Type: Private
State: New Jersey
Website: www.princeton.edu

Princeton seeks to achieve the highest levels of distinction in the discovery and transmission of knowledge and understanding.

Quick Overview:
Students are happy, great facilities, the campus feels safe




The word from: the Students

Princeton is well known for its history, high academic profile and their excellent financial aid policies. Studying here will be quite an experience and its network will change lives. Its undergrad focus gives students tremendous resources, they not only have the access to classes but also to a scholarly community. The school can fund students' own researches and that is very gratifying, this can be done because it has one of the nation's largest endowments. Princeton helps students with almost everything from studying abroad to working abroad as well as class trips. Its rigorous admission process brings some of the top young minds in America to one place and so the school has high expectations making you work hard and thus succeed.
Professors are very down-to-earth and love to interact with students, talk about ideas and goals but they have to be sought at.
The school's administration is very cooperative and does an excellent job in incorporating students opinions in various decisions they make.

At Princeton there's a very present logic among students, work hard, play hard. Academic discipline is very present but everyday there are so many interesting events going, either by students or the university that everyone is kept very busy going from one to another and studying in between. There is of course plenty of time on weekends for fun, sometimes though, sacrificing studying or sleeping. It has a small beautiful campus and so everyone lives close to each other. There is never a dull moment with lots of concerts, sporting events, performances and movies to attend.


Everyone has a nerd side in them at Princeton and some are even hyper ambitious who spend all their time studying. It's a friendly environment and people always ready to have fun. Students come from all over, different ethnicities, beliefs, passions and priorities but all very focused on their future careers. Most come from different backgrounds and have different pursuits in life. The small campus makes it so that everyone seems interconnected and at the same time it's size is enough to keep meeting new people.

Type: Private
State: Pennsylvania
Website: www.upenn.edu


Quick Overview:
Great infrastructures, library and athletic facilities, good food off-campus, satisfied students.


The word from: the Students

At UPenn, everyone shares the same intellectual curiosity and the top-notch resources offered. It's strong academic reputation and large alumni network are enough reasons to be proud of the school. Students are very passionate about what they do in and out of class and take all the opportunities given at UPenn. Its four undergrad schools are very focused on the future of their students, for instance Wharton has a great professional atmosphere. Students are kept motivated and competitive in their studies during the week. This career centered attitude is well noted among students, with more space for creativity than to step on each other.

Professors can get caught in their own research and leaving classes a bit behind, but there are not many places where you can be taught by people that are references in their fields of knowledge. If you put time and effort into it professors will gladly aid in whatever they can. They can be however quite challenging academically. The administration is very professional and helpful, really concerned about their students.
In short UPenn offers academic opportunities like no where else.


Partying at UPenn can be the most intense out of all ivy league universities or colleges. There is a clear effort not to have classes on Friday so that the weekend starts earlier. When it comes to mid terms and finals though, people get into it seriously and study. Besides the entertainment offered by New York and Philadelphia on the weekends, there's also plenty of restaurants, shopping, concerts and sports games, as well as just hanging with fellow students to play console games. The school makes it so that there are always plenty guest speakers, cultural events, clubs and organizations for students to keep themselves busy and so
people are always trying to balance school work during the week and all the activity during weekends.

The general population of UPenn is very career-focused, takes classes pretty seriously, politically tends to be left and the majority is of type A personality. The sense of personal style is very strong among students and no group deviates much from the typical stereotypes.

Type: Private
State: Massachusetts
Website: www.harvard.edu

Harvard is known for global leadership in education, and the Harvard faculty is composed of men and women who are world-class scholars.

Quick Overview:
Great library, labs and computer facilities, diverse students on campus, student activism and publications are very common.




The word from: the Students

Harvard is a beautiful, historic college. Those who attend Harvard, find a dynamic universe which can either inspire and intimidate, later to find a enormous amount of opportunities to be taken advantage of. It can be very hard academically but it has a very good support structure to help freshmen with extensive advising programs. Those who do not participate in the schools life and go after what they want in consequence, don't gain access to the university's vast resources available.
The great concentration of highly intelligent and working people tends to generate a dormant competitiveness, even in clubs and partying, but it's a good thing as it keeps students highly motivated to work and study and exceed themselves. As in any college, some professors stand out more than others.
Overall though, they do an excellent job teaching and it's an incredible experience, the level of achievement is fantastic.
The administration is can be out of touch with students, most of the times, and resilient to changes but they do their job well and have the students' interests first of anything.

Students have a firm idea of what their study habits are when they come to Harvard. studying is part of the campus vibrant life and the surrounding community. The cities of Cambridge and Boston offer so many things to do, from watching a play to concerts, parties, movies or dine out, there's so much variety of what can be done for entertainment. There's also a pub on campus, an excellent place to hang and meet people.
Drinking is present on weekends at parties and Harvard's finals clubs but never a social must do. School-sponsored events include panels and movie screenings and there are also tremendous amounts of student organizations. Simply put, there is no boredom at Harvard, there's so many opportunities and so many passionate people here to do them with, for example, during freshman year the school organizes a lot of holiday/special events for people to get to know each other and conversations are always meaningful either debating a topic or interest.

