<p>
[quote]
Most educated people I know, myself included, think as highly of Cal, Michigan, UVa and a couple other publics as we do of the Ivies.
[/quote]
Everything else aside, you're telling me that you would assume someone who went to Michigan is just as intelligent as someone who went to Cornell?</p>
<p>Please.</p>
<p>^^... pretty much, yeah. If I were hiring, I wouldn't assume that someone from Cornell is more intelligent than someone from Michigan, or vice versa. I wouldn't assume one could do the job better, either.</p>
<p>I know it's hard to believe, but employers have similar thought processes. Try to break yourself of CC mentality.</p>
<p>Please.</p>
<p>Agreed, one of the most intelligent kids from my graduating is attending Michigan Honors this year.</p>
<p>Umich not being T25 anymore will probably be a huge detriment for future years.</p>
<p>Most overrated- Wayne State University</p>
<p>University of Texas, and University of Florida are underrated.</p>
<p>lololololol jec7483 wins</p>
<p>I wouldn't hold much wait to the rankings...whereever they got their information from is extremely outdated or just wrong. I looked up the information on my institution and the first major problem I saw was the enrollment...They list total enrollment as 865 and we have over 2000 students. They also list us as a Baccalaureate University...who grant less than half our degrees in liberal arts...although we are an LAC and offer MBA's and MED's. There is no way anyone at our campus "forgot" to add in all the students or mention that we have MED's and MBA's.</p>
<p>please kyledavid a kid graduating from columbia not looked upon equally to an employer as one coming from Michigan is....get real. Thats like saying someone graduating from Stanford is looked on the same as someone from Emory. Get real....</p>
<p>If I were an employer, the names "Stanford" and "Emory" would impress me, but not as much as seeing if the prospective employee has interesting and relevant work-related experience, or, if it's a first hire, that the employee is passionate and excited about the road ahead. Becraze, you're trying to illustrate a point using two schools as examples that should have effect on the CC population, but they don't (not at least on me).</p>
<p>One example that I hope explains a lot: I have a relative who graduated from Emory who is very influential in business. (From here I'm going to try to preserve anonymity, but let's just say you wish you had this person's job and you wish you had as many Google hits as this person). If you sat down and talked with that person, you'd soon see why they are perfect for what they do: they are interesting, passionate, concerned, approachable, friendly, and smart. Maybe not as smart as some of the people graduating from Stanford, but the Emory grad I know has the all-around package deal. And smart enough to do the job.</p>
<p>And it's foolish to assume that the hierarchy of the US News ranks is preserved in the real-world workforce. My parents are both Ivy League grads and both work for people who went to Unremarkable U. My parents are both happy with their jobs (though both had rough patches here and there), but they just didn't ascend their respective career ladders as highly as others.</p>
<p>As a high schooler standing at the foot of the mountain and staring up, it's easy to think that a super-duper elite degree is the surefire way to employment, financial security, a nice car, a spouse, and 2.3 kids. But I think many standing on the top of the mountain or in the process of scaling it will tell you that's not the case.</p>
<p>Sigh. Bescraze has still yet to learn that there is more variation within top colleges than there is across top colleges.</p>
<p>I guess we're all trying to brace ourselves for the inevitable "told you so" moment that will happen to all high school students, some time, somewhere. Probably whenever they shuttle off to Accepted U. </p>
<p>They'll ask themselves, "Why did I care so much about where I went to college? Why was it so important to me? And why didn't anybody ever tell me that the resources I can find here are almost the same as the resources I can find anywhere else?"</p>
<p>I read something the other day that said the average SAT score for the billionaires in the US. (the ones who went through US schooling) was only a 1150 or something like that. and the GPA wasnt anything very high either.</p>
<p>Going to a school that a magazine that is most likely payed big bucks to place some schools isnt going to help you much in being successful. the people who are successful are the ones who have the drive in life. and more than that....they are simply good at something, make good impressions on people and have good work ethics.</p>
<p>everyone needs to "GET REAL!!" like becraze said.(haha...sorry couldnt help that)
all this arguing isnt getting anyone anywhere....and dont you guys have some homework to do....or an opera to write...or no...grouund braking cancer research to be doing? i mean you all are aiming to get into what a magazine calls the best school right?
