<p>Prestige is only an outward factor as Woodwork said. It has to do with rankings, and rankings only. The only reason people get bragging rights is if their school has a good ranking, like Harvard at #1. The reason people brag about harvard is only because of that, and maybe because it was the first college in America. If harvard was #5, obviously people would not brag so much about getting in. In that case, there would probably be more people from Penn bragging about their acceptances than people at Harvard bragging. If you look at your rankings, as in everyone who has posted on this thread, it is extremely close to the US News and World Report rankings. I dont know about you guys, but this seems to me like there is a certain bias in your results. You seem to be very influenced by the US News results, as is everyone else. This is common human nature. Everyone has to have a basis for their assumptions. This is the only way you can look smart. You have to be able to back yourself up. And the US NEWS rankings is your backup. Thats why the results are so close. If someone says to you, Penn has more prestige than Harvard, all you gotta do is tell em, "Hey, look at the undisputed US NEWS rankings and you will see where I get my basis from" Basically, all this comes down to is the US NEWS rankings for prestige. This is what everyone looks at, and so the rankings there are undisputed. If you make the #1 school on that list, everyone will know you made the #1 school even if you dont tell em so. Those rankings are the only reason for prestige. Not individual preferences or specialties of individual colleges.</p>
<p>I agree with you, Woodwork. I posted this thread to get general opinions from people all over the country. For me, I live in Houston, Texas and Rice is considered to be an Ivy League-caliber school (here), but to people in the northeast, it may not. I want to know if there were certain institutions, besides HYP, that had national prestige and not just regional cache.
As for Duke, I feel it's extremely prestigious, but I would assume it's only prestigious to predominantly southerners, but I don't know. I know Michigan, in Ann Arbor, is considered extremely "whoo whoo" to people down here in Texas, but folks on the east or west coasts may beg to differ.
I want to see if my perception of certain schools outside of TX. is true, or is it because I have lived in Houston my whole life.</p>
<p>I'm in the south, but I get the impression that Duke is prestigious across the nation (that's just going by these boards). Rice is a good deal less so, regardless.</p>
<p>Regionalism is definitely everything when it comes to prestige.</p>
<p>From small town west coast...</p>
<p>First, I had to explain to my counselor that penn was not a state school, and that "no", i was not going to save money on tuition by staying away from privates, and, yes "it was very far away", and "no", it was not a good football school.</p>
<p>Harvard is for "really really smart people", but if you're smart or above average you'll have no trouble getting there.
Yale pretty much snags the same rep as Harvard, but there are still people who don't know it exists.</p>
<p>The rest of the ivies are pretty mysterious- wait- there's more than 2 ivies?</p>
<p>However...
USC, UCLA, Penn State, Stanford.... VERY popular. Football is the only outlet for prestige here.</p>
<p>I'm going to say what might come as a shock to you people.</p>
<p>Believe it or not, the average joe does not go home to read the US News and World Report Annual College Rankings to see whos raised a few points and who's lowered a few points.</p>
<p>The people that read the college rankings ALREADY know about all of the top tier schools. It's pretty funny that the only people who care about prestige already know all of the other schools- doesn't that create an inherent flaw in prestige?</p>
<p>The people who need to know will know. Stop fussing about which school is more ficticiously ahead and focus on your own abilities - something that will truly define your life.</p>
<p>DUKE SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</p>
<p>(ding ding ding Daily Double)</p>
<p>"Harvard is for "really really smart people", but if you're smart or above average you'll have no trouble getting there.
Yale pretty much snags the same rep as Harvard, but there are still people who don't know it exists."</p>
<p>OH mannnnnn...... do you know how many ridiculously smart people apply to harvard and get rejected because they're not child prodigies/likely to influence an entire field of research in their lifetime/music virtuousos or olympic bound athletes?? same with princeon. like i hope you meant that derisively to mock people that think "above average" will get you into an ivy. and who (that does not live under a rock) has never heard of Yale??</p>
<p>scotty-
end up getting in ED, or not? </p>
<p>gah, i really suck at sniffing out this (potential) sarcasm.</p>
<p>Presige amongst the ivies is like this, as I see it:</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton, Yale</li>
<li>Upenn, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia</li>
</ol>
<p>It mostly depends on your particular program; but Harvard, while it no longer has the lowest acceptance rate, is still known internationally as the best school in the country. Princeton and Yale follow closely behind. After that, the rest of the ivies are a matter of choice. The acceptance rates at schools like Brown and Columbia are much lower than Cornell and Upenn, but that doesn't make them any more prestigious. Also, acceptance rate also depends on size and location.</p>
<p>I wouldn't consider any other schools as good as these except Stanford, MIT, which are equal in rank possibly to the "lesser" ivies. </p>
<p>At any rate, these are the best schools in the country, and one is fortunate to be able to go to one and get a first-class education.</p>
<p>Yup. I meant that to mock people. lol.</p>
<p>Most people just don't realize how much competition there is.</p>
<p>"I wouldn't consider any other schools as good as these except Stanford, MIT, which are equal in rank possibly to the "lesser" ivies."</p>
<p>Stanford and MIT are tied with Princeton and Yale for prestige. I don't know what you are talking about. Actually they might be a little higher up because their admissions officers don't hack into each other's databases and abuse an applicant's social secuirty number.</p>
<p>"More prestigious instituitions? "</p>
<p>Is that like a pun or something? Insta-tuition.=) Or did you just spell "institution" wrong? If it's a pun, good one. I applaud you. If you just happened to spell "institution" wrong, then I will hit you with my glove.</p>
<p>hack into each other's databases? i applied to more than one ivy.. are you serious?</p>
<p>red bull, hes referring to the princeton adcoms who did this a few years back and took alot of heat for it. its not a common or by any means an accepted practice.</p>
<p>Woodwork, what makes you think I haven't.</p>
<p>As I have recently learned you are well traveled, lol, and moreover, you have international ambitions (on budgets of 100 dollar bills go get em tiger!). You might want to consider that bogus London tabloid that had a bit of a regional flare, but for the purposes of this thread it would be useless including schools located in Switzerland, Tokyo, China, India etc.</p>
<p>As far as the US goes, it is my opinion that you would have to be stubborn or sheltered not to realize that different parts of the country have different judgments within the beauty contest that is prestige.
