As high school students begin the college research process, many are immediately focused on the Ivy League schools as possible choices. While these schools can offer quality education, students and families may overlook other colleges based on their exclusion from the Ivy League category.
Defining the Ivy League
The first use of the term “Ivy League” was by a sports reporter in 1935 to describe the group of colleges that shared the same college sport's conference. These colleges include Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, and Yale.
Defining College Selectivity
The term selectivity within college admission refers to the total number of students applying to a college divided by the number of students actually admitted. If this percentage is 33 or lower, then the college is considered selective. Highly selective colleges are schools whose percentage is vastly lower.
Ivy League Colleges and Selectivity
The following are the Ivy League Colleges and the percent of students accepted based on total applications received (Naviance, 2009):
- Brown: 13% (20633 applications received, 2828 students accepted)
- Columbia: 10% (21343 applications received, 2255 students accepted)
- Cornell: 20% (33073 applications received, 6834 students accepted)
- Dartmouth: 15% (14176 applications received, 2166 students accepted)
- Harvard: 7% (27380 applications received, 2095 students accepted)
- University of Pennsylvania: 16% (22935 applications received, 3883 students accepted)
- Princeton: 9% (21370 applications received, 2122 students accepted)
- Yale: 9% (19323 applications received, 1911 students accepted)
These colleges take only the best students from around the country in terms of academics, leadership, character, and promise. Students accepted must demonstrate high academic accomplishments including participating in Advancement Placement classes, International Baccalaureate programs and even previous college participation during high school.
Finding Quality Colleges
Ivy League Colleges are not the only schools that offer quality education. Many colleges and universities from around the country provide a venue for mastery learning. The University of Pennsylvania is ranked number one by U.S. News and World Report for business programs; however, the next nine colleges on the list are not part of the Ivy League. These schools include, in order:
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
- University of California Berkeley
- University of Michigan Ann Arbor
- New York University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- University of Texas Austin
- University of Virginia
- University of Southern California
A wealth of other colleges with outstanding business programs can also be found in resources like Rugg’s Recommendations on the Colleges, Peterson's College Guides, and Fiske’s Guide.
While Ivy League schools can provide a great education, families need to look beyond these schools as possible choices for their students. Many stellar colleges offer a quality education, educational environments, internship placements, and job placement services. The key to college selection is to research all the possibilities. While plenty of internet and printed resources are available, families should also consider speaking to high school counselors, visiting the colleges, and speaking with independent college consultants to find a variety of colleges to meet the family’s needs.
