<p>Which is more prestigious?</p>
<p>Pretty close. Dartmouth has more cachet as undergrad institution. Columbia's grad school is tops.</p>
<p>The question is ridiculous. Prestige is in the eye of the beholder, and if you polled 100 people on Columbia vs. Dartmouth, you're unlikely to get a substantial majority for either school.</p>
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Dartmouth has more cachet as undergrad institution.
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<p>More cachet among who? You?</p>
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Columbia's grad school is tops.
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<p>Hard to take such a blanket statement seriously. Columbia probably has 100 different graduate programs--some are outstanding, some aren't so good. Dartmouth also has some "tops" graduate programs.</p>
<p>The question is ridiculous in my opinion too. what might be a better question is "where would you rather go" and in my case, columbia. i think columbia has a significantly higher yield than dartmouth too</p>
<p>I see where you guys are coming from. But isn't prestige associated with the general reputation of a school? In that case--correct me if I'm wrong-- 1) isn't Columbia generally thought of to be a "higher-tier" Ivy than Dartmouth? 2) Columbia is much more well-known than Dartmouth.</p>
<p>In this view, wouldn't the answer be Columbia?</p>
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But isn't prestige associated with the general reputation of a school?
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<p>That's exactly what prestige is.</p>
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1) isn't Columbia generally thought of to be a "higher-tier" Ivy than Dartmouth?
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<p>Generally thought of among who? Some people probably think Columbia is better, others think Dartmouth is better, others think they're different and that neither is better per se.</p>
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2) Columbia is much more well-known than Dartmouth.
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<p>A ton of laymen don't know Columbia. Almost no laymen know Dartmouth. People who matter know both.</p>
<p>I agree that people who matter will know both. But as you agreed to, this is talking about the general reputation.</p>
<p>Generally thought of by all the people I have talked to. I live in California. Many, many more people don't know Dartmouth than Columbia. Some informed students who e.g. going to Berkeley, applied to Harvard etc don't know Dartmouth is an Ivy. I grew up outside of the US; Columbia also has the significant edge at overseas name. People overseas don't know Dartmouth is one of the best schools in the nation. </p>
<p>Dartmouth is definitely referred to as the lesser-known Ivy at my school in California and in my foreign country.</p>
<p>Bottom line: the academics are excellent at both schools. Go to the environment in which you are HAPPY.</p>
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I agree that people who matter will know both. But as you agreed to, this is talking about the general reputation.
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<p>Who cares about people who don't matter? Time Mag did a poll a couple years ago and I believe more people thought that Notre Dame was a better school than Yale, Stanford, Princeton, etc. (every school but Harvard). People who don't matter..um, don't matter.</p>
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Generally thought of by all the people I have talked to.
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<p>How many people who matter do you talk about this with who matter? You're what, in high school? The people you talk to are similarly skewed.</p>
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Columbia also has the significant edge at overseas name.
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<p>You're definitely right on this one.</p>
<p>By general reputation I meant reputation among the people generally. I see you mean reputation in all academic areas generally.</p>
<p>You mean a poll among the "people who matter"?</p>
<p>As a person who went to Columbia College for a year, graduated from Dartmouth, and has a grad degree from Columbia: I have come to the following conclusion.</p>
<ol>
<li>Both are very prestigious schools</li>
<li>Average people (you uncle who owns a 7-11), outside of the Northeast know Columbia slightly more</li>
<li>Dartmouth alumni are more active/ supportive</li>
<li><p>Educated people (people that matter) in most areas know them equally well</p></li>
<li><p>They are so different choosing for this reason is silly, both take you to the same places in the end</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Slipper says it perfectly.</p>