<p>Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford MIT Caltech</p>
<p>are the six most prestigious universities in the country, no doubt. UPenn is probably at the top of the next tier.</p>
<p>rocksolid, you rock.</p>
<p>i would say that.</p>
<p>and to add to the list internationally, you would have:</p>
<p>Harvard // Oxford
Yale // Cambridge // Princeton
Standford // MIT // Caltech
UPenn // Columbia
Cornell // Brown // Dartmouth</p>
<p>Some where in that kinda grouping.</p>
<p>I had no idea that Caltech was so prestigious. I live in CA (granted in rural norcal :) ) and I really hadn't heard of it.</p>
<p>The yield rate is lower at Caltech than at any other school on that list.</p>
<p>Does Caltech still have the highest average SAT score among colleges? I noticed that it did in the list The Early Admissions Game provided.</p>
<p>Yes. But I doubt if it is higher than the SAT median for a similar demographic subset of the matriculants at Stanford, Harvard and MIT, all of which substantially outdo tiny CalTech, head to head, in the battle for common admits. </p>
<p>SAT medians are skewed in favor of male math and science majors everywhere, since 800 math SAT scores are twice as common as 800 verbal SAT scores. The tiny Caltech matriculant group consists overwhelmingly of male math and science majors. </p>
<p>The much larger Stanford, Harvard and MIT matriculants groups - while, ironically, containing many more math and science majors than CalTech - nevertheless are far more balanced, with 50% females and many who major in other fields.</p>
<p>If Caltech caters to male math and science kids, that could explain why I hadn't really heard of it. Me being a female humanities kid in the extreme :) .</p>
<p>Right, collegeperson12, because you have attended all of the schools! Additionally, you participated in all the programs at Penn to find that only Wharton is "good" according to collegeperson12 who uses "aint."</p>
<p>ah, the ease with which CCers digress... :)</p>
<p>amnesia, you said these were most prestigious internationally</p>
<p>"Harvard // Oxford
Yale // Cambridge // Princeton
Standford // MIT // Caltech
UPenn // Columbia
Cornell // Brown // Dartmouth"</p>
<p>but how could you forget the indian institute of technology ... iit is probably better than mit or caltech</p>
<p>I turned down Yale, Columbia, Brown, Georgetown, UVA, Tufts, Lehigh, UC Berkeley, and UCLA for UPenn.</p>
<p>Most people berate me for my choice, as people were like "You got into Yale and are not going to attend? You idiot!" But I thought UPenn was a better choice for me. I liked the idea of getting a dual-degree from Wharton and the College, and my girlfriend was a huge influence as well. She is going to Princeton and Yale would be a little too far away. </p>
<p>Besides, it's not like you can win off a college's name for your whole life and expect prestige to carry you on its back. UPenn is a damn good school and I think its "prestige" is not as "high" as say HYP because it admits more people. Anyone notice the trend between admission rate and prestige? Did you ever consider that sometimes schools are just smaller than others? Just because UPenn is bigger doesn't mean it can't be a better school than a more-selective, smaller school. Sometimes there just aren't enough spots. </p>
<p>Not only that, but prestige changes depending on where you are on the globe. Columbia wasn't all that well known at my hometown in Oregon as an Ivy, but it's quite a different case in the New England area. If prestige is a major factor in your decision, are you considering where you will live afterwards? I don't know which schools have the strongest "worldwide" recognition, including recognition by the "layman", but I would say Harvard, Yale, and MIT would be the most recognized. A lot of people I know didn't really know that Princeton, Columbia, Penn, Brown, Dartmouth, and Cornell were Ivies. A lot of people don't know about, say, Georgetown until you tell them "Georgetown is prestigous". But they won't know why or how. Besides, you shouldn't define your self-worth by what college you went to. </p>
<p>Yale's a wonderful school, one of the best. But so is UPenn and it fit me better. I just think it's funny when people call others idiots for turning down a certain Ivy for another -- they're ALL prestigous, strong universities. They're all Ivies... I remember thinking I would get rejected from everywhere I applied. I would have been so happy just to get into one or two schools, let alone one Ivy, and I ended up with four Ivies to choose from as the top four on my college choices and I was very ecstatic and grateful.</p>
<p>When it comes to choosing between Ivies, it just becomes a personal preference. You'll get an amazing education at any of them.</p>
<p>I agree Legend, but don't stay on this thread much longer, you're getting quite the chip on your shoulder! :)</p>
<p>Getting a chip on my shoulder? Why do you think that? I'm not angry or anything in the least.</p>
<p>I agree, legendofmax. You should not have to defend your decision. When choosing a school you should go with your heart, not with tired rankings or the opinions of prestige-obsessed peers.</p>
<p>In regards to those who say that UPENN is a better school than Stanford, I strongly disagree. No matter what USNEWS says, the fact of the matter is that Stanford competes equally with HYP for cross-admits and Penn, usually, cannot.</p>
<p>
<p>(Remember that these are projections based on April 1 and early admit numbers, and that the final numbers will almost always be lower.)</p>
<p>Harvard: 71% Yale: 57.1% Stanford: 55.7% Princeton: 52% Penn: 48.4%
</p>
<p>You don't say.</p>
<p>stanford>>>UPenn
although both are great schools.
Stanford is more well-known internationally.</p>
<p>zephyr and best_wr. . . way to totally miss the point legendofmax was making. . . you dolts, thank you for reminding us of a bad part of this forum</p>
<p>As far as international prestige, I would say that UC-Berkely is the second highest in the world(maybe ties with MIT), after Harvard.</p>
<p>Edit: I just saw the list Byerly showed!!! My doubts were confirmed.</p>