<p>There are many different ways of interpreting something like " international recognition". Clearly, in the academic world, every one knows the top universities in the US, the oldest ones, the most prestigious ones, with Brown being one of them.</p>
<p>Now, this whole recognition issue has tremendous ethnocentric connotations as well. As I said before, most high school students in South America know of Harvard but they do not know of Yale. As a matter of fact, they may be more aware of the University of Miami or UCLA. The reputation of La Sorbonne rivals the rest, even for graduate studies. </p>
<p>On the other hand, most american high school students are not aware of very "internationally recognized" foreign universities. All you have to do is ask around. La Sorbonne, University of Bologna in Italy (oldest in Europe), University of Salamanca in Spain..... have they ever heard of them? With the exception of a distant notion of Oxford and Cambridge.... very few people will know.</p>
<p>So again, there is a big difference of what International Recognition means. It only has any relevance within specific groups.</p>
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As I said before, most high school students in South America know of Harvard but they do not know of Yale
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<p>I was also surprised at how a lot of people have not heard of Yale but of Harvard and Princeton. On top of that schools like NYU and UCLA have a lot of recognition.</p>
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Hey, listen. If you like Brown, would you really care about whether your neighbors knew about it?
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Could care less about neighbors. Not my potint. I care about protential employers, especially across the pond. I want to take the degree to its limit.</p>
<p>"On top of that schools like NYU and UCLA have a lot of recognition."</p>
<p>That's really not too surprising - they are both good schools located in two of the most (if not THE two most) famous and renown cities in the US.</p>
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That's really not too surprising - they are both good schools located in two of the most (if not THE two most) famous and renown cities in the US
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that factor helps out a number of schools; UT Austin, Boston University, UW and University of Miami</p>
<p>No it doesn't, since hardly anyone has heard of those outside the US. </p>
<p>Foreigners are ignorant of the American university system, plain and simple. Europeans go nuts for NYU only because 'New York' is in the name. Ask them what they think of Columbia University and you'll get blank stares. Needless to say, Brown is internationally obscure. As are UT Austin, Boston U, Wisconsin, UMiami, Oklahoma State, U Montana, etcetera.</p>
<p>If international recognition matters to you, go to Harvard, Oxford, MIT or Berkeley. As a last resort, UCLA or NYU. I'm not saying it's a just world, as I think at least half of those are overrated universities. But if the perceptions of strangers on the other side of the world matters to you, then this is the game you've got to play.</p>
<p>nauru understands the game. but is Brown really internationally obscure? that kinda sucks. It's such a brilliant school I would've thought it would've attracted more recognition across the globe. I do not have a desire to attend either UCLA or NYU, cannot get into Harvard, do not have the funds for Oxford. Maybe MIT. Brown is too cool a school to pass up.</p>
<p>I would never pick a school for the name recognition or prestige. I would pick it for the right fit. Being a well regarded school is a nice plus. But it is not the main criteria. </p>
<p>As far as overseas, I think very few American college names ring a bell to the average Joe/Juan/Pierre/Lee, etc. Yes, Harvard and Princeton likely do. It is not surprising if UCLA, Berkeley or NYU do given they are located in major US cities known overseas. But I do believe that an employer in a field, who is looking for someone with a graduate degree (as the OP posed as the situation), would likely be familiar with more college names in the US due to viewing resumes over time. However, I do not think they care about the college name so much and care more about one's credentials/qualifications, and so forth. The prestige or name of a college is not as big of a deal in higher education in Europe as it is here, I don't think. And frankly, even in the US, I would not pick a school based on name/prestige but rather on it being the right school for what I wanted for the educational experience. The person is the one who has to get the job, not the name of their college. I can't imagine passing up Brown over this issue, I truly cannot. But that's just me (and my kids feel likewise).</p>
<p>The reason Berkeley, MIT, Harvard etc get international recognition is not because they are located in famous cities. It is because they are perceived to be among the best universities in the world.</p>
<p>Just because GWU, Georgetown and American are in Washington DC doesn't make them famous (virtually nobody knows or cares about any of them overseas). The University of Chicago is perceived (abroad) to be nothing special by people who are not in the economics field, yet Chicago is what, the third largest city in America? </p>
<p>Besides, what makes Americans so sure the rest of the world should know all the little American universities which don't produce groundbreaking research to the benefit of humanity since they focus on the 'college experience'? How many Americans know the best universities in the rest of the world? Just sticking to Europe, most Americans think Oxford, Sorbonne, and Bocconi are the best on offer. In reality, Oxford is considered second to Cambridge (granted, still among the best), Sorbonne is falling apart, full of low morale and is covered with graffiti (not shown on the website), and Bocconi is considered among the easiest places to get high grades in all of Europe. Don't even get me started on Spanish universities.</p>
