<p>Clark was the exception Sakky, and even then, at the time of the founding of the AAU, it was considered a major research university. The remaining 12 of the 13 original founders of the AAU were all leading universities of the time and are all still considered top universities today. </p>
<p>Columbia University
Cornell University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Yale University</p>
My point was that despite being a young university, it was able to join an elite club of research universities. I’m not aware of Clark and Catholic universities reputation in 1900.</p>
<p>UT is a great school and has a lot going for it (I wish I had applied there when I was in high school), but claiming that it belongs with the likes of Berkeley, Michigan, UVA, UNC and UCLA is a bit over the line. UT is up and coming, but it isn’t “there” yet.</p>
<p>Once again, there are more to colleges than just two programs (engineering and business). </p>
<p>General consensus is that UT is not better than UNC, UVA, Michigan or any of the other schools. As far as publics go, UT would probably be about the 7th or 8th best nationally.</p>
<p>UT is also very well regarded for law school.</p>
<p>Now you have engineering, business, and law school. I think that sums it up as an amazing school. Liberal arts serves little purpose to society.</p>
<p>There is no denying that UT is an amazing school. Likewise, there is no denying that UNC, UVa, Michigan, and Berkeley are also amazing schools. UT is a top public, but as far as prestige goes it will pretty much always fall behind those 5 schools in the eyes of most people.</p>
<p>SuperPippo, I agree with some of what you say, but not all. For one thing, Cal is not better than Michigan in Business and both are slightly better than Texas in Business. Secondly, Cal is slightly better than Michigan and Michigan is slightly better than Texas in Engineering, but in all cases, the difference in completely negligible.</p>
<p>According to the USNWR:</p>
<p>BBA ranking:
Cal and Michigan are tied at #3 (4.4/5.0), Texas is #6 (4/1/5.0), UNC is also #6 (4.1/5.0)</p>
<p>Engineering ranking:
Cal is ranked #2 (4.65/5.0), Michigan #7 (4.4/5.0) and Texas #11 (4.15/5.0)</p>
<p>According to BusinessWeek:</p>
<p>BBA Ranking:
Michigan is #4, Cal is #6, Texas is #10 and UNC is #13</p>
<p>Um, yes really in the eyes of the informed people. Largeness does not equal greatness; look at PSU and OSU-both schools are huge, but are not though of as academic powerhouses. UNC, UVA, UCB, and UM are, by contrast.</p>
<p>“Inside California, only thing we know about the “University of Texas” or “University of Michigan” is that they have something to do with the states of those names and probably have multiple campuses somewhere like Austin/Houston/Dallas/San Antonio/El Paso or Detroit/Lansing/Ann Arbor.”</p>
<p>And outside California, only thing we know is that you have UCLA and Berkeley and probably some other campuses in other cities and towns in California that don’t mean a darn thing to us. And let’s face it, most people outside California think about athletics with UCLA, not academics – Berkeley’s the one with the real academic reputation outside California. So what’s the difference?</p>
<p>Even then, Cal and Michigan are roughly equal, and both are slightly better than Texas and UNC.</p>
<p>USNWR:
Cal is #7 with a 4.3/5.0 rating, Michigan is #13 with a 4.2/5.0 rating, Texas is #18 with a 3.9/5.0 rating and UNC is #20 with a 3.9/5.0 rating.</p>
<p>BusinessWeek:
Michigan is #5, Cal is # 10, UNC is #20 and Texas is #21.</p>