<p>I think this thread proves that harvard is the most prestigious school in the world--just from your guys rankings, Harvard comes out number 1 the most...If we were ranking the hardest school to get into, I would have to say that would be MIT, only because the acceptance rating is lower than Harvard's by like...1%, lol. Also, I don't think its possible to rate the "best" school only because you would have to go to every school that you are rating.</p>
<p>besides Amherst i dont think the average person can name any other LACs. maybe wellesley but a lotta people dunno that is even good. besides Amherst, the rest dont really carry prestige unless ur talking about like business world. but average american? LACs dont come close</p>
<p>oh yeah. i keep forgetting that we're talking about prestige amongst the average Americans who don't even know what they're talking about as opposed to real intellectuals. my mistake.</p>
<p>haha dont we love the average joe schmo? =P</p>
<p>"oh yeah. i keep forgetting that we're talking about prestige amongst the average Americans who don't even know what they're talking about as opposed to real intellectuals. my mistake."</p>
<p>Of course! Once you enter the real world, rarely will you work and live among real intellectuals. Instead, you might have to deal with people who haven't even gone to college! Imagine that.</p>
<p>Prestige? Who cares.</p>
<p>My mom does.</p>
<p>Based on WOW factor alone, I'd say it's: </p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
MIT
Princeton
Brown
Stanford
Williams
Dartmouth
Columbia
Berkeley
Penn
Cornell
Swarthmore
Duke</p>
<p>I'm from the east coast, hence the relatively low placement of Stanford (its wow factor around here is significantly lower than Brown's, maybe about the same as Cornell's or Georgetown's.) </p>
<p>To the person who asked, Columbia doesn't have a huge WOW factor because in my opinion its selectivity rankings are skewed by the vast number of kids from NYC who apply (they are probably admitted at a MUCH lower rate to maintain geographical balance at the school.) A lot of not-extremely-qualified kids get into Columbia--ones who are decidedly and noticeably less sharp than kids at schools with comparable selectivity stats--Harvard, etc. </p>
<p>Penn and Cornell may be rated fairly well by US News, but they really don't have that universal allure. Duke, also, is remarkably lacking in cachet. In fact, I wouldn't lump it along with the heavyweights (H,Y,M,P) in the first place.</p>