<p>Ascaris, I don’t know if it would be right to consider USNWR right now. Though, since we are talking about prestige and rankings … it should be appropriate.</p>
<p>Texaspg, I would like to hear from you. From your acquaintances in India, what general perception do you get of colleges in the US? I’m talking about prestige here. Also, how is it similar/different from the perspective of your colleagues in the US about the prestige of schools?</p>
<p>MIT and Harvard are definitely the most recognizable in India. Stanford a little less so, while Princeton and Yale are not well-known in comparison.</p>
<p>And regarding the IIT vs other colleges question, while IITs certainly have a good rep with employers, that’s more to do with the fact that they get the hardest working and smartest students in India, not because they have better courses or teaching.</p>
<p>Ascaris - In what way are they not the reality? The question was to compare those 5 schools?</p>
<p>Tizil - I don’t need to ask anyone India, I just need to read the India threads! MIT is the BEST engineering school based on how disappointed students get and how some have started these rant threads because they did not get in. Lot of tech oriented students apply and get admitted there first in US but get taken over by Harvard’s glamor or money.</p>
<p>Stanford on the other hand has always been on the cutting edge. More founders of technology companies have come out of Stanford than any other school in US. Stanford also got quite rich in the recent years funding the students’ startups and getting a piece of the pie. They helped Hewlett and Packard to start up in 1928 by giving them land on campus and HP campus is still headquartered on Stanford land. Google’s investment alone got them a big chunk of money. I am not sure there are any other schools that have similar entrepreneur spirit or support base. If MIT did similar level of commercialization, they would have an endowment that is as good as Stanford but they just like to do more tinkering.</p>
<p>I was in India last summer and one of my rich cousins asked me about only one school his son wanted to apply to for engineering - Stanford. I told him he can certainly afford to send him and if he is serious, make sure to check NO AID required in order to get an edge.</p>
<p>Any school without a medical school is not all that great in sciences in my opinion. However, MIT and Princeton do enough cutting edge research that pits them well against Harvard and Stanford. One has to remember that Ivy league has been a league of liberal arts schools where they encouraged students to study sciences and social studies as the basis of all knowledge. Since they are some of the oldest institutions in US, they are still the bastions of knowledge base and edge.</p>
<p>what about caltech guys? i dont know/care what others think, but someday i wanna do my theo. phy/astrophy doctorate there. and i will.</p>
<p>IIT is equal to MIT and other technological institute in U.S.
IIT has much more advanced curriculum that cornell, CMU and equal to MIT, Caltech etc.
But IIT does not have much great facilities like MIT in research and development. IIT can be equivalent to MIT in technological institute, but many researcher prefer to do research in high class foreign institutes.
If IIT would have world class facilities to research then many researchers will do their study in India.
So that is the main point.</p>
<p>if you want to go beyond IIT then try Russian schools they have tough syllabus.
Some schools uses Irodov’s problem book as textbook.
Also the world’s best hackers are from Russia as their language is more familiar to programming languages.
