No. MIT, Stanford and Caltech have admission rates of 2 to 5 percent, lower than most Ivy universities. Stanford and MIT are often considered the top 2 in the world for tech and entrepreneurship. The Ivy League is a sports conference from 1954, not an academic ranking. The term "Ivy Plus" is used informally for the 8 Ivies plus MIT, Stanford, UChicago, Caltech, Duke.

The Ivy League was formed as a sports conference in 1954 between 8 private universities in the northeastern USA. MIT and Caltech are specialised institutes of technology, not generalist universities. Stanford is on the West Coast. Their geography and academic profile kept them outside the league, even though they are just as prestigious. The term "Ivy Plus" is used informally for the 8 Ivies plus MIT, Stanford, UChicago, Caltech, Duke.

The privates offer the most generous packages. MIT is the only university on this list that is need-blind for internationals and covers 100 percent of demonstrated financial need, including for Romanians. Stanford, Duke, Northwestern, JHU and Vanderbilt are need-aware for internationals (it can disadvantage you at admission if you need a lot of financial aid) but generate generous packages for admitted Romanians. NYU, through the NYU Promise program, covers 100 percent of need for all admitted internationals with demonstrated need. The publics (UC Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan) have very limited scholarships for internationals; budget for the full cost. Vanderbilt, Duke and Rice also offer competitive merit-based scholarships (open to students with excellent profiles).

Public universities charge in-state residents differently from everyone else. As a Romanian student you are out-of-state or international and pay 45,000 USD to 55,000 USD per year for tuition alone, plus 20,000 USD to 25,000 USD for housing and living costs. Total: 65,000 USD to 80,000 USD per year. Compared with the privates (80,000-95,000 USD), you save 15,000-25,000 USD annually, but you do not benefit from the generous financial aid available at MIT or the Ivy League. Merit-based scholarships for internationals are limited at public universities.

Stanford is a generalist university with a strong tech profile, located in the heart of Silicon Valley. The culture is entrepreneurial, interdisciplinary, sun-belt relaxed. Top programs: CS, Business, Engineering, Medicine, Law. MIT is a specialised institute of technology: engineering, CS, pure sciences, mathematics. The culture is intense, geek-friendly, hands-on (motto mens et manus). For hard sciences and engineering MIT surpasses Stanford. For entrepreneurship and interdisciplinarity Stanford surpasses MIT. For a Romanian: MIT is need-blind for internationals, Stanford is need-aware but generates 100 percent of need for those admitted. Both are extremely competitive (3.7 percent Stanford, 4.5 percent MIT).

A typical strategy for an ambitious applicant: 4-6 Ivy universities, 4-6 top non-Ivy universities, 2-3 target universities (30-50 percent probability) and 2-3 safety (over 70 percent). Total 12-15 applications. The Common App allows a maximum of 20. For Early Action or Early Decision applications, the strategic choice is a single university (maybe two if one has a non-restrictive EA). Do not copy other people's lists; choose based on academic and financial fit for you.

MIT uses its own MyMIT portal (apply.mitadmissions.org), open between mid-August and 1 January. It is the only elite American private university that does not accept the Common App. The MIT application requires: 5 short essays (200-250 words each), information about extracurricular activities, 2 recommendations from teachers (one from Math/Science, one from Humanities), a letter of evaluation from the form teacher or school counsellor, the high school transcript, SAT or ACT required, TOEFL or IELTS for those outside the USA. Application fee: 75 USD (with a waiver for cases of financial need). Deadlines: Early Action 1 November, Regular Action 5 January.

CMU is in the global top 3 for CS together with MIT and Stanford and surpasses Princeton in CS-specific rankings. The Computer Science program at the CMU School of Computer Science is intense, specialised and globally recognised. Princeton has good CS but within a liberal arts context. For pure CS and the tech industry CMU wins. For CS combined with humanities, academic research and generalist prestige Princeton wins. It depends on what you want to do afterwards. Note for Romanians: CMU is need-aware for internationals and does NOT cover 100 percent of need, while Princeton is need-blind and meets 100 percent of need for all internationals.