A typical student can be defined by a common interest, the need and want to achieve. In general people here work a lot, don't sleep much and participate in a ton of extra curricular activities. They think highly of one another and everyone is great for one thing or another. All very down-to-earth, a lot of well-rounded people that aren't geniuses but still very good in most things. Diversity in campus is maintained thanks to the policy of admitting the best of the best, a lot of tolerance and acceptance for every kind of religion, race and social-economic background.

Type: Private
State: Connecticut
Website: http://www.yale.edu/

Yale is a university with honored traditions. In the diversity of its students, its global outlook, and its outstanding research, it is also a university of compelling change.

Quick Overview:
Great library and student made publications are a popular thing around campus


The word from: the Students

Amazing academics and extensive resources, that's how Yale can be summarized if we'd want to be simplistic. With a phenomenal in and out-of-class education and a very committed to learning student body, people attending Yale get a very good treatment when it comes to academics. There's a great focus on under graduates' education. Professors are required to teach at least one undergrad course per year and the residential college system implemented makes it even better, having administrative attention widely available and highly specialized. There's a huge amount of resources to aid students, including a set of libraries with millions of books that can be used by the students.

It has a challenging academic life, but aside from mid terms and finals it's actually pretty laid back. Undergrads benefit from from over 300 groups and activities to have fun, like dancing, singing, juggling and theater. There are always shows on campus from the various groups too. Parties and social gatherings are a common thing in and out of campus, as well as trips to New York and Boston. Many of the political active students participate in organizations in order for them to try and make the difference they want. In campus, there are always parties to attend in frats or rooms and even though it may seem like there's pressure to drink but in fact there is none of it.

Type: Private
State: Illinois
Website: www.uchicago.edu


Quick Overview:
Large classes, good facilities, computer labs and library. the city is great.

The word from: the Students

Dedication could be one of the words used to describe the general feel about the University of Chicago. With the best economics department in the country and one of the best libraries in the world, students have motives to be proud of their school. It's general consensus that it offers an amazing academic experience, the level of commitment is often felt through a sort of school spirit not from the sports teams but from the academic involvement. It may seem hard on undergrads with it's core program, which teaches them how to think differently in philosophy, literature and sciences. In the end they become very good and balanced thinkers with a whole new perspective on a lot of subjects, it is a tough core program but the results are palpable. Professors at UofC are incredible in their fields, very talented individuals and the great majority is very helpful and reliable but of course even with so much intelligence there are bound to be ones that aren't very good at teaching. The administration tries its best to make everyone involved in the school's academic life and often brings speakers to campus, let's student groups organize all sorts of events and cultural initiatives.

It's a hard working life at UofC, fast paced and with lots of work to be done. Much of the time is spent studying but even if people complain they love it, or else they wouldn't have chosen UC for their education. But even with all the hard work students know how to have fun, there are a lot of activities, movie sessions, concerts, plays, group discussions with interesting classmates, just talking about any thing they can come up with. There are still frat parties, although to a lesser degree compared to many other schools. Chicago's downtown is very accessible, full of resources, places to have an internship and going out at night too.

Students at UofC are very intense, involved with the world and its issues as well as opinionated in all sorts of subjects. There's no real stereotype, everyone has some kind of quirk about them. If it it had to be generalized the typical student is a nerdy, social awkward person, very concerned with academics and hard worker. But that's just a generalization there are all sorts of people at campus, very, very different from each other. Students are happy to be studying here and most even look down on other schools in particular the Ivy Leaguers.

Type: Private
State: New York
Website: www.cornell.edu

the most educationally diverse member of the Ivy League

Quick Overview:
Good computer facilities, great library, campus food is nice, frats and sororities are popular.




The word from: the Students

Cornell University is a large diverse university with a wide array of majors from where to choose from. All its programs are well planned and resources will never be amiss. Standing out in numerous fields with their majors it is still possible to design our very own. Opportunities in Cornell are plenty. It's not easy studying at Cornell, it's an university meant for people with a strong sense of what they want, courses are quite intense from the very start. It's said to be the easiest from the Ivy Leaguers to get into but the hardest to get out of.
easiest to get into in the Ivy league but hardest to get out of.
Helping students on their work and academic path is something that is done a lot at Cornell, offering resources so that everyone gets a very deserving grade for their effort. Professors are very helpful and will gladly support whoever needs them and have great availability. Administration wise the university does a great job to keep it running without problems and make themselves easy to reach. Job finding is easy thanks to the effort put into building a good alumni network and the career services office.

The remote location of the campus provides opportunity to practice a lot of out door activities, the great majority involving nature so there's everything for everyone. Downside of it is that urban diversion is very limited. Students however get around that problem by staying on campus and work on their academics. During the weekend at least, people can forget school work and have fun going to bars in collegetown and house parties, attend concerts, activities and other initiatives all in campus led by students. Many of them participate in sports teams and activities inside the grounds. But some times not even all these activities can avoid the boredom of the lack of a big city around.

The diversity present at Cornell is not only ethnic or racial but rather because of the existence of so many courses there's bound to exist personality and interests that greatly vary, every day a huge variety of people sit down for lunch at the same place. Being half private and half public makes it so that the economic background differs from person to person.