stop wasting your time on this ridiculous thread....it is completely opinion based. there are NOOO facts to back up what people are saying. just opinions....which have been just contradicting the previous post from the start.</p>
<p>"Most overrated- Wayne State University"</p>
<p>I'm not entirely sure as to why you would post that out of, what essentially is, spite. Do you have some experience with the school, or are you having a bad day?</p>
<p>Wayne State is actually a vastly UNDERRATED. My uncle did his graduate work there back in the 80s and he was definitely satisfied.</p>
<p>These kinds of lists perpetuate the notion that there are only 10 or 25 universities that offer the best of everything to an elite chosen few - because, let's face it - look at the numbers of freshmen admitted versus the total number of high school graduates out applying for college. It's like if you are 'chosen' by MIT or Harvard or Princeton, you're better than 99% of the mediocre, the riff-raff coming out of high school. It's nuts. The more the same university appears in the top 10 of any list like this (like collegeboard.com, princetonreview.com) the more desirable it becomes to students who, quite frankly, have no chance of obtaining admittance. Even with SAT scores that top the charts and GPAs to match and community service and great recommendations - they are virtually doomed, unless they have a relative who preceded them at that university (the whole LEGACY thing - what a crock - as if there is a genetic predisposition that makes them better choices for the ultimate universities), a relative who contributed uber dollars to the university, and, in some cases, have anything athletic in their high school background (no matter how BAD their high school are/were or if they only played for one year). Come on USNWR, spread the wealth around - there are under-rated universities that abound and that offer MORE than the elite top 10 or top 25 that keep pervading your lists. Open your horizons, look outside the box, open the box and look at the rot inside. My brother, accepted at Rensselaer and CU Boulder - rejected at MIT, CalTech, and USAFA - has incredible insight regarding his application/admission experience. He topped the SAT (combined 2200) and ACT (33) a 3.9 GPA at the end of senior year (4.0 entering senior year) - had solid, consistent community service and volunteerism, took a black belt in Universal Kempo, worked for two years to earn money for college (which, in retrospect, he would advise NOT TO DO - no one values it - as a matter of fact, he felt like it was a detriment because it cut into the time he could have devoted to after-school clubs and activities - a big requirement for some of the top 10/25 on every list). Just because MIT has a high 'precious' ratio for their admitted students does not mean that they are an uber awesome college. We visited their campus this summer and were virtually ignored (we got a tour by a very precocious student - but they're all precocious, so that was redundant) and we were not impressed by the size of the university, the lack of interest in a visiting prospective student (because they don't have to be invested in visiting students - they have 18,000 students to pick from - you don't pick them, they pick you, you see), and the unimpressive Aerospace building - (a tiny, deserted building on their campus - no one there to talk to, the 'guide' knew nothing), and the depressing (translated: kind of ugly) campus. He still wanted it, though. He got rejected. One person from his high school made it - and did not have the stats - but had a relative who worked in admissions and a high 'precious' factor - a latch-key kid who spent all her spare time at school after school but was a notorious gossip, brown-noser, backstabber, and cultivated a boyfriend who was a junior (and turned out to be the son of the MIT interviewers for their high school - and yes, she was interviewed by the parent of this boy she was dating!!). She was vicious about competing for grades. When she found out my bro was her competition for MIT - seriously, you wouldn't believe what she did - it's material for a hit movie. By the end of senior year, he was over MIT - given that they had accepted this sort of monstrous person. USAFA - what can you say - he had no legacy there (which we understand gives you like, the equivalent of a 150 point boost to your SATs) and he had no athletics (which, apparently, gives you about another 100 point boost to your SATs). So, let's see, he got 760 on his math SAT - but they accepted kids with, like, a 550 whose dads already got the 'gift' of a free service