What is so great about being an Ivy league graduate versus a non Ivy league graduate?

The "Ivy League" schools would probably try to convince you that the superiority of their instructors and environment justify the cost. There is no doubt that they have outstanding faculty and facilities, but as far as practical skills, that is not what those schools are preparing people for - more like being corporate executives, academics, lawyers, or maybe even just the idle rich. How are the children of the richest 2% of the US supposed to meet each other, network, and maybe even fall in love? The answer - inside those ivy covered walls. These schools are about being part of a "club" of money and power. Even asking this question shows that they are not for you!

That depends on who you ask.. If you ask a snobby(for no darned reason) individual, they will say Ivy League has class and results in much more intelligent people.. I say crap to that and the more intelligent people come from the University of Nebraska.. University of Iowa, etc etc etc

I really don't think that there is anything better about it except the name. I would imagine that in the ivy league schools you would get a better education. However, just like in grade school, there are some really great teachers and there are some really bad ones. It's the same thing in college. I attend a local university and with some of my teachers I learn SO much, with others, I could teach the class myself and learn more. But employers tend to look more at what degree you hold rather than what school you went to. So like I said, you're really paying for the name.

Ivy League is a football league. So, it means your school had a good football team. There are many other schools out there with great programs that don't have high ranked football teams - you should consider those as well. I can survive on being smart - most scientists and academics do. But then, we went to grad school.

You know , I have asked that same question after graduating from and Ivy league school and have just paid off my student loan. I was paying on it for 14 years!

The most important thing about graduating from an Ivy League University is the connections you can foster and make during your tenure either in undergraduate or graduate school. Having attended a top Non-Ivy League university for my undergraduate studies and attending an Ivy League University for my MBA, I had first hand experience on the differences both types of schools foster. I would have to say that based purely on difficulty that both institutions came about equal. Meaning that if education was just purely about what you retained, learned, and gathered both institution were on par. Which I would assume was the case since based on US News ranking both schools were in the top 15 both for their Undergraduate and Graduate Programs respectively. However, education in my humble opinion is not just about "book smarts." Achieving and maintain success in the real world is not just about smarts, as you so eloquently stated earlier in your question. Education and success are heavily linked to who you know, rather then simply what you know. That postulate being stated, this is where the Ivy League "Education" comes into play. It has nothing to do with the level of rigor or difficulty of your studies but more so to do with the connections you will make over the next 4 years if you are in undergraduate or the next 2-3 years for graduate students.

With all the people saying the students and the facilities are generally better at Ivy League schools, i would have to disagree. I go to Johns Hopkins, not and ivy league school, but excellent nonetheless. I have many friends who go to ivy league schools including Penn, Cornell and Brown. Further, I have visited many Iv league schools among other great schools throughout the country. My friends tell me that at their schools, Penn, Cornell etc, the students are not very academically driven and often don't care. Perhaps this is because of the major grade inflation at the ivy league schools. Further, of all the schools i visited, Johns Hopkins and University of Chicago had the nicest facilities, and I visited 7 of the 8 ivy league schools. The students here are very driven and competitive and go on to great graduate schools and jobs, at a higher rate than most Ivy League schools. Johns Hopkins places 100% of pre-law students into law school and 95% of premed students into medical school. And many of them go to top 15 graduate schools.

Ivy League students, for the most part, are among the smartest in the nation if not the world. Such students learn how to think and solve problems. Their broad liberal arts educations let them see the big picture. That is why major companies send their recruiters to those schools to hire people to put on the fast track to top level positions. Of course, many Ivy League students also go on for professional training in law or medicine, which gives them additional credentials. Another thing, many important executives want their children to go to the best schools, so if you are an Ivy League student, it is likely that you will run into the children of senators, ambassadors, company presidents. Sometimes you get to meet their parents who may form a good impression of you and give you a job. This is part of networking.

First -- you are wrong that the Ivy League has no career specific majors. The Wharton School at The University of Pennsylvania is the top rated undergraduate business school in the world. Most of the Ivies have top engineering programs. On the graduate level, all of the Ivy League universities except Princeton and Brown have highly rated business schools, most have highly rated engineering, law and medical schools. You can't get more career specific than that. I believe that you can get as good an education at a good state school as you can at an Ivy League school. However, it is also possible to skate through a State School -- while it is hard to do that at the Ivies. Therefore, employers like graduates of Ivy League schools -- because they know what they are getting.