhere else would be a tossup.

From what I hear and read, if Greek life is of interest, both Michigan and Cornell have that experience to a similar degree/nature.

Good luck to your DC in choosing a school.

Just came to say NU, USC and ND.

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Anonymous wrote:My DD is interested in a college with a big school atmosphere, like Big Ten colleges. I get that and am not dissuading her from this. She has the qualitative qualifications for an Ivy and we want to explore a few for her to apply to as well. One of the many considerations will be the school atmosphere. I understand they have different atmospheres than Big Ten schools, but which one do you think is the closest to the Big Ten atmosphere?

If they really are "ivy" qualifications then you have to aim for the only two T10s with big sports(but neither are big 10 big): Northwestern or Duke. The nerd factor and intensity is still there. They have the competitive huge % who are go-go -go all the time in their classes as well as their clubs, just like ivy kids, but they also have sports that are closer to Big 10 than any ivy.

Duke basketball, sure, but not the rest of their sports. Nothing is like Big10/SEC for a football game day experience.

Anonymous wrote:My DD is interested in a college with a big school atmosphere, like Big Ten colleges. I get that and am not dissuading her from this. She has the qualitative qualifications for an Ivy and we want to explore a few for her to apply to as well. One of the many considerations will be the school atmosphere. I understand they have different atmospheres than Big Ten schools, but which one do you think is the closest to the Big Ten atmosphere?

If they really are "ivy" qualifications then you have to aim for the only two T10s with big sports(but neither are big 10 big): Northwestern or Duke. The nerd factor and intensity is still there. They have the competitive huge % who are go-go -go all the time in their classes as well as their clubs, just like ivy kids, but they also have sports that are closer to Big 10 than any ivy.

I went to an Ivy and DC is at a big 10. There is seriously NO comparison.

Anonymous wrote:Seriously? None.

NONE.

Mom you’re a bit silly

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Anonymous wrote:One of my kids was accepted to Ivies but went to Michigan. Had the experience of a national football championship during their time there (ie this past year) and wouldn't trade the combination of academics and school spirit for anything.

There is nothing quite like the atmosphere of Big Ten sports! I wouldn't have traded it for anything either.

Cornell grad here, with a good friend who went to Michigan. If someone finds the big 10 attractive, a school like Cornell or any other ivy will be a very poor substitute.

My friend and I have had similar careers. An ivy school is no guarantee of some amazing financial success.