Time to End the Ivy League Hype

I am literally begging families to please stop focusing exclusively on Ivy League colleges.

Everywhere I look, it’s Ivy this and Ivy that. Even other SAT and college admission services like ours, they advertise themselves as, “We get this percent of our students into Ivies,” or they even put “Ivy” in their name.

But understand, the Ivy League is an athletic conference, and we’re not going to choose a college based on what athletic conference it’s in. We’re not going to choose a school because, “I really want to go to a Big Ten school” or “an SEC school.” That’s not a reason to choose a college.

And if you’re looking at school rankings…I mean, sure, U.S. News puts all eight Ivies in their top 20 national universities list, but you know what else is on their top 20 national universities list? Twelve other colleges in places like California, and Chicago, and Washington, D.C., and Indiana, and Missouri. There are other colleges out there.

And when you look at that national universities list, they’re including graduate studies in what makes a school a great university, which does not mean that’s the experience you’ll have there as an undergraduate student pursuing your first bachelor’s degree.

So please, expand your horizons. There are all these colleges considered “Public Ivies.” There are schools considered “Little Ivies.” There are schools considered “Hidden Ivies” although, today we have the internet and nothing’s really hidden. But these are phenomenal schools that are out there as well.

And hey, did you notice that on U.S. News, right below their list of top national universities, is “Top Liberal Arts Universities”? And a lot of people turn their nose. “Liberal arts? We don’t want liberal arts.” Well, you know, all five service academies (that’s West Point, Annapolis, Air Force, Merchant Marine, and Coast Guard) they’re all liberal arts colleges. And that’s not what most people think about when they think “liberal arts colleges.”

My point being, there may be some great colleges on that list, or other lists, that are right for you. Because understand that picking the best college for you is a means to an end.

The whole point is not to be able to tell your friends that you, or maybe your kids, got into some famous college. The point is to get the education you’re looking for, get the opportunities that you’re excited about to deliver you to the next steps in your life, whether that’s a career or graduate studies. These are the things that make a college the right fit for you. A place where you’re going to be happy living for four years.

So please, stop singularly focusing on the eight colleges in the athletic conference called the Ivy League. Expand your horizons, learn more about other colleges, and if you have questions, reach out to us at 732-556-8220.