<p>Then again, why would you as Americans care which are really the quality universities in Europe? It doesn't affect you anyway, and it's easier to just remember the few you've heard of whether they are top schools or not. Europeans do exactly the same thing. Ignorance is always easier, as most people on both sides of the ocean have proven for years. </p>
<p>Anyway, that's the way things are. I wish I could have gone to Brown, as it looks like an amazing place to study. Unfortunately when I was in high school I didn't know the place existed (living in Canada at the time). lol. I don't care what strangers and ignorant people think of the brand name of my uni just like I don't care what strangers and ignorant people think of the brand name -- or lack thereof -- of my clothing.</p>
<p>Sorbonne??? Only if you are French. Do they even have a website? It doesn't even rank among the top 100 global universities at <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14321230/site/newsweek/%5B/url%5D">http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14321230/site/newsweek/</a> . The Swiss, German, Dutch, English, Australian, and Swedish universities are better. The reality is that no schools compare to HY/Oxbridge in worldwide renown. The next most well-known American universities are probably places like Johns Hopkins and Stanford that have major medical schools. Even MIT is pretty far down the list.</p>
<p>Sorbonne is a very big name. Especially in Europe and South America.</p>
<p>Nobody gives a damn about your silly rankings you keep posting (or about you). By the way, for some reasons the makers of that ranking seem to have an antipathy to French universities, they have only two French school among the Top 100. The fact hat they spelled one of them incorrectly makes it even more ridiculous.</p>
<p>FYI, Sorbonne isn't listed because Sorbonne actually doesn't exit anymore. It was divided into four schools and all of them have different departements and programs. If the ranking considered these schools as a single entity, I'm sure it would appear very high on the list.</p>
<p>guys, guys, guys. I didnt want this to spill over into a sparring match over the worlds top universites. </p>
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most Americans think Oxford, Sorbonne, and Bocconi are the best on offer. In reality, Oxford is considered second to Cambridge
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<p>first of all, by Americans I hope you included the entire continents of North and South America because I can guarantee you no one has heard of Sorbonne in the US. Boccini is only well known by those in business and Oxford is seen by Americans in the US as being the top university in the world only matched by Harvard. Most Americans in the US would be surprised to find out that Cambridge is better than Oxford and, for that matter, that most Europeans view Harvard as better than Oxford. </p>
<p>The schools I have heard international students raving about the most are: Oxbridge, Harvard, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, UCLA, NYU, Michigan, Sorbonne, Toronto. </p>
<p>Yale doesn't even make it on that list. So what does that say about international recognition?</p>
<p>Yes, JHU is famous worldwide. In no small part due to the history of its medical facilities and hospital. Yale is easily one of the most famous universities around the world, as you might expect from somewhere that awarded the first Ph.D. degree in the United States, has graduated 5 of the past 7 U.S. Presidents (once Hillary is elected), and is ranked by ScienceWatch/ISI just below Harvard and Caltech for having the best scientific research in the world. For example, China... let's see, the President of China's tour of the United States last year consisted of a visit to Washington DC and Yale University; Yale was the first university to be given the rights to to invest in China (last year), Yale was the first school to have a Chinese student graduate from any Western university (in 1854), over 100 Yale students and faculty toured China this past year in an enormous, fully-funded red-carpet entourage that made the headlines of hundreds of Chinese newspapers; Yale has a massive exchange program with China's most prestigious university, etc.... see <a href="http://alumni.yale.edu/clubs/fapn/forchina.htm%5B/url%5D">http://alumni.yale.edu/clubs/fapn/forchina.htm</a> and google for many other articles on the topic. Very impressive for a school the size of Yale. In England (and therefore elsewhere), HY is the equivalent of Oxbridge -- see post above, the English actually place HY above Oxbridge. That's just "street" reputation -- to say nothing of the reputation of schools like HY among the people who matter.</p>
<p>I agree. JHU is pretty famous here, mostly because all the physicians in fiction, whether it be books, TV shows or movies, graduated from Johns Hopkins Med School. </p>
<p>Also, I would say that Yale is definitely on par with Harvard in terms of recognition here. Princeton not so much, though.</p>
<p>I share the impression that Princeton has international recognition that Yale does not (and Bush presidents are not exactly making their alma mater beloved internationally). </p>
<p>I think it is due to the string of physics (and to a much lesser extent, math) luminaries associated with the school and the Institute of Advanced Study: Einstein, von Neumann, Goedel, Witten. Maybe also Andrew Wiles and his solution of Fermat's Last Theorem, or Dyson, or Feynman writing in his biographies about getting his PhD at Princeton and being offered Einstein's job at IAS.</p>