<p>Im a junior looking into schools like jhu, nwu, vassar, chicago, emory.</p>
<p>are any of these as prestigious/respected as any of the ivies? and if so, how would they rank? would one be "set for life' if they got into any of these?</p>
<p>you wouldn't be "set for life" even if you got into an Ivy. Regardless, those schools are great but not considered up to the "Ivy" level.</p>
<p>I think JHU & NWU are comparable to Cornell. Possibly Chicago, but it's not really for everybody. Vassar & Emory no way.</p>
<p>I'd put chicago above Cornell, Dartmouth and Brown.
I'm guessing NWU is Northwestern? If thats the case then I'd rank it below the ivies unless its for economics :)</p>
<p>There are 3500 4-year colleges in the US. I hate to refer to the USNWR rankings as if they are that useful, but in terms of prestige:
NU #12
Cornell and JHU #13
Brown and UChicaco #15
Emory #20</p>
<p>Comparing prestige between these schools is like comparing whether concrete or asphalt is a harder landing surface if you jump out the window. Someone not knowing anything about colleges may have heard of the "ivies" and not the others, but that person probably thinks that UPenn is a state university.</p>
<p>hmm... i was worse. i though UPenn didn't exist. pfft.</p>
<p>ivy leagues don't exactly guarantee you a spot on success, but it will widen your chances.</p>
<p>And nobody is set for life after getting into a college. There are ivy graduates who are in jail or homeless. Most of the CEO's, newspaper editors, politicians and leaders did not go to the top ranked schools. You don't get to work hard in high school, and then quit. :)</p>
<p><em>sigh</em> why does everyone think the ivy league is so special. yes, all 8 schools are great, but its not as if they are the 8 best. they arn't the 8 hardest to get into, they arn't the 8 "most challenging schools", they arn't good in any sports, and they don't even offer you the absolute best opportunities at graduation. so what is it that people think is so special? if you do well at any of the 5 schools you listed, you'll be more than fine. Theres this really ridiculous conception that those schools have a halo above them, and are completely unreachable.</p>
<p>And please don't bring us news rankings in as a measurement of "prestige." it takes into account so many stupid things, that I don't know how you could actually put stock in it.</p>
<p>Yea, I'd rather go to Stanford than any Ivy except HYP.</p>
<p>...and thats the attitude i'm referring to.</p>
<p>when it comes to prestige, JHU almost has an Ivy rep. a lot of people I know confuse JHU with Ivy Leagues all the time. Northwestern (NWU, right?) is pretty good too, though not as well known as JHU and the Ivies. as for Vassar and Emory, while they're both great colleges, neither measure up the Ivies in prestige. as for academics, well, great academics, but I personally think that they can't measure up to JHU, the Ivies, Duke, etc.</p>
<p>This thread is going off into the direction of "Batman is as good as Superman, but Spiderman is, you know, great and everything but not as cool." I can just see all the professors at HYPSM making snide little remarks about Vassar and Emory (sarcasm). How in the world can anyone on CC be making grand statements about academics between colleges across all departments. I will accept people making statements about prestige because that is a matter of perception, but understand that any college with a great basketball/football team is more prestigious than UPenn or Brown of which little few people have heard of.</p>