<p>Only female graduate students of Welsh decent. But no longer. I am a married man now. Alas, all that lives must die! Hehe!!!</p>
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I also disagree with your assertion that "Tufts" rolls off the tongue easily...4 distinct consonant sounds in one syllable? That's why even the locals tend to mis-pronounce it "Tuffs."
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<p>Why not? Princeton has 4 distinct consonant sounds in its first syllable. It also has a second syllable to pronounce. So, if anything, Princeton is even more difficult to pronounce than Tufts is. Yet nobody seriously disputes the prestige of that name. </p>
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And schools are known by their abbreviations usually because the name is long, not because it's hard to pronounce or non-prestigious sounding. Nothing difficult about New York University (7 syllables tougher than NYU) or Boston University (7 syllables tougher than BU) or University of Southern California (13 syllables tougher than USC).
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<p>Uh, doesn't this just implicitly prove my point? Let's face it. USC, BU, and NYU, while fine schools, aren't exactly as prestigious as Harvard is. Schools with long names that have to be abbreviated tend to be associated with lower prestige.</p>
<p>Put it to you this way, I have heard of plenty of people who have never heard of MIT and have no idea what it stands for. For example, I know a guy who graduated from MIT and went to work for Harley-Davidson (in Milwaukee), and encountered people who thought that MIT stood for the "Milwaukee Institute of Technology", and hence thought it was just a trade school like ITT or Devry. There are other people who know what the 'M' stands for, but thought that, because there are many other "XIT's" around (like the New Jersey Institute of Technology or the Florida Institute of Technology), thought that MIT was just a similar sort of school, but just happened to be located in Massachusetts. </p>
<p>I think the_prestige nailed it right on the head. Name recognition and prestige are not entirely congruent. MIT, for example, is supremely prestigous among the people who are aware of such things, but can be entirely obscure to the man on the street.</p>
<p>Well, the most powerful man (OK maybe the second, third or fourth) in the world during most of the last 20 years graduated from NYU.</p>
<p>Alexandre, I usually agree with you about Michigan, but "The Prestige" was a great movie. :)</p>
<p>^... hmm, not sure which NYU alum you are referring to but to address that point, take a quick look at Ronald Reagan: arguably one of the most important / influential Americans over the last half century (and ranked no. 1 in the recent Discovery Channel poll for "Greatest American" - Abe Lincoln ranked no. 2):</p>
<p>but, back to the point, did the fact that Reagan went to Eureka College make this particular institution any more appealing / better?</p>
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Well, the most powerful man (OK maybe the second, third or fourth) in the world during most of the last 20 years graduated from NYU.
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^... hmm, not sure which NYU alum you are referring to
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<p>He's almost certainly referring to Alan Greenspan. </p>
<p>But it should be said that Greenspan was replaced by a guy who is a Harvard and MIT grad.</p>
<p>"but, back to the point, did the fact that Reagan went to Eureka College make this particular institution any more appealing / better?"</p>
<p>No.</p>
<p>You will like "The Prestige".</p>
<p>We aren't talking about influential people; we are talking about the relative prestige of a degree.</p>
<p>Prestige is such a controversial word. There is definitely a difference between popularity/recognition and prestige. The more ignorant and unrefined the group (high school students and uneducated adults), the larger the delta. The more educated and worldly the group (university professors, cutting-edge researchers, fortune 500 corporate HR leaders and executives, graduate school adcoms, legitimate intellectuals etc...), the narrower the delta. In fact, at the top of the proverbial pyramid, on average, I'd say there is virtually no difference between prestige and recognition. Which brings forth the next question. Who cares about what the uneducated or the ignorant think? The sum of their opinions cannot even put a dent in anybody's future.</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>Let them eat cake!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>Most prestigious based on how strong the students are in terms of grad scholarships, national merit scholars, statistical strength etc are HYPSM, Columbia Duke Dartmouth Penn Brown Chicago and NU.</p>
<p>Sure, those measures are part of the equation. I would add Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Caltech, Cal, Michigan, UVa the top 10 or so LACs and maybe even Georgetown and Rice to the list of schools you mentioned thethoughtprocess. But those criteria alone play only a small role in determining overall prestige. Here are other equally important factors: </p>
<p>1) Research spending
2) Contributions to humanity
3) Quality of faculty
4) Academic versitality
5) Intellectual aura
6) Course availlability
7) Raw number of talented individuals
8) Character-building
9) Size, loyalty, pride, influence, success and wealth of alumni body
10) Resources</p>
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Who cares about what the uneducated or the ignorant think? The sum of their opinions cannot even put a dent in anybody's future.
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<p>If you're going to cater to the masses, you have to care what they think. For example, if you're going to run a business selling products or services to the mass-market, then you have to market to them accordingly. </p>
<p>I know one girl whose grandmother got into an accident and needed to hire a lawyer to sue the other party for damages. When the girl suggested a lawyer she knew who graduated from Stanford Law, the grandmother objected, saying that she wanted a lawyer who went to a 'good law school'. Apparently according to the grandmother, the only good law schools in the world were Harvard and Yale. </p>
<p>Look, like it or not, we all have to deal with regular people at one time or another. I know doctors who perform plastic surgery or LASIK who generate business just because they went to Harvard. For example, here is one LASIK doctor who blatantly advertises his Harvard credentials on his website. He's doing it to market himself to the public.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.scotthyver.com/%5B/url%5D">http://www.scotthyver.com/</a></p>
<p>The A-hole plastic surgeon on Dr. 90210 went to Harvard. The cool one that has been around a long time and is well respected went to Wisconsin. They both had plenty of business.</p>
<p>Sakky, we all agreed that Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale are in a league of their own. That is not and never has been in question.</p>
<p>Actually, they are in different leauges.</p>
<p>Harvard, Princeton and Yale are in the Ivy Leauge; Stanford is in the Pacific Ten; and MIT is in the New England Football Conference and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) for other sports.</p>
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Sakky, we all agreed that Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale are in a league of their own. That is not and never has been in question.
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<p>I'm simply making the point that sometimes you do have to care about what the uneducated or ignorant think.</p>