What Is the Ivy League? The Eight Schools and What It Takes to Get In

Many students have the desire and goal of attending a world-class college. Many times these students and parents think of the Ivy League, which is made up of some of the most prestigious and selective universities in the world. Ambitious students from many different backgrounds are admitted to Ivy League colleges each year, although admission is never guaranteed.

There are eight colleges that form the Ivy League: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Brown, and Cornell. Each of these colleges are ultra selective and offer incredible opportunities and education to their students. Most of these colleges are also among the oldest in the country: Harvard, founded in 1636, was the first college in the American colonies, while Cornell was founded in 1865.

So what really is the Ivy League? Technically, the Ivy League is an NCAA Division I athletic conference whose official founding date is 1954, although it has certainly come to symbolize much more. Ivy League schools do not offer athletic or academic scholarships; financial aid, including for athletes, is based only on financial need. Students that get accepted into these institutions of higher learning each have something that makes them stand out: a "spike." As discussed in the other articles and in our guides, a spike is a student's specialization or clear passion that they devote most of their extracurricular time on. A spike is one of the most effective ways to stand out in such a competitive applicant pool, although there is no single formula for admission.

A spike matters because acceptance rates are extremely low. For example, Harvard admitted 2,003 of 47,893 applicants (about 4%) to its Class of 2029. Rates change every year, so check each college's admissions website or Common Data Set for current figures. With so many highly qualified applicants, a clear passion or spike can help an application stand out. These admissions statistics should not scare anyone or stop them from applying but should convey the importance of a spike.