<p>and for whoever asked, if you go by the same rankings, Duke is right below Penn, but above Columbia and Dartmouth, and JHU is one below Brown.</p>
<p>but these rankings are also subjective... they're just based on more than what people say about them.</p>
<p>2 Schools on USNWR seem out of place imo. First of all... how can Duke possibly compete with Columbia, UChicago, or even Dartmouth? Yet it's still ranked ahead. Academically, it'd be hard pressed to say that Duke > Columbia in terms of research, student caliber, grad school placement or anything else for that matter. Caltech is too small (~230ppl/year) to be counted and it's admit rate is so high (relatively) because it's yield is so damn low. </p>
<p>But Prestige and Ranking are 2 different things. Princeton is usually #1 or #2... but I think anyone you ask will always spit out HY*P* in ThAT order. Over the long term... it'll always be more or less</p>
<p>Harvard -> Yale -> Princeton -> Stanford/MIT -> Columbia -> University of Chicago -> Cornell</p>
<p>I know UChicago and Cornell arnt ranked high on USNews relatively, but on an international level and in terms of the caliber of research and professors they have, both institutions trump schools like Penn, Dartmouth, Brown. Just look at Nobel Prizes, Columbia has the most in the world followed by Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, Stanford, and Uchicago. It drops off precipitously but the institutions I listed still have a lot relative to the schools like Dartmouth which have 0. </p>
<h1>Of Nobels By notable US School (descending order):</h1>
<h1>1. Columbia University (82)</h1>
<h1>3. University of Chicago (79)</h1>
<h1>4. Harvard University (76)</h1>
<h1>5. MIT (63)</h1>
<h1>6. UCBerkeley (61)</h1>
<h1>7. Stanford (60)</h1>
<h1>10. Cornell (4)</h1>
<h1>11. Yale (32)</h1>
<p>Princeton (29)
UPenn (19)
Brown (3)
Dartmouth (0)</p>
<p>In the end, the Nobel Prizes are the best gauge of excellence and mechanism (whether justified or not) that allows universities to achieve worldwide prestige.</p>
<p>Prestige is extremely subjective . . . yet inextricable. People really overemphasize it, though. I searched for strength of major and feel in my colleges choices, for me prestige was an add on that was usually accompanied by overall quality. Going to Harvard might have an invaluable prestige add on . . . but it wouldn't outweigh my desire to enter into college as an undergraduate engineering major.</p>
<p>truazn: If you're going by Nobel prizes, Caltech is notably absent from your list of prestige. ;)</p>
<p>(In case you're missing my subtle jab here: just because Caltech is small and focused does not mean that it's not notable. It is extremely well known in those fields in which it specializes, so I think it's a little bit arbitrary of you to decide that it's not a notable school.)</p>
<p>Caltech is great! But i'm just saying how do you compare the admissions criteria and stuff when you have incoming classes of 1250+ at most ivies with Caltech's 250? And 20,000+ applicants for the top ivies, versus the 3000 that applied for Caltech?</p>
<p>^Exactly...once you actually look at the facts and details, you realize how meaningless all of this ranking/prestige stuff is.</p>
<p>Does anyone really think that he/she will get a better education at Harvard than at Williams or Caltech? Harvard always ranks above those two in prestige and overall appeal, but it's really big and places a lot of emphasis on its graduate programs...I honestly believe Harvard can't compete with smaller, undergraduate-focused schools in terms of academic experience. What has Harvard got? Big-name professors? Lots of money and resources? How much of that is easily and enthusiastically given to undergraduates? (For the record, I didn't apply to either Williams or Caltech; they're just examples of schools that offer a fine educational experience to undergraduates.)</p>