This obsession with absolute rank is getting ridiculous.
Each one of the Ancient Eight has strengths and weaknesses. The question you should ask is, Which one is right for you?
If a big-city setting matters to you, you have three choices: Columbia, Harvard and Penn. If a bucolic setting is more your speed, try Dartmouth. Cornell and Princeton offer distinct takes on the college town; Yale would too if it weren't in New Haven. Providence, home to Brown, offers a happy medium between the small college town and the big city.
At Columbia, they do Great Books. At Harvard, they don't. At Brown, many students design their own majors.
Pre-professional types have historically preferred Penn. Princeton is probably the preppiest of the Ivies.
If you want an Ivy education and a chance to get your hands dirty at the same time, there's only one choice: Cornell, the only land grant school in the Ivy League.
At all of them you will encounter some of the most brilliant minds you will ever meet. These are your classmates.
Which of these do I think you should attend? Why, Harvard, of course. But rather than seeking the "best" Ivy, pick the one that best suits you.
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Sandy Smith, Ivy alum (Harvard '80) and former employee (University Communications at Penn)