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Just what are the Ivy League schools of the UK?

Hmmm, it is difficult to say what are the best, and also rankings change every year so it's prob not the best idea to base the 'ivy league' on them.
I think:
Cambridge
Oxford
UCL
Durham
Warwick
Edinburgh
Bristol
Nottingham
I haven't included Imperal or LSE because they're specialist universities and I thought an Ivy League should be made up of universities that offered all the major degrees.
(Don't get angry IC/LSE people, it's not like it means your college is bad, they're not)
Also it's in no particular order as it's a league not a ranking.
Paddy

Reply 21

MMA

10

Oxford
Cambridge
Imperial
LSE
UCL
Warwick
Bristol
York
If expanding the group: Nottingham, Edinburgh, St. Andrews and Durham.

Reply 22

Student2000

(I can't narrow it down to eight)
Oxbridge
LSE
Imperial
UCL
Bristol
York
Warwick
Nottingham
Edinburgh
Durham

Reply 23

Sian01

12

Wrangler

We have to remember though, that the ivy league is a collection of only 8 from the 2500 (approx) Universities in the US. So our equivalent list could only really contain 1 or possibly 2 Universities. But seeing as lists of 1 or 2 are pretty boring, I'll go with (in no particular order):

Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
Imperial
Durham

:smile:

Hmmm I would say that UCL, York, Warwick or Bristol deserve that last place more than Durham.

Reply 24

Wrangler

2

Sian01

Hmmm I would say that UCL, York, Warwick or Bristol deserve that last place more than Durham.

The 5th entry is pretty tough, as I mentioned. Perhaps UCL should be there instead, or possibly Warwick. Anyway, it's all a much-of-a-muchness.

:smile:

Reply 25

Sian01

12

Wrangler

Anyway, it's all a much-of-a-muchness.

:smile:

Exactly...they're all at the same kind of level, and exact positioning doesn't really matter at all in the end!

Reply 26

andyjim123

I think its too dificult too do a top 8, because after Oxbridge and London, everywhere is quite similar. So here's 10...

Cambridge
Oxford
LSE
UCL
Imperial
Warwick
York
Bristol
Nottingham
Durham

Reply 27

Drogue

19

Remember the Ivy League is *not* the best 8 universities in the USA, it's a collection of universities in the same geographical region who've bandied together to form an athletics league. For example, Stanford, UC Berkeley and CalTech aren't part of the Ivy League, but are at least as good as some of them. Even in the same region, MIT isn't admitted, due to it's non-exceptional prowess at sports, despite being the hardest college in the US to get into (and with an exceptional academic record).

If you wanted to do something like the Ivy League - take the best known region for universities, pick the universities that are richest, have the longest tradition, have their own sports leagues and do exceptionally well academically, you'd have to say Oxbridge and UoL - the Golden Triangle. However Imperial, like MIT, lacks the sporting ability, and LSE doesn't offer a full range of subjects (unlike the Ivies), and so you'd have to discount those, leaving you with Oxford, Cambridge and UCL as the three universities that make up something most like an Ivy League.

But really, the term is almost non-sensical. The colleges in the US, like the UK, are pretty much in tiers, though as with any tiered system, the boundaries are variable, and the 'bottom' in each group is probably similar standard to the top in the next group.

My take for US:
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, CalTech

Stanford, UC Berkeley, Columbia, Cornell, Chicago, UPenn

Brown, Dartmouth, and a host of other really good schools

etc.

My take for the UK:
Cambridge, Oxford, Imperial

LSE, UCL, Warwick

Durham, York, Nottingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, KCL, etc.

Remember such lists for the UK really don't matter, as it all depends on subject, whereas for the US, you can decide/change your major later, and take a range of courses, so the overall level of the university is far more important.

Reply 28

KerriT

9

I totally agree with the last poster about how you cannot find a comparable Ivy League in the UK because universities work too differently etc.

However, the "Ivy League" in terms of national reputation in my opinion is (no particular order, sort of):

Cambridge
Oxford
Durham
Imperial
LSE
York
UCL
Warwick
St Andrews
Bristol
KCL
Edinburgh
Nottingham

I know it's not 8!

International reputation from that list:

Oxford
Cambridge
LSE
Imperial
St Andrews
UCL
KCL
Edinburgh
Bristol
York
Durham
Warwick
Nottingham

This comes from having had lots of foreign students staying in my home and they all know London, Oxford and Cambridge and sometimes the others. I have also spoken to North Americans and Europeans and this is based on the opinions of students of all ages.

Reply 29

Angel Interceptor

11

I completely agree with Drogue, but Kerrit, you can hardly put St Andrews as having a better international reputation than UCL or Warwick. The only reason St Andrews is famous is because Prince fricking William went there.

Reply 30

LH

15

St Andrews has an unusually strong reputation in the US. An American I know (a graduate of Duke and Harvard, so I think he knows his stuff) knew all about St Andrews.

Reply 31

Angel Interceptor

11

LH

St Andrews has an unusually strong reputation in the US. An American I know (a graduate of Duke and Harvard, so I think he knows his stuff) knew all about St Andrews.

Wow, that's one person. But does he know about it because of the actual reputation of the place or because it's famous because Prince William went there? I'd suspect the latter.

Reply 32

LH

15

No need for the patronising tone.

He knew about it well before Wills went there - he has friends who went there and it's generally pretty well known in the US. There are quite a few American grads and undergrads at St Andrews. I don't know why it's got the reputation it has in the US - perhaps good marketing? But according to wikipedia, 15% of the students at St Andrews are American and three signatories of the Decleration of Independance went there.

Reply 33

Apricot Fairy

16

If 15% of the students there are American, that might explain why I don't know or even know of anybody who ever applied there. :biggrin:

Reply 34

Angel Interceptor

11

LH

No need for the patronising tone.

He knew about it well before Wills went there - he has friends who went there and it's generally pretty well known in the US. There are quite a few American grads and undergrads at St Andrews. I don't know why it's got the reputation it has in the US - perhaps good marketing? But according to wikipedia, 15% of the students at St Andrews are American and three signatories of the Decleration of Independance went there.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be patronising really, I was just in a bit of a bad mood (the bathroom above mine is leaking!). I apologise.

I was just saying that there is a difference between being well known, ie. famous, and being known for having a reputation for excellence, that's all. Anyhows, there's no conclusive way to prove this either way, so I'll drop it - I just thought that Warwick and UCL would be better known, especially for the sciences/medicine.

PS. Love the avatar! :wink:

Reply 35

Beekeeper

13

Ivy league unis are a bit overrated tbh, about 25 UK unis are above Dartmouth, for example...

Theres plenty of outstanding UK universities, and the likes of Manchester, St Andrews and Sheffield easily challenge Ivy league counterparts like Dartmouth.

Knock off the bottom five or ten in the Russel Group, and add in the likes of Durham and you've got the British Ivy league.