The Ivy League is a series of 8 universities in the United States that are in the same conference in the NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association), and is generally a term used when these universities are grouped together. These schools are often associated with academic excellence, selectivity in issions, and social elitism due to them being seen as some of the world’s best universities.

In 2016, all of these universities were in the top 15 in the world according to the U.S. News & World Report, including all of the top 4 and 5 of the top 9. This, of course, makes it so that thousands of people from all around the world have goals of going to these universities.

Brown University

Brown University is a Private research university in Providence, Rhode Island, and is the seventh oldest institution of higher education in the United States (founded in 1764). It was the first Ivy League college to have an engineering program and the first college in the Ivy League to not make religion a factor in enrolment. It currently has 731 full time staff and had 9,073 students in Fall 2015.

Columbia University

Officially “Columbia University in the City of New York”, Columbia University is a college in New York City. It has 27,942 students and another 1,928 students not getting degrees, meaning it has a total of 29,870 students. It also has 3,806 full time academic staff. It was the first American university to grant the M.D. degree, and was founded all the way back in 1754 as King’s College.

Cornell University

Cornell University was founded in 1865, with the aim to make contribution in all fields of knowledge. Despite this being considered unconventional at the time, the school’s motto is still "I would found an institution where any person can find instruction in any study", which is a quote from the person the University is named after. 14 living billionaires have went to the school, and it had 21,904 students in fall 2015. It is located in Ithaca, New York.

Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College is the smallest Ivy League School by amount of students, with 6,350 enrolled in Fall 2015. It’s known for its Greek Culture and enduring customs, and it was founded all the way back in 1769. It currently has 57 majors and follows a liberal art curriculum. It currently has 164+ people in the U.S. senate and house of representatives, had 10 living billionaires attend the school and is located in Hanover, New Hampshire.

Harvard University

Harvard University was established in 1636 and is the oldest institution of higher education in the United States. located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it has the largest endowment out of any academic institution in the world, with it being valued at $37.6 billion in 2015. So far, it has had 8 U.S. presidents, several heads of states in other countries and 662 living billionaires.

University of Pennsylvania

The university of Pennsylvania, also known as Penn and UPenn, was founded in 1740 by Benjamin Franklin, one of the founding fathers of the United States. It has a very high budget for research, with it being $851 million. In its history, it has had 12 heads of state, several founders of technology companies and 25 billionaires who went there as undergraduates, the most of any university. It has 24,876 students and is located in Philadelphia.

Princeton University

Princeton University is a university located in Princeton, New Jersey. It was founded in 1746 as the College of New Jersey, it moved to its current site in 1756 and changed its name to the one it has currently in 1896. With 8,088 students and an endowment of $22.723 billion in 2015, it has the largest endowment per student out of any school in the United States. It has the most Abel Prize winners and Fields Medalists out of any school.

Yale University

Yale University is a university in New Haven, Conneticut. Founded in 1701, it is currently the third oldest higher education centre in the United States and the first to offer a PhD. Yale has 12,312 students and 4,410 academic staff. 13 US presidents have attended the school.