<p>okay just assume=</p>
<p>top tier = CHYMPS (caltech harvard yale mit princeton stanford) and other ivies</p>
<p>second tier= duke, u chicago, northwestern, vanderbilt, cmu, emory, rice,johns hopkins, etc</p>
<p>tq</p>
<p>People will smile at you on average 3.8 less times per day if you go to one of the “second tier” schools.</p>
<p>Your question is pretty broad. What setting are you talking about? The general public definitely puts HYPSM on a different level from the rest, but prestige rankings vary widely across professions. A lot of businesses think Duke is more prestigious than Brown, and yet you have Brown above Duke. If you’re question is basically “Will people look down on me for going to a Top 20 but not an Ivy”, the answer is no in almost all cases.</p>
<p>Does the C in CHYMPS really stand for Cal Tech? I always thought of Cal Tech being sort of a Uchicago of math/science schools, where there’s basically no name recognition. I’d think Columbia would have more laymen prestige.</p>
<p>Oh, and to answer the original question.</p>
<p>You will die a slow, painful death after all recruiters realize that you are not in tier 1 and subsequently toss your resume at you while unleashing a pack of attack dogs on your lowly non-tier 1 body. Also, since you don’t go to caltech or MIT, you will never get laid.</p>
<p>That list very almost regional. North east and west coast top schools vs south and midwest top schools. It’s almost like an electoral map. For what the OP is asking, if you want to work in the north east or west coast, then tier 1 works better. If you want to work in the south or midwest, tier 2 works better.</p>
<p>If you are picking colleges based on prestige, its pretty sad. Its also dangerous, as you may “get there” and be unhappy. Being happy, healthy and thriving…and helping you transition into adulthood and maturity is as important as the “content” of learning.</p>
<p>Think about that.</p>
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<p>I agree completely. In fact I’ve been caught in a bicker match with another poster who insisted that…</p>
<p>tier 1 degree = job at “better” company = higher income and greater promotion potential = better life. </p>
<p>I finally threw my hands up and walked away from the thread shaking my head.</p>
<p>But…Sometimes I wonder. What are the tier 1 students really after? What do they really get? Is it “just” the prestige of saying “I went to _____________.”? Is it the thrill of “winning” one of those rare acceptances? What’s the guarantee that a tier 1 education is really better than teir 2? Who can prove that it is? How? </p>
<p>Don’t misunderstand me. I have nothing against teir 1. I’d love for son or daughter to attend one. I just don’t drool over the prospect.</p>
<p>Having prestige as a reason is not sad. Having prestige as the sole reason might seem a little superficial, but it’s still not sad.</p>
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<p>This argument (except for the last equality) is sound for students interested in certain professions, namely investment banking and management consulting.</p>
<p>Bourne: I guess what I meant if it was the SOLE reason and driving force, its sad to me. Sad because its superficial and often illusory. There is NO guarantee in life for anything and not even a degree from Princeton is a guarantee of success in life…even if success is defined by the superficiality of money. So I clarify my remarks.</p>
<p>I too have nothing against the top tier schools. Some of them are trying really hard to diversify socially and even reaching down in the SAT scores a bit further…because the SAT is no guarantee of success in college either.</p>
<p>DougBetsy: Its a dog chasing its tail arguing with people who are obsessed with prestige and will defend that fort until the last man dies. What they often dont see is that if they have a degree from HYP, they have a “burden” to bear in life…everyone will forever tag them as being privileged and have HUGELY HIGH expectations from them…</p>
<p>With your own kids, its more important to see that they are happy, thriving, and maturing. That may or may not be at a prestigious school. Of course, as parents we burst with pride when we say our kid is attending “XYZ school” and DOING WELL. But we also know that the admissions process is anything but totally objective and fair and that weird things happen for strange reasons. And for some kids its their first experience with denial or rejection. But being happy within oneself is so much better and so much more important than being fixated upon a certain name school.</p>
