Studying in the United States offers a very diverse and exciting range of more than 4,500 institutions to choose from. It can be a very tough task to make a decision about a University. You, as a student, should research for information on the internet, write to the various institutions, speak to the alumni who have passed out from these Universities and consider the following, before choosing the right place to study.
You will come across terms like Ivy League Universities and Local Colleges during your research for Universities in USA. You would need to understand the difference between the two and the implications for each. Here we try and understand what they mean.
Ivy is a creeper that grows on the stone walls of buildings. Planting the Ivy was a class ceremony for many Universities in the 1800s. Ivy League is an athletic conference made up of sports teams from eight private institutions of higher education in Northeastern United States. These eight Universities are Brown University, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, Princeton University, The University of Pennsylvania, Yale University and Dartmouth College. This term became official after the NCAA Division athletic conference in 1954. This phrase is no longer limited to athletics and is now used to refer to the oldest schools in the country that were started in the US Colonial period, before the American Revolution. The exception here is Cornell University which was started in 1865 but is still considered an Ivy League University.
Ivy League schools are the most prestigious and the thebest Universities USAand in the world. They also have connotations of academic excellence, social elitism and being selective in admissions. According to the U. S. News and World Report college and University rankings, all the above eight institutions have been ranked among the top four and six of the top ten in the world. They receive millions of dollars in research grants and other subsidies from federal and state government.
Undergraduate enrollments in these schools range from 4,000 to 14,000, which are much larger than admissions to a private liberal arts college or a public State University.
Admissions to the Ivy League Schools or the Ivies as they are referred to is extremely competitive and is reserved for the top ranking students in the world. Though they are a brand name, they might not suit your needs and field of studies. There are other equally good local USA Universities or collegeslike public, private or state based that you might want to consider.
