Best overall Ivy?

I don’t like poison ivy. You should avoid it.

Princeton alum here. Pure was self serious, overly hard for no reason and socially pretentious and dull. My friends didn't have a great time at Harvard or Yale or Penn either. Dartmouth or Cornell, frat culture with nothing to do but drink beer on the weekends. Brown is the best of the bunch, but running there is a joke. No, you'll be much happier if you tell the Ivies to bug off and go D3. Go out west to CMS or Pomona or something like that, get a tan and enjoy yourself and you'll run just as fast too.

I went to Cornell, but wish I got into Dartmouth lol. Dartmouth has a cool uniform, in my opinion. Brown definitely has the worst team though.

Why has nobody mentioned top d3? They could also be good choices - Chicago, Hopkins, MIT…

I'm aware they're great. But I'm asking for comparison of the Ivies, not for suggestions of other schools that have good programs that I should look into.

This.

She asks very specific question and as usual most responses go off on a tangent.

Are you just dead set on the Ivys for the “prestige” factor? There are D3 schools academically ranked above the Ivys that are showing interest in you (as well as being athletically competitive with them). This seems like a troll post to try to bash a certain Ivy League program

Why does the reason matter to you. Just answer her question...or don't.

Notre Dame is certainly comparable to the bottom half of the ivies from an academic perspective. Huge endowment, small classes, strong student support, fabulous alumni network and comparable outcomes. Its the most famous Catholic university in the world. Athletically, however, it is at a different level than any ivy, recruiting truly elite high school stars, not top 150 recruits.

Her criteria were - good social life, “where people are the happiest,” and overall vibes. Real objective measures. No major listed? Desired career post graduation?

What if UChicago had the best vibes of all? I wouldn’t want her to miss out on that opportunity.

The Ivies are just where I've gotten really engaged in recruiting. I've narrowed it down and this is where I've landed. So yes, I've ruled out D3s, sorry. It's far along in the process and I don't want to nor do I have the ability to just add schools to my list.

Sure, whatever you say. A high schooler looking for opinions on Ivy programs and the schools in general because it's a big decision is a troll post. 100%.

"Where fun goes to die". I know what I want and that's not it. I also have other specific reasons why I didn't like UChicago. I'm asking about the Ivies. I'm not asking about the Ivies AND THEN ALSO other schools I also want to be compared.

Folks, she did make her question and her criteria very clear. Just stick to those, if you're going to comment.

How is Princeton, New Jersey going to be more fun than Cambridge/Boston?

For what it's worth, Dartmouth is the only one where I know someone personally who was on the team, and she loved it overall in terms of friends, academics, running program. Liked the location once you're there, but very hard to get to. Social scene is solid if you're okay with things being fratty, but not a ton else if not. Feels more like a liberal arts college than the others (except maybe Brown) which may or may not be a plus for you. Obviously if you're looking for a more urban setting, it would be the lowest on your list.

Brown is probably the odd one out here if you're looking for something easy to eliminate since it has the worst team and is the least fratty or preppy.

I have heard similar things about Penn having toxic / ED women's team culture but we're talking 3rd or 4th hand so I don't think you should make the decision on that basis unless you're about to tour there or something and confirm.

Realizing I may have sounded dismissive of the toxic / ED culture stuff but obviously that is a huge deal and totally worth avoiding the school if everyone on the team hates life... Just pointing out that one instagram story may or may not be reflective of an entire XC program

I don't get why lots of people assume you have to be city or city adjacent to have fun. You don’t. Certain people thrive in cities. Others don’t. Don’t project your preferences as fact. I also find it so silly that there is “nothing to do if you are not in a city.” How about hang out with your friends, study, run, music, etc. There is only so much time in a semester. You are not going out in a city every night if you are training and taking advantage of an Ivy League education.

When was looking at schools (including Ivy's and ended up at one) I focused on academics that were focused more on undergrad and not a total pre professional vibe. That struck Penn off my list from the get go for me personally. I didn't love the Brown academic set up (I like a little more structure) so I took it off the list pretty early in the process. Also I care about training environment so that put Dartmouth and Princeton high on my list and dropped Yale down the list for me (such as busing to track). Then it came down to the vibe from others on the team/ if the students seemed like genuinely happy people and if the coach seemed like there was a plan and vision and cared. I also looked at placement and network for my major.

Well, if you want to run fast, then go to Princeton, but it's an intense grind there, athletically, academically and socially. If you want an amazing all around college experience, but not one focused on athletics, though you can continue to train and race, then go to Brown. If I could choose again, I'd go to Brown over Princeton, but my arrogance wouldn't let me at the time.