academny education (courtesy taxpayers) and who played some kind, any kind, of high school athletics (losing, winning, injured - didn't matter) - oh and the gender/race/ethnic thing (whoops, not supposed to talk about it....). That pretty much crushed him. He still hasn't gotten over it. So, my mom, who was going to retire if he got AFA, is still working and my bro is at Rensselaer. The more he learns about it - the more impressed he is with it. My parents are actually kind of way o.k. with the way things turned out (other than the fact that it makes money a lot tighter around here). They like the size of the school, and it's engineering focus, and we were all impressed with the whole campus when we took my brother to orientation a couple of weeks ago - it will be a good fit for my brother. But, it gets short-shifted on all these top 10/25 lists - when it should be a lot higher. So, now I'm staring into the mouth of the applications/admissions beast - and I feel like duplicating all the schools he applied to just to see what happens - because I'm kind of a carbon copy of him. Except I know not to work (quit my part time job already). But I can't do anything about athletics - they don't let seniors join any team in their senior year. I'm just going to ramp up the community service and after-school clubs - (advice from one of my teachers - create a club, install yourself as President and PRESTO, 100 more points on your admissions applications - you don't have to prove you had regular meetings, any kind of membership or even did anything worthy)! I'm drawing the line at brown-nosing or character assassination of fellow students (though it did work for the sociopath who got accepted at MIT - except the interviewers don't have a daughter I can cultivate/date...hmmm WHAT am I willing to do to get accepted?). Oh, as for CalTech - forget about it - it was the the stratosphere application and I'm not wasting my time - it's like MIT admissions on steroids). With any luck, I'll end up at Rensselaer, like my brother - and that would be an accomplishment I'd be proud of. (Sorry Mom, add another 4 years to your working career!)</p>
<p>Your brother was certainly qualified but applying to MIT and CIT are even more of a crapshoot for male applicants. MIT lists its application rate for males as 9 percent, 21 percent for females. For CIT, it's 16.9 percent for males, 29.4 percent for females. (see College</a> Navigator - National Center for Education Statistics</p>
<p>I must say I am shocked that with your brother's stats, he was not admitted to the USAFA. The service academy admittees from our school had some sports, but for one it was merely a member of the track and cross-country team; he wasn't a star or anything. (The other was on the tennis team.) Are you sure there wasn't something else --- not Christian enough in the application, for example?</p>
<p>I agree that the most underrated universities/colleges are the ones that don't make the top tier and are treated like TTT, at least on CC. Here on the West Coast, there's a lot more respect for the "___ State" universities and the quality education they provide.</p>
<p>Bescraze,</p>
<p>Can you tell us more about yourself? Are you in HS? Where have you lived other than the NE? Have you had any real job? Where do you get your info? From your parents and relatives in the NE?</p>
<p>I lived in the NE before and I know how popular Brown is over there. Its open curriculum is a big draw and well-known for many in that region. That said,
the Californians that don't know much or anything about Brown include the educated group. Please don't argue with me how the Californians think if you haven't spent a day here. You will be surprised that many educated people can't name ALL of the eight Ivies. Guess which one people most likely can't name when that happens? The one with virtually no well-known program and I am sure you know which one it is. </p>
<p>Before I came to California, I used to think UCLA was a decent school but a notch below schools like WashU, Northwestern, or JHU. I also thought USC was further behind. Your persception of a school is influenced by how those surrounding you perceive it. In LA, there's no question those two schools are highly regarded by the folks here, educated or not. These two schools have grown on me over time. I guarantee you if your family/relatives were living here, you would have had a very different perspective about different schools, including Brown.</p>
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<p>So... before you moved to California you used to hold the correct opinion?</p>
<p>"Correct opinion"... nice.</p>