I really suggest going to the Berkeley forum and see whether they believe Berkeley is #22. Or Michigan, and see if they believe they are #23. The same applies to NORTHWESTER, UCHICAGO, UTEXAS, RICE, UWASH, EMORY, HOPKINS. In fact through the years many of them have been ranked in the top 10, when Penn wasnt.</p>
<p>Just for the he-ll of it, try a new thread in their forums and boldly state your views! Its too easy to do it in the forum of the school you know you will attend. Thats all I meant by, get out more often.</p>
<p>The only real opinion is obviously ones own, although it has been famously said that opinions are like a-wholes, everybodys got one and they all stink. How badly does any individual have to be in a better school than everybody else?</p>
<p>Woodwork, I disagree with your rankings and especially the "prestige by region" whole thing.</p>
<p>You will not be able to talk anyone from UPenn into believing it is not a top 10 school, even though it is widely believed Penn inflates its USNews ranking through highly developed admissions policies that can rearrange the ephemera of angels on the head of a pin (I dont know if its true: angels being immaterial-intellection on all accounts). I only repeat the genius of innumerable other status seekers on many forums, including the Penn forum.
In my inflatable opinion, Penn is top 10 (though #4 seems a bit over the top) based on prestige (a non-scientific narcotic to say the least) because it is an Ivy League school which is the East coast, and by extension US, gold standard for all that is good in designer drugs. Even Stanford is valued (opiate wise) as it compares to other Ivies, higher than some, lower than others. All over the country people refer to their school as the Harvard of the _________. </p>
<p>For gods sake even in Canada they call McGill the Harvard of Canada .Montreal even allows incoming freshmen to indulge in the amber aperitifs of the working class now theres a school to numb the shame of failing the Ivy League!</p>
<p>Everybody is, none the less, better informed than everyone else; its in the nature of those who are always looking ahead to their next ego-enhancing fix: Oh yeah, you seem much cooler now that youre in that school. Of course you are
dear child, take another hit, lol.
Unless of course, you picked your school, because it was best for you, although for some, I suppose prestige is the only diet they have any appetite for. </p>
<p>Besides, I think everyone should get out more often, dont you? Otherwise youll end up bed-ridden incessantly pressing the button connected to an intravenous tube that makes you smile with the self-induced satisfaction that you are better than the dull-normals of academia.</p>
<p>Now, ..drop that button, stand up, SMILE and go to the school for you!</p>
<p>double post.</p>
<p>I did! But, nice use of shift+f7 dude.</p>
<p>If there was a synonym for this <a href="http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?757/9364%5B/url%5D">http://www.collegeconfidential.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?757/9364</a> I'd use it!</p>
<p>And you use of isolated cases doesn't advance your point. The fact that McGill is "the harvard of Canada" doesn't mean that in Canada McGill is more prestigious than Harvard. It means that in Canada, McGill is the most prestigious institution. The fact that "[m]ontreal even allows incoming freshmen to indulge in the amber aperitifs of the working class" also doesn't advance your point. I have a hunch that if Harvard students could be in both Canada and Boston at the same time and they were as integrated into Canadian culture as Canada's students, it would be harvard students that "indulge in the amber apertifs of the working class."
Fame is not congruent with prestige. While my dad might not know what IIT is, my dad's friend (who ran an engineering firm) did without a shadow of a doubt.</p>
<p>What's shift f7 mean?</p>
<p>Stonedpandas,</p>
<p>I don't doubt for a minute that you picked what you believe is the best school for you, though you may be the exception to the prestige hound rule.</p>
<p>The stuff about McGill was not intended to imply that McGill=harvard. But I know Canadians who would say that McGill>Penn, McGill>Cornell.</p>
<p>That doesn't make it a fact, because there are no facts when it comes to prestige, just BS.</p>
<p>I'm also sure than there are people from Penn who will say that Penn>harvard, Penn>Princeton, Penn>Dartmouth etc.</p>
<p>That's the nature of the habit.</p>
<p>No fame is not equal to prestige. You could be infamous without being envied.
Prestige is for suckers who got nothing else going on, however, if they did, prestige would be the last thing they worry about.</p>
<p>Ok. I can agree to that. I love finding these shades of grey! My point though is that the only prestige (which is such a broadly defined term, anyway. i take it to mean here as perceived quality of the education and overall finished product) is the perceived prestige of the people who matter (people who recruit you). I also suppose it varies depending on an the area of a student wishes to pursue.
(i was kidding about the shift+f7. on microsoft word if you highlight a word and then click shift+f7 you get a thesaurus entry of the word you highlighted. It's pretty useful.).</p>