Admission into the top American universities can be a daunting task. American universities can be described in four categories.
Ivy League universities are often mistaken as the only institutions with high standards of education. These schools are indeed among the oldest and have high standards of education however; Ivy League stands for the athletic conference of sports teams of 8 schools in the Northeastern United States. This group of universities includes;
Universities like Georgia Tech, George Town, George Washington, John Hopkins, MIT, Stanford University, University of Maryland, University of California Berkeley, Irvine, LA, San Diego campuses, Cal State and many others fall in the same category as the Ivy League universities.
Stated requirement for an Ivy League school admission is 3.5 GPA but it is important to keep in mind that many students with a 4.0 (perfect GPA) are still not admitted due to a fierce competition for admissions on the bases of extracurricular activities, communications, interview skills and sufficient financial resources of affording the tuition fees from US$40,000 up to US$97,000 per academic year.
Top tier universities by no means are any lesser in educational standards than the Ivy League. They have produced international leaders and scientists as much as the Ivy League has; some of the best known institutions are;
West Virginia, United States of America
http://www.muwww-new.marshall.eduColorado, United States of America
http://www.rmcad.eduGunnison, Colorado, United States of America
http://www.western.edu