What is the difference in difficulty level between an ivy league university and a public State university?
480848
First off, I went to Harvard.\nSecond off, I want to respond to the first asnwer on here, who talks about how the "Ivy leage was founded upon traditions of excellend, yada yada yada"\n\nlet me make this clear:\nTHE IVY LEAGUE IS NOTHING MORE THAN AN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE\nThat's all it is.\n"Ivy Leage" does not really mean anything about academics.\n\nIt just happens that all the Ivy League schools are very good.\nBut they are not equal.\nHarvard, Yale, and Princeton are consistently among the top 5 Unversities in the country.\nColumbia, Brown, Princeton, and UPenn are usually in the top 20 or so.\nCornell is not considered as strong.\nThere are several private universities which are better than some of the Ivies, and several State schools which are better than some of the Ivies.\n\nI don't mean to be obtuse about this, but I think the "Ivy League" has kind of a false reputation. People need to realize that all it really means is that those 8 schools compete against each other in sports, and that together, they are not the pinnacle of higher education. People should look at individual schools.\n\nNow, to actually answer your question about workload.\nI didn't actually feel that the workload at Harvard was that particularly difficult. And having spoken to my friends at several othe universities, including big state schools, I really don't think Harvard is any more difficult than they are.\nIn fact, I think some state schools are probably HARDER than Harvard. That's because at Harvard its VERY hard to flunk out. Pretty much the lowest possible grade you can get is a C. No one at Harvard gets Ds or Fs. Why is this? Is it because Harvard students are just naturally smart? Maybe... But many Harvard students, once they reach Harvard, develop bad study habits...just like students anywhere else. Many of them turn in sub-par work. A bad Harvard essay that gets a C could easily get a D or an F at a state school. That's because harvard wants to keep its retention rates and graduation rates high, and because most people are paying lots of money to be there.\nState schools dont care if they flunk people out, because their mission is to education the young people of the state, and there are always lots more who would be happy to take the place of those who flunk out.\n\nThat said, there's a lot of variability. Arizona State is probably easier than Berkeley. \n\nBut professors are professors, and no matter where they teach, they generally expect high quality work of students, or else they hand out poor grades.\n\nSo, in conclusion:\nI think the difference in difficulty between Ivies and state schools is neglible.\n\nRemember, too, that there is a huge range in difficulty between different departments within the same university.\nScience and engineering tends to be harder in grading than humanities. Thats a fact, whether you're talking about Harvard OR Arizona State.
371409
Most, if not all, Ivy league schools only offer need-based financial aid, meaning the poorer you are, the more you get.  The best thing is that it has no effect on your application whether or not you apply for financial aid.  I know UPenn offers almost a full ride if your family income is below a certain level.  If you're looking for sources outside colleges, it's really competitive.  Not a lot of outside sources offer full scholarships but rather small awards.  College is an investment, especially going to an Ive League one.  Even if you don't get any scholarships, it's still worth going.
294095
My brother goes to Western Governors University. www.wgu.edu  it is accredited and accepts financial aid. He really likes it. The IVY League colleges are stuck up and they want the world to think that their level of education is better than other colleges. That way they can charge an outrageous amount of money.
474873
Berkeley without a doubt is harder. University of Phoenix - if you're talking about the one on every other block - isn't a real university and - if there is a University Phoenix in Arizona - its not very reputable.
123396
Junior Colleges are the easiest.  Then probably the private schools (Chapman, USC).....they just cost an arm and a leg.  Then State Colleges....much cheaper but not as easy to get into.  Then there's the UC system and Stanford.....impossible to get into.
777938
it is a different system.  And for reasons I can't explain and don't fully understand, the UC system has a better reputation than the CalStates and are more difficult to be admitted to.  I must admit I don't understand the significance of the admission policy as I'm sure you can flunk out of a CalState just as quickly as a UC.  I only lived in California a year, but that was enough to know if you get into a UC that is "better" place for you to go than the others. In reality?  They are probably both pretty much the same.  (That so many people argue that this college or that one is "better" than all others makes me think they are ALL pretty much the same.)   But if you deal in reality when dealing with colleges, you've lost.  College is 90% image and 10% reality.  Those who don't realize the importance of this truth... save a ton of money. ;)
545554
Those that have easier majors, or are undeclared tend to have higher gpa's their first year. There can't be a real percent because all colleges are different, in terms of difficulty.
