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Ivy League Schools Trivia Quiz

You will NOT be asked which universities are in this elite group, because I will tell you that they are Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth, and the University of Pennsylvania

A multiple-choice quiz by jbuck919. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
jbuck919

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
170,273

Updated
Jan 23 25

# Qns
15

Difficulty
Difficult

Avg Score
8 / 15

Plays
1621

Last 3 plays: Guest 18 (1/15), stephedm (15/15), Guest 74 (5/15).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 15

1. What is the basis for the Ivy League? Hint

It consists of the only eight US universities in existence when it was formed.

It is a traditional association of elite schools with no official standing.

It is a league based on a mutual relationship involving athletics.

It was chartered as such by the Department of the Interior in 1882.

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Question 2 of 15

2. Everyone knows that Harvard is the oldest school in the league. Which one comes next? Hint

Princeton

Yale

Columbia

University of Pennsylvania

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Question 3 of 15

3. College football got its start in a game between Princeton and which rival school? Hint

Columbia

Yale

Rutgers

Harvard

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Question 4 of 15

4. Only one Ivy League school is, in part, a branch of a state university. Which one? Hint

Brown

Dartmouth

Cornell

University of Pennsylvania

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Question 5 of 15

5. Only one Ivy League school is its state's land grant school. Which one? Hint

Princeton

Cornell

Brown

Dartmouth

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Question 6 of 15

6. More than one Ivy League school has changed its name. Which one was originally known as King's College? Hint

Columbia

Harvard

Princeton

Yale

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Question 7 of 15

7. Why are students at Yale sometimes called Elis? Hint

Eli Whitney of cotton gin fame was an important alumnus.

After founder Elihu Yale.

Elias Howe, inventor of the sewing machine, endowed the university.

The original building is on Eli Avenue in New Haven.

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Question 8 of 15

8. Which Ivy League school has provided the fewest US presidents? (Traditionally, a university only gets credit if an alumnus/alumna was an undergraduate). Hint

Princeton

Harvard

Yale

Columbia

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Question 9 of 15

9. Which school is paired with its traditional female counterpart? Hint

Columbia and Barnard

Princeton and Sarah Lawrence

Harvard and Wellesley

Cornell and Vassar

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Question 10 of 15

10. Which school is correctly paired with a song associated with it? Hint

Columbia and Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean

Yale and the Whiffenpoof Song

Harvard and To Anacreon in Heaven

Dartmouth and Falls the Starlight

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Question 11 of 15

11. Two of the Ivy League colleges have had a residential college system based on English universities for many decades. Which ones are they? Hint

Harvard and Princeton

Harvard and Yale

Yale and Princeton

Harvard and Brown

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Question 12 of 15

12. Leland Stanford built his great California university from scratch using which school as a model? Hint

Columbia

Harvard

Univeristy of Pennsylvania

Cornell

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Question 13 of 15

13. At least two presidents of the United States have served as presidents of Ivy League universities. Wilson and Princeton are the well know combination, but what is the other one? Hint

John Quincy Adams and Harvard

Dwight Eisenhower and Columbia

Calvin Coolidge and Dartmouth

William McKinley and Cornell

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Question 14 of 15

14. Until the 1970s, every president of Princeton was either a minister or son of a minister of what denomination? Hint

Congregational

Methodist

Presbyterian

Episcopal/Anglican

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Question 15 of 15

15. Which President actually attended two ivy league colleges as an undergraduate? Hint

Theodore Roosevelt

Grover Cleveland

James Madison

John Kennedy

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Apr 15 2025 : Guest 18: 1/15
Apr 01 2025 : stephedm: 15/15
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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. What is the basis for the Ivy League?

Answer: It is a league based on a mutual relationship involving athletics.

It existed as an interscholastic league before it was given the slightly disparaging name "Ivy League" by New York Tribune editor Caswell Adams in 1937. Needless to say, these are not the only eight universities that have ivy growing up the walls.

2. Everyone knows that Harvard is the oldest school in the league. Which one comes next?

Answer: Yale

Yale was founded in 1701, a real Johnny-come-lately to Harvard's 1636.

3. College football got its start in a game between Princeton and which rival school?

Answer: Rutgers

That's right, it was outside the league. Rutgers is the state university of New Jersey. Until very recently, the Princeton-Rutgers game was held every year as an exhibition game.

4. Only one Ivy League school is, in part, a branch of a state university. Which one?

Answer: Cornell

Several of Cornell's professional schools are part of the State University of New York.

5. Only one Ivy League school is its state's land grant school. Which one?

Answer: Cornell

The Land Grant College Act of 1862 gave each state 30,000 acres for the founding of a university. Rutgers, mentioned above, is another example.

6. More than one Ivy League school has changed its name. Which one was originally known as King's College?

Answer: Columbia

Princeton was originally the College of New Jersey (shudder--it's my alma mater).

7. Why are students at Yale sometimes called Elis?

Answer: After founder Elihu Yale.

And Harvard was named after John Harvard.

8. Which Ivy League school has provided the fewest US presidents? (Traditionally, a university only gets credit if an alumnus/alumna was an undergraduate).

Answer: Columbia

Harvard has provided the most presidents, with five (both Adamses, both Roosevelts, and Kennedy), followed by Yale with three (Taft and both Bushes), and Princeton with two (Madison and Wilson). Until Obama, Columbia had not been home to any presidents-to-be.

9. Which school is paired with its traditional female counterpart?

Answer: Columbia and Barnard

Harvard went with Radcliffe, of course, in both a collective and several sense.

10. Which school is correctly paired with a song associated with it?

Answer: Yale and the Whiffenpoof Song

The Whiffenpoofs are the original triple quartet, but on campus they have been more famous for their drinking parties at Morey's, whence the beginning of the song "To the tables down at Morey's."

11. Two of the Ivy League colleges have had a residential college system based on English universities for many decades. Which ones are they?

Answer: Harvard and Yale

Princeton, which once rejected Woodrow Wilson's proposal for such a system, recently adopted it as well.

12. Leland Stanford built his great California university from scratch using which school as a model?

Answer: Harvard

He literally asked the president of Harvard what it would take to create a new Harvard from the ground up and then supplied all the necessary funds.

13. At least two presidents of the United States have served as presidents of Ivy League universities. Wilson and Princeton are the well know combination, but what is the other one?

Answer: Dwight Eisenhower and Columbia

It is among the lesser known facts about presidents that Ike was president of Columbia between World War II and running for president in 1952. This Kansan ran as a resident of New York! Wilson was actually not a very successful Princeton president. Many of his ideas were considered too progressive and were overruled by trustees.

14. Until the 1970s, every president of Princeton was either a minister or son of a minister of what denomination?

Answer: Presbyterian

Princeton Theological Seminary, not affiliated with the university, is the most important Presbyterian seminary.

15. Which President actually attended two ivy league colleges as an undergraduate?

Answer: John Kennedy

Kennedy had to drop out of Princeton for health reasons, and resumed his education at Harvard.

Source: Author jbuck919

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
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