<p>I went to my 10 year high school reunion. The topic was all about who got into and went to what college and obtained what degree. Ugh! I went to my 20th and it had changed dramatically…gone were the superficial conversations and more about starting families and how people were doing. By the 30th, the grim reality of life had set in and we were dealing with loss and tragedy and such. So goes life. </p>
<p>I congratulate anyone who gets into the college of their choice no matter WHERE that is: Appalachian State or UVa or Harvard. It matters not to me. My advice is always the same. DONT PARTY, work hard and “go get em!”</p>
<p>That’s trumped entirely too much on this site.</p>
<p>I don’t think I care about prestige all that much, but sometimes I think I would rather go to a top school where I didn’t fit as well and have more opportunities – increased chances of success (in some circumstances) – than have gone to a school I loved. Unless of course I could have both.</p>
<p>I’m sure many people on this site have worked very hard in HS. I’m also certain that you’ve sacrificed a lot to do so. I wonder why the same mentality doesn’t exist for college?</p>
<p>In my opinion, I don’t think your “tier 1” and “tier 2” categories are entirely accurate. I know many many people who consider Duke to be above Brown, Cornell, and Dartmouth. For most people, HYPSM hold prestige slightly above everything else in the top 15 or 20, but no one’s going to look down on a Duke or JHU graduate. </p>
<p>Actually, around here (midwest), many laypeople actually look down upon those going to the best schools. They assume that the students got in because of connections and money. As far as job placement goes, I somehow doubt any normal company is going to be like… “Psh, you only graduated top of your class at Johns Hopkins. Talk about slacking.”</p>
<p>“That list very almost regional. North east and west coast top schools vs south and midwest top schools. It’s almost like an electoral map. For what the OP is asking, if you want to work in the north east or west coast, then tier 1 works better. If you want to work in the south or midwest, tier 2 works better.”</p>
<p>exactly, im from Mississippi and ill tell you that vandy or rice well get you alot further down here than many of the “lower ivies”, brown, dartmouth ect. The really wierd thing is that for a large portion of the state the University of Mississippi is the “best school to be from”. Ive heard from many people, including lawyers, that if you want to practice law in Mississippi its better to have a law degree from Ole Miss than from Vandy or Emory or even the elite Ivy law schools. Just a little comentary on the whole regional issue.</p>
<p>CHYMPS: “Oh, wow, you go to _____?”</p>
<p>Top National University: “Wow, you go to _____?”</p>
<p>Top LAC: “lolwut’s dat u shud hav gon 2 community collage!”</p>
<p>hahaha kwu</p>
<p>I think the prestige difference is tangible where I live. As for those arguing whether prestige is a solid reason to choose a school over another-I think it certainly is. CC did a survey on what the most important factors were in choosing a college, academic strength in major came first and prestige came second. I don’t know where fit was but I’m pretty sure it was either third or fourth. Granted, I don’t think people should choose a school that they’ll be unhappy at just because it’s more prestigious, but on the flip side, I’m sort of wary about kids being “unhappy” at a school. Maybe it’s just my personality, but if you’re a relatively easy-going “normal” kind of person, you should be able to fit in pretty well at the vast majority of national universities. I think the real only exception would be schools that focus on a specialty academic area that you don’t wish to study in, schools that are heavily focused on a religion you’re not part of, or a non Black person at a HBCU. By no means is that an extensive list, but I think this whole concept of not feeling happy at a particular college is more of a reflection on the person than the college.</p>
<p>^^ Whoa. No there are certain schools that are “niche” schools. Some schools fit better than others. Much much better. In some ways, many of the schools we discuss on these boards have their own personalities. </p>
<p>Anyways, I just don’t really care if I have to suffer through four years of an elite school as long as I get into my choice of professional school. Fun is good – something to strive for, but I’d rather have eventual success.</p>
<p>That is why I said “By no means is that an extensive list” though I shouldn’t have said “the real only exception” I think I came to your realization and decided to make my argument less extreme.</p>
<p>
How funny… that’s exactly what I did too!</p>