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Is Stanford an Ivy League School?

    A good number of people have at least heard of the Ivy League, but not everyone knows which institutions belong to the Ivy league group. Hence the question is Stanford an Ivy League  school?

    This article will answer this question and more as we review which schools belong to the world-renowned Ivy League and which institutions are most often mistaken for Ivy League schools. In addition, we’ll also discuss what being in the Ivy League means for these institutions and how these compare with institutions that are not part of the Ivy League per national rankings and selectivity.

    Well the truth is, Stanford is not in the Ivy League. But this doesn’t imply that Stanford, Duke, and MIT and other top ranking schools are not prestigious schools; rather, what it means is that they’re not part of the Ivy League.

    The Ivy League (also known as the Ivies) is a collection of eight private institutions located in the northeast region of the US. Its member schools are as follows:

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    Brown University

    Columbia University

    Cornell University

    Dartmouth College

    Harvard University

    Princeton University

    University of Pennsylvania

    Yale University

    The Ivy League was formed as an athletic conference in the early 1950s. Over the decades, the phrase is now associated with educational prestige, selectivity, and excellence because of the reputation of its member schools. Simply put,the term “Ivy League” is just a name for this type of schools—that’s all!

    While universities such as Stanford, Duke, and MIT are super prestigious schools with top national rankings and low selectivity rates compared to a number of Ivy League institutions, they are not Ivy League schools for the fact that they are not members of the Ivy League group of schools. But, this hasn’t stopped people from thinking that they’re Ivy League schools because of a number of similarities. 

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    List of Schools that are Often Mistaken for Ivy League Schools

    Stanford, Duke, and MIT are not the only schools often thought to belong to the Ivy League. Institutions that are usually mistaken for those in the Ivy League group of schools are the ones that belong to the following categories:

    Highly ranked and extremely selective. Ivies are almost always ranked in the top 15 nationally, with acceptance rates below 15%. Interestingly, universities that are wrongly confused for Ivy League schools are usually those with similar rankings and acceptance rates—although a number of them aren’t based in the northeast where the Ivy League is located.

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    Located in or near the northeast. All Ivy League schools are in the northeast, please note that not all universities in the northeast are Ivies! World class or coveted schools in Massachusetts, New York, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and other nearby states are usually mistakenly thought to belong to the Ivy League.

    Although the Ivy League is generally associated with prestige and high rankings, this doesn’t mean non-Ivy league schools aren’t as great as or even much better than Ivies. Non-Ivy league, such as Stanford and the University of Chicago, rank higher than Ivy League schools and have similar (or even lower!) acceptance rates.

    Simply put, the term Ivy League is a general name for a group of schools that have strong rankings and relatively low acceptance rates. When it comes down to it, any top-tier school—Ivy or otherwise—is a fantastic choice for college education!

    How Can you Get into an Ivy League?

    Making it into an Ivy League is no easy feat. You’ll need to have fantastic standardized test scores, a near-perfect GPA, and amazing recommendations from your teachers.  Additionally, you’ll have to display personal qualities such as leadership, initiative, and commitment through your extracurricular activities.

    Thus, there is no set formula for getting into a League school. If you’re keen on learning more about Ivy League admission process, don’t miss our next post. 

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