Of the iviest, the "easiest" to get into are Cornell and Penn, which have recently tend to have acceptance around 12 or 13%. Still not easy to get into, but comparatively easier. I imagine part of it is the relatively large size of these schools. Penn is a little harder than Cornell.

The next tier would be Brown, Columbia, and Dartmouth. These tend to hover around 10%. I think these are all comparatively hard to get into, although in recent years Columbia has been a little harder, possibly because it's cool to live in New York (the past few years it has been ~7%). I don't get all this Brown bashing...it has an open curriculum, so I think it attracts more "artsy" types than the other schools (although there is still plenty of prep...just way less than Dartmouth), but it is still really difficult to get into.

The hardest ivies to get into are obviously Harvard, Yale, and Princeton which have acceptance rates that tend to hover around 5%.

Duke isn't an ivy, although it is a very good, very competitive school. It also is pretty preppy.

Anonymous wrote:
I think the trick to Columbia is do well at another school and then transfer in.

Columbia's transfer aceptance rate is less than 10%, not a whole lot better than the overall acceptance rate: http://undergrad.admissions.columbia.edu/ask/faq/topic/393

Columbia does have some formal partnerships with schools like Fordham and Occidental, where you can transfer in after a few years. I don't know what percent of applicants they take, though.

The ED rate at Columbia is a lot higher - something like 20%.

Lowest admit rates: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate

Columbia - 7.4%
Brown - 9.6%
Dartmouth 9.8%
Duke - 13.4%
Cornell - 16.6%

By definition, none of the colleges on that list fit the definition of "easy to get into." Cornell may be the easiest of the Ivies, but at 16.6% it's not an "easy" admit. The bottom of this list of "top 100 lowest acceptance rates" are Scripps and William and Mary, both at around 32% admit rates.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OF the Ivies, Cornell by far

Brown?

Dartmouth and Columbia?

Is Duke an Ivy? That too.

Dartmouth and Columbia have admit rates below 10%. Duke's not much higher. I'm afraid 10% admit rates don't qualify as "easy" to get into.

I think the trick to Columbia is do well at another school and then transfer in.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OF the Ivies, Cornell by far

Brown?

Dartmouth and Columbia?

Is Duke an Ivy? That too.

Dartmouth and Columbia have admit rates below 10%. Duke's not much higher. I'm afraid 10% admit rates don't qualify as "easy" to get into.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OF the Ivies, Cornell by far

Brown?

Dartmouth and Columbia?

Is Duke an Ivy? That too.

Anonymous wrote:OF the Ivies, Cornell by far

Brown?

Anonymous wrote:A well-known strategy is to attend an all-women's college (which ARE much easier to get into nowadays compared to the Ivies and little Ivies; let's be real) and then parlay that into going to a top grad/law school.

Plus you get a great education and the campuses are beautiful. I wish I had done this!

I went to Smith for undergrad and went on to MIT for my PhD. I highly recommend this route.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The all-women's school listed by the PP are not easy to get into!

Not easy, but easier than similarly ranked coed schools (I'm not the pp, but I went to one of those women's colleges).

+1. My 7th DD has already declared that my alma mater (one of those women's colleges mentioned) will be her safety school.

You have 7 DDs? How do you afford college?

Sooo.... she's the 7th Sister applying to a Seven Sisters college - hee hee.

OF the Ivies, Cornell by far

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Michigan is hard to get into, especially oos. It's also a hot school right now with kids from this area, which makes it even tougher.

No, not so much. It's for above average students but not top students. Solidly second tier.

Actually, I've seen some very strong students from our kids' high school go on to Michigan in recent years. In some cases, these were students interested in engineering, a real strength at Michigan, but others were students who didn't get into the very top schools and who figured it wasn't worth it to pay top dollar for the second-tier schools -- e.g., W&L, Emory -- that have been mentioned on this forum.

Anonymous wrote:Michigan is hard to get into, especially oos. It's also a hot school right now with kids from this area, which makes it even tougher.

No, not so much. It's for above average students but not top students. Solidly second tier.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The all-women's school listed by the PP are not easy to get into!

Not easy, but easier than similarly ranked coed schools (I'm not the pp, but I went to one of those women's colleges).

Me, too. Yes it is true. Great education but without a doubt easier to get into.

cmu and emory.

Washington and Lee?