we say “RUSSIAN TECHNOLOGY”</p>
<p>what do you mean by ‘Irodov’s problem book as textbook’? we have them too… problems in general physics… fundamental laws of mechanics… basic laws of electromagnetism</p>
<p>@ Akietta- Ah, another follower of the IIT masses. I do not wish to sound demeaning, but this opinion is outlandish. Tell me something, if you were given a free ride at both IIT and MIT which one would you choose? If they are equal, as you say, than given the fact that you are an Indian resident is it likely that you would pick IIT? </p>
<p>Look, the matter at question is of repute. Ask the layman, and in my belief MIT, or any of the acronym schools generate a certain amount of awe far greater than IIT. Think about it. IIT represents something that’s been done. Many people have some relatives or relatives of relatives that have gone into IIT. They graduate each year and most of them end up in some non-prominent engineering job or another. But MIT? It represents a distant dream thousands of miles away. There’s a certain aura around it, a mystique that, IN INDIA, automatically garners respect. In my general observations, both MIT and IIT graduates are smart in their own right. But the acronym schools produce more than a good employee. They produce leaders. People at HYPSM usually tend to be better socially, having a far wider network that gets them to higher places. It might not be fair, but HYPSM graduates are far likely to prosper in this global market. Go to China? They’re going to recognise HYPSM. IIT? What’s that? Go to Indonesia. Go to America. Go to the BRIC countries. The leaders come from HYPSM.</p>
<p>After all, the IIT’s only evaluate one aspect of your personality, the purely academic problem-solving side. But there’s so many other components. How does he (or she) handle adversity? How does he do in groups? Can he be athletic? Is he generally likable? The holistic nature of this is a much better indicator than a test in which so many variables can deviate.</p>
<p>And again, Russian technology? This sounds a bit sketchy. I’ve heard of places in china like Tsingua or Peking or University of Tokyo (which is supposed to be the most selective place in the world) or even the University of Kyoto? But Russia?</p>
<p>Again, Akietta, I’m not trying to be condescending but merely point out certain loopholes in your argument.</p>
<p>^so far the best post in this thread</p>
<p>I really dislike the HYPSM acronym. It implies that these institutions are the creme de la creme and everything else is second tier or lower which is certainly not the case. UC Berkeley blows away HYP in engineering, is on par, or arguably better than them, in many of the sciences and humanities, and has better name recognition than Yale and Princeton internationally. UChicago gives Harvard, MIT and Stanford a run for their money in terms of academics. Caltech is the only other institute of technology in the world that is on MIT’s level. It makes little sense that these schools (and a few others) which provide stiff competition to HYPSM aren’t seen in the same light.</p>
<p>I <3 CalTech. GO CALTECH GO!!!</p>
<p>@ Ascaris- I completely agree with you. Yes, the acronym makes these schools almost appear in a different strata with everything else below it. This is completely wrong. But the entire premise of this thread is what the people think. And people thinking almost leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy. People “think” HYPSM are better and as a result, if a statistic or if a Nobel Prize originates from here one “expects” this and immediately starts putting on the praise. This leads to media reports, hearsay, uncles, chachas, mamis, and everyone in between to further its repute. If Caltech for instance gets it, the attention it gathers isn’t as much thus continuing the vicious cycle. </p>
<p>Yet, I’m sure you’ve heard that a person is shaped by the environment. Do I think Caltech, or UChicago is inferior? Of course not. Do other more informed citizens? Yes. And because I’m not living in a vacuum but a society with a million different connections, to some degree, I am forced to concede to others opinions.</p>
<p>@akietta- I have no clue about the curriculum, but IIT is in no way equal to MIT. Or any of Ivies. Combination of so many factors almost makes such comparison futile…
And yes I do somewhat agree that Russian education is far more intense, but its almost a waste going to all those schools, because USA is much more culturally known to all of us than Russia.</p>
<p>It also seems kind of weird, simply telling that they’re good hackers (the meaning of this word itself is misunderstood), so they must be having good technology.</p>
<p>@nocensure- Yes dude/dudess (!), the admission process in USA is far far better than the one here… Its a lot more holistic and subjective, which is a good thing…</p>
<p>I am not favouring IIT and MIT. Both are equal in means of education.
Moreover I also have dream to study at HYPSM but not everyone can go to MIT due to lack of financial aid and various problems. But MIT and IIT both are glamorous.
China is also a good competitive but I prefer Russians because they have been shown disrespect from many countries because of which they work in nutshells. Russians talent is unique. Many Russians fear to go abroad due to lack of security and tensed political issues. But the opportunity never ends.</p>
<p>i’d love to contribute to the brawl, but, the pathos is that in all probability, i’ll end up at an iit for my bs & ms:-(</p>
<p>MIT shouldn’t be a problem if you have some aid requirements. They hand out need based aid to every one who asks and demonstrates a need…</p>
<p>And on what premise are you saying that Russians are fearing to come out? O.o</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>MIT gives full aid to internationals, you can be rest assured that if you are selected, you will get a massive amount of aid.</p>
<p>^only if you get accepted, something whose chance is 0."i-dont-know-how-many-zeroes"1…at least for me…</p>
<p>Hope for the best, you never know ;)</p>
<p>yeah but currently im preparing for the worst… which is what even i dont know… maybe the worst is no college accepting me… or worse…</p>