Ivy League

[out_there]

Last minute thought: Could some helpful Americans explain the concept of Ivy league colleges?

I'm curious about it, but actually don't have a lot of information. I get that they're the most expensive/impressive schools to attend, but that's a really broad/vague description. So...

-Which colleges are they?
-Why are they 'Ivy league' (where did the term come from)?
-What are the advantages/disadvantages of them?
-What's the cost?

Comments

[batdina.livejournal.com]

Random helpful American here.

The Ivy League is the name for a group of schools most of which were chartered so long ago we were probably still a colony back then. They also are all in the same sports conference in the NCAA. They are, in no particular order: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Brown, Cornell, Princeton, and Dartmouth.

They are very elite, and incredibly expensive. They also have what's known as a legacy program, whereby children of people who attended the respective schools are allowed to attend also, often even if they aren't qualified. This would explain our current White House resident's diploma from Yale University.

I have heard that the term "Ivy" comes from the foliage on the buildings, but having been on a number of Ivy League campuses in my time, I suspect it's just a name, rather like "Big Ten" is a name, or "Pac Ten". I'm happy to be corrected on this, however.

Oh, and lest accusations fly later (which I doubt, but just in case), I am a University of Pennsylvania faculty brat, meaning my father taught there while I was growing up, and I was eligible for a faculty scholarship which entitled me to free tuition to whatever Ivy League School to which I gained admission, but I attended The University of California at Berkeley instead.

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Ooooh! Thanks! That totally helped. *g*

They also are all in the same sports conference in the NCAA.

NCAA? (Yes, I write Sports Night and have no idea of what the initails mean. I assume it's some kind of college sporting association...?)

They are, in no particular order: Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Pennsylvania, Brown, Cornell, Princeton, and Dartmouth.

Huh. I thought there were fourteen. No, I have no idea why.

Out of curiousity, you wouldn't know where abouts each of those colleges are? (Sorry, I'm being lazy. I could look up website after website and track down the individual addresses... *g*) If you don't know, don't worry.

Oh, and lest accusations fly later (which I doubt, but just in case), I am a University of Pennsylvania faculty brat, meaning my father taught there while I was growing up, and I was eligible for a faculty scholarship which entitled me to free tuition to whatever Ivy League School to which I gained admission, but I attended The University of California at Berkeley instead.

Hmmmm... you just sparked fic ideas. So, as long as you were academically eligible to attend, you could apply for the scholarship... Could I ask how long your father would need to teach at an Ivy League college for that scholarship to apply?

I'm sorry to be pushy (and just say if I'm being rude) but how much would a tuition scholarship cover? How much would full costs be?

I ask, because I'm Australian and really have no clue. I mean, my university business degree will probably end up costing me about AUS$15000 all up, and some medical degrees can cost around AUS$20-30,000 in total, but apparently that's incredibly cheap compared to US costs of tertiary study.

It's not that I want to be American, but sometimes it would make fic writing *so* much easier. *g*

[sangerin.livejournal.com]

They're all East Coast schools, for a start.

Harvard is in Cambridge which is next-door (well, across the river from) Boston, Massachusetts.

Yale is in New Haven, Connecticut.

Columbia may well be in New York City: it at Cornell are both, I'm pretty sure, in New York State.

Pennsylvania - well, state of Pennsylvania, clearly *g*. Not sure where, though. Unlike the standard trend in Australia, the big Universities don't tend to be in the big cities, but are off in their own little University towns. Or at least not in the state capitals, (Capitols? That may just be the building...), which are rarely the largest city in the state anyway.

Will stop rambling.

Can't help with the others off the top of my head. And why do I, a Melburnian, know these things, I hear you ask? Well, I'm American/Australian. Dad (the Aussie in the family) went to Grad school at Yale, and I therefore, naturally, think it is the best of the Ivy League schools. :-P

[mecurtin.livejournal.com]

Columbia=New York City
Cornell=Ithaca, NY (nowheresville)
Penn=Philadelphia
Dartmouth=Hanover, New Hampshire (nowheresville)
Princeton=Princeton, New Jersey
Brown=Providence, Rhode Island

So you see actually most of the Ivies are in cities. I thought Casey went to Dartmouth, am I right? Dartmouth is isolated, very cold & snowy in the winter, and known as a hard-drinking and sports-loving school compared to the other Ivies.

The term "Ivy League" IIRC only arose in the late 19th C, as a name for the sports league these colleges formed, the first intercollegiate sports organization I believe.

At Princeton most of the older buildings do in fact have a lot of ivy, and each graduating class plants a ritual ivy seedling.

[laylee.livejournal.com]

Dan went to Dartmouth but there's no canon as to where Casey went to college.

[ahab99.livejournal.com]

NCAA = Nat'l Collegiate Athletic Association

And just a clarification about the legacy program: it does help children of alums, but it's not a definite yes in all cases. It's just something that gets taken into consideration when people apply, just like athletic talent, incredible scores, where you're from, or whatever. Different schools weigh it differently, but it is a factor. Also, all colleges in the States consider this; it's not an Ivy League exclusive. It's just that people tend to notice it more with the Ivies because they're considered such good schools (and hence you're left wondering why someone like George W. Bush could get in at all...).

[batdina.livejournal.com]

Okay. Looks like others answered everything except the one part I know tons about, which is what faculty made possible for their children. Cool.

If I recall correctly, as long as my father had tenure at Penn, I was entitled to a tuition waiver at any of the so-called "Ivies". When I was college aged, that meant any of the eight and/or their "girl school" counterparts. So that might be why you thought there were 14 schools. The women's college counterparts were Barnard (Columbia), Radcliffe (Harvard) (someone else will have to help me here; I can't remember the seven sisters!). Anyway, as long as he was tenured and continuing to work at Penn, I could attend any of them tuition free. That was worth a ton of money. Upwards of 20,000 dollars US depending on where I went.

Anyway, I suspect what they expected was that I could go to Penn and live at home in Philly, so my personal needs would continue to be met by my parents. Additionally, I suspect that had my father left Penn while I was still in undergraduate school, I would probably have continued to be eligible for the scholarship as long as I was a student in good standing.

Another note about legacy kids: most private schools, which the Ivies are, have a legacy program. Most public schools such as Berkeley or Ohio State do not have such a program. West of the Mississippi in the US, most of the big sports colleges are public schools. East of the Mississippi, there are an almost equal number of public and private schools with big sports programs. Not sure you need that information since I know nothing about Sports Night, but there you go anyway.

Seven Sisters

[soapdemon.livejournal.com]

Bryn Mawr (whoop whoop!)
Mount Holyoke
Barnard (deeply involved with Columbia)
Smith
Radcliffe (married Harvard)
Vassar (Went co-ed)
Wellesley
WAY back in the day, each of the seven sisters had an Ivy to go with it.

[phoebesmum.livejournal.com]

This may be a Vile Calumny, but even if it is it's funny. (Well, I think so.)

According to something I read once, 'Ivy' started out as 'IV' - four what, I do not know - but people kept pronouncing it the way they saw it, and in the end, 'Ivy' stuck.

I don't think that can be true, 'cos they were very hot on the classics in those days - look at all those Greek-lettered fraternity thingums (and that's a thing I don't understand at all, too). Still. It amused me.

[ahab99.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's true. People always think it's because of the ivy on the buildings, but it's not. As I understand it, the first four schools (Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia) were the original members of the league, and hence the "IV" was used to designate the league.

[out-there.livejournal.com]

Hee! How interesting. (Much like the medical students humorus/funny bone link.)