What are some well-ranked colleges that are below HYPSM level (slightly higher admissions rate) but still highly regarded? I’m looking to go into an engineering field or neuroscience.
There are none - haha
John Hopkins, rice, wustl, rest of the ivies, Duke, Notre Dame, Caltech (not in any order) look up college rankings
If “Y” signifies Yale, there are over thirty universities with more highly regarded engineering programs than Yale. In this field, at least, your best choices may be from among schools that are somewhat less selective than some of those you referenced.
CalTech is on the same level as HYPSM for engineering/science, and does not have a higher admission rate.
I’d put Harvey Mudd on the same level as well.
A little easier to get into, but excellent in engineering, would be:
Rice
Duke
Cornell
CMU
Ga Tech
Michigan
UC-Berkeley
UT-Austin
RPI
Northwestern
Purdue
Penn
Your flagship U
Out of those 5, only S and M have monopoly in engineering. Material sciences and industrial engineering at Northwestern are as good as those at HYPMS. CMU/Ga Tech are also as good or better in certain engineering disciplines. Duke/Hopkins’s BME are widely considered better. There are many disciplines under the “engineering” umbrella.
Also, look into the curriculum. Some colleges offer more hands-on experience than others. Some offer more room for creative design. Some also have more well-established co-op programs than others. Research extensively if you are interested.
Columbia, Duke, Penn, Chicago (no engineering except molecular)
Brown, Dartmouth, Hopkins, NU
Vanderbilt, Rice
Emory, WUSTL
^ Don’t read into the order. Nothing more than personal preference.
If you’re looking for a school that is arguably better than HYPSM (with the possible exception of M) look no further than Caltech (I’m referring to the quality of the engineering/science education).
There are, quite literally, hundreds. Starting with the other five Ivies. I believe, in current CC parlance, those are the low Ivies. SMH.