Is it time to revise the prestigiosity ratings? The original!

Parents Forum
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<p>This is the article I was thinking of.<br>
[Katie</a> Baker on the New York Times wedding section - Grantland](<a href=“http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6769919/matrimonial-moneyball]Katie”>» Matrimonial Moneyball)</p>

<p>Hunt, please see if anything needs revising in light of:</p>

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<p>Universities
For each of the below tiers, points are awarded as outlined for each degree (undergraduate, graduate, law, medical, MFA, whatever diploma James Franco is earning these days, etc.). Keep in mind, once again — this is not a US News and World Report-sanctioned ranking, but rather a careful and studied analysis of what matters to the powers that be at the New York Times.</p>

<p>The Insufferables (+3): Cal Tech, Cambridge, Columbia, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Princeton, Stanford, Yale
The Demi-Elite (+2): Amherst, Berkeley, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Georgetown, Penn, UNC, UVA, Williams
The Boarding School Crowd (+1): Bowdoin, Charleston, Colgate, Colorado College, Davidson, Hamilton, Hobart, Middlebury, Pepperdine, Rollins, SMU, Ole Miss, Trinity, Vanderbilt, Washington & Lee
The Power-Hippies (+1 if relevant to the couple’s “vibe” or “agenda” as pushed forth by the Times): Bard, Berkeley, Hampshire, Oberlin, Pomona, RISD, Swarthmore, Vassar (if it was the groom), Wesleyan
Other Notable Niches (+1, same as above): Army, Howard, Julliard, Morehouse, Navy, Smith, Spelman, St. Andrews, UCLA, USC, Wellesley</p>

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<p>Yep, and the possible creation of a HYPPie index to appease the resident of Cal’s Red Square. So far, they have rejected the HYPSLite denomination, and the HYPSWest was not plausible because of Stanford’s previous inclusion. </p>

<p>This is really complicated stuff. Long live the HYPSters … such a beautiful 2013 term!</p>

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<p>I wonder if the absence of U Chicago on the NYTimes list increases or decreases its prestigiosity? After all, the NYTimes is so bourgeois.</p>

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<p>Think we should add Michigan and give it an 880 mh (but in Michigan and NW Ohio where I am from, 997.365782322119 mH).</p>

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<p>The NYTimes might have been afraid to confuse Chicago with Northwestern or not know how to rank them. The readers in NY probably never look that close in Illinois.</p>

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<p>I think UChicago is like those cray cray stories in the NYT Weddings section where they feature “normal” people instead of the elite who rightfully belong in those pages.</p>

<p>I can’t get past the Grantland story. I’m quite sure there are wedding counselors (not to be confused with marriage counselors) who are akin to college counselors, helping people get into the pages of the NYT.</p>

<p>And I can’t help but rate ds2’s list against that of the Grantland story. He has one insufferable, two demi-elites and a power-hippie. Why did he even bother to apply to the five other schools?</p>

<p>And not one of them is Harvard! Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn!</p>

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<p>Are U Chicago and Northwestern different schools? I had no idea. Maybe the NYTimes should do an expose on this.</p>

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<p>Isnt Northwestern the same as Northeastern?</p>

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<p>So true. And, I believe the august paper could rehire a couple of former editors and members of the crew that covered Alaska politics to arrive at the conclusion that the schools are indeed one and the same. That would be in their favorite wheelhouse.</p>

<p>On a different issue, I am thrilled that Chicago has joined the usual conversations about prestigiosity. Their new recruits can stop trying so hard to convince the world they are both smart and NOT HYPS rejects. Abandoning the pseudo-intellectualism-uber-alles will take a few generations. </p>

<p>Oops, I came very close to be dead serious.</p>

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<p>The University of Chicago and University of Pennsylvania both lose significant prestigiosity points since many of the unwashed masses assume they are <em>GASP</em> public schools!</p>

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<p>Is it prestigiostic-like to be a school full of HYPS rejects, or not? Hunt, any thoughts on the matter?</p>

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<p>If we used Mills College as the standard, would the units be Millimills or Millimillses?</p>

<p>The Baker index lists Berkeley as both a Demi-Elite and Power Hippee, which then moves it into the ranks of the Insufferables based on point value.</p>

<p>And never have I seen a thread that cries out for a “Like” button as strongly as does this one. Perhaps we can start a ranking standard for threads?</p>

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<p>WHAT?! My son turned down a couple of Hunt’s most prestigoisly ranked colleges for an unranked school, which means that there needs to be a prestigiosity addendum:</p>

<p>An automatic spot in the upper middle class section of the prestigiosity rankings will be reserved for any college your child has chosen if he has turned down a ranked college… All based on the “Because I said so on an annonymous online forum” standard of excellence to which we all adhere.</p>

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<p>Thank you PizzaGirl for an hilarious read. “The Insufferables” is a category worthy of permanent status in college rankings. I don’t mean to offend any of the listed schools, I just like the category name.</p>

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<p>Asians consider Rice so full of prestigiousity that they include it on the menu of every Chinese restaurant. Does any one ever ask you if you want “steamed Harvard” or “fried Harvard”?</p>

<p>John Wayne’s nickname was “The Duke”. He would have looked ridiculous if anyone called him “The Harvard”. Surely this earns Duke some prestigiosity points.</p>

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<p>We could, but I’d like to hear what others say about it, because that’s how I form my opinions.</p>

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They also do not ask if you want brown Harvard as that probably would not be taken well…</p>

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It’s a negative in terms of prestigiosity. For example, it hurts Tufts’ rating that there are so few posts asking (plaintively), “Should I even bother to apply to Tufts with my horrible stats?”</p>

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<p>We can also have a list of CC Parents Favorite Safeties for those of you who avoid the finaid forum…I’ll start it off…come to think of it, this might be the only one :-)</p>

<p>Alabama</p>

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<p>Do boosters of a given school who bring it up in EVERY SINGLE thread, no matter how tangential, add or subtract to a college’s prestigiosity? I’m guessing subtract, myself. This is a fun thread, not a serious one.</p>