743069
Except for the occasional star who makes the NFL, the Ivy League schools do not produce great players.  If you are a starting player on your high school team, you probably have a shot of making an Ivy team.  You will have to work hard to stay on the team.  They do take themselves seriously, meaning practices all afternoon and staying in shape throughout the off-season.  Because Ivy League schools do not offer football scholarships, you will still have to figure out how to pay for school  You will also have to continue to make your grades in all your classes.  The attitudes of professors at Brown or Dartmouth toward football players is likely to be significantly less sympathetic than those of the professors at Arkansas, Ohio State or even USC.   While Tom Brady played for Michigan, the guy who owns the Patriots, Robert Kraft, played for Columbia.
885030
apply as undecided if you dont know what you want to do. Rutgers is a "Public Ivy" school if you dont have the grades you wont get in anyhow.
559129
Frankly, you will get out of your education whatever you put into it. Private and state schools provide excellent programs taught by highly qualified professors. Remember, YOU choose the classes you take as well as the professors who teach those classes. In state schools, which are usually larger, the number of courses and professors who teach them is greater providing you with good options.\n\nI got my BS from a private college, my MA from a state school, and my Ph.D from a private school. The biggest difference I could discern was the cost. State schools are much more affordable. You can and will get a good education there if you choose.\n\nGood luck.
239975
I would say that "welcomingness" is more a product of size than selectivity.  At a small liberal arts college you'll have more individual contact with your professors that at an ivy league school or similar university, but you'd have even less at a big state school.  I go to a small liberal arts school, and I can tell you that I've only been there a semester and a half and I think at least eleven professors know my name (my mom says she graduated from a state school without a single prof knowing her name) and in the big required freshman intro class that everyone takes after every paper we turn in we meet one-on-one with our prof to discuss the paper.  From what I've heard, I think that at bigger schools (ivies and similar) you can certainly get to know your professors if you try, but you have to go out of your way to make that happen.  \n\nAnother thing to think about is emphasis on teaching vs. research.  My school is very focused on teaching, and pretty much all our profs like to teach and want to get to know us.  And we don't have a graduate school, so we're not competing with grad students for our professors' time (the grad students tend to win).  There certainly is plenty of research and such that goes on, but I haven't encountered any profs who are more concerned about their research than their classes.
451584
The larger public universities are normally going to have the weakest requirements. Depending on how low, you just may be out of the running. It depends on your grades too though. Maybe consider a 2 year school instead of a 4 year to start and then transfer to a 4 year to finish.
827238
The ACT is not "easier" because scores are still distributed and evaluated based on percentiles (usually adjusted yearly) -- the only way it could be "easier" is if less talented people took it but it was still given equal weight with the SAT. Since this obviously isn't the case you should take both and if you bomb one, submit only your score for the test you do well on. The tests -are- different and some do better on one than the other. So take the ACT and see how you do.
912039
A university is much bigger with more students and it's usually divided into separate colleges within; while a college is much smaller with fewer students and there are no more divisions within. Hope it helps!
711998
No, not even, necessarily the top ones. \nThe Ivy League is actually an athletic conference, consisting of:\nBrown University\nColumbia University\nCornell University\nDartmouth College\nHarvard University\nPrinceton University\nUniversity of Pennsylvania\nYale University\nThere are lots and lots of other private colleges and universities, of different qualities, that are not in the Ivy League.
190795
It depends on what school you want to go for. Harvard will want a higher GPA than a smaller school.
824815
There are actually a ton of differences in the two... The first one you will notice is the size of the school... Most of the time private colleges are much smaller than state schools.  This allows the private school to offer smaller teacher to student ratios and boast that there is more 1 on 1 attention for their students (which is true) On the flip side, the larger school can offer a wider variety of classes (even if they are taught by Grad Students rather than true professors).  Socially there are advantages to both larger schools give you more of a stereo-typical college atmosphere.  Smaller schools offer a closer community feel... more like high school.\n\nThe next thing you may notice is the price-tag.  All colleges and unversities are getting more and more expensive... the difference is that private colleges where more to start with.  It would not be uncommon to pay $20,000 or more per year.  At state schools it can be half that much.  This for a variety of reasons... State schools make money through reseach grants and by publishing and other avenues such as hospitals and through some athletic programs... Private schools rely more heavily on tuition and donor dollars.\n\nThere are tons more differences.. typically private schools have a more competitive admissions policy than public schools do... Private schools offer more financial aide etc... but the best way to make your decision is to visit campus and spend time around the students and see where you fit in the best.