<p>“For example, Trojans is one of the more well-known brands in the large cities of China, due to USC’s marketing which covers all the large cities.”</p>
<p>In the US, if you mention Trojans, the first thing that comes to mind will be a brand of condoms. I have no idea, though, whether Trojan condoms are prestigious in Asia. lol</p>
<p>Being overly impressed with brand names and assuming “don’t know this school name” = “therefore the student can’t be all that bright” is the hallmark of someone with poor logic/intellectual skills. I don’t care about impressing people with poor logic/intellectual skills and think it’s a shame so many of you seem to dedicate your lives to sucking up to said people.</p>
<p>That’s straying a bit off topic, but yes, for students in China, Trojans will usually be known as USC.</p>
<p>Also, Pizzagirl, that may be the truth, but it’s also the unfortunate truth that the current generation of rich entrepreneurs in China may not even have received a college education therefore they may not know too much about smaller colleges in the US unless they have a child that wishes to attend university there. I realize this may be generalizing a trend to one specific country, but China is a good example in which many people mistakenly make this assumption. I can speak from personal experience as well from this topic, given that my parents hold this perspective as well.</p>
<p>It’s a common fallacy to think that a good reputation must be tied in with a good education and vice versa. Especially nowadays with so many more factors influencing college choices and “prestige”, there isn’t really any way to separate “famous” colleges and those that truly offer a top-tier education.</p>
<p>So why are rich entrepreneurs in China so important to impress?</p>
<p>I’ve found Cornell to be very well known in Asia.</p>
<p>I said, this is probably going to be too specific an example of a trend, but if you want to succeed in China, you have to network. More than any other place on the globe. You have to leave a lasting impression on the entrepreneurs. Perhaps you would call it “connections” but that’s how things work in China. A “prestigious” degree from a well known school such as Harvard will go longer ways than a degree from Amherst or Williams.</p>
<p>“I said, this is probably going to be too specific an example of a trend, but if you want to succeed in China, you have to network. More than any other place on the globe.”</p>
<p>There are plenty of other places in the world (Russia, Colombia, and most third world countries) where you need to network harder than in China to get anywhere.</p>
<p>Oh. Well, go chase your prestige then. You look like a bunch of lemmings, but whatever. Make sure you also buy designer handbags, clothing and cars based on what other people will think. That’s a real sophisticated way to live life.</p>
<p>You might want to re-read the last page, I just said that this isn’t necessarily the right point of view, and even though my parents hold this perspective, I am against it.</p>
<p>Just so I don’t seem like a hypocrite, I’ve applied to only one Ivy league school (UPenn which was a compromise with my parents), while applying to numerous smaller LACs (around 3-4). Please don’t put words into my mouth when I’m also against the point of “prestige” overshadowing the quality of education. It’s not possible to convince everyone that the “prestige” does not necessarily result as a function of quality of education (even though in most cases that is true) and also many colleges for top-tier education lies under the radar. That would only be in the perfect world.</p>
<p>“Prestige” also exists to fulfill people’s egos. When discussing which colleges they attend with others, getting a “wow” for your university is good for your self-esteem. Face it, humans love praise. Thus, “prestige” does play a rather large role in the selection of colleges, whether we like it or not. Just to clear this up, I do NOT support the idea of “prestige” as a primary factor in the consideration of colleges.</p>
<p>Ahhh, the 46763. thread on “what’s the most famous” 
Makes no sense.
Still, from an European perspective, the four universities that basically everyone, even the homeless on the corner heard of are Harvard, Yale, Oxford, Cambridge. And somehow Sorbonne - although numerous universities use the name under the umbrella of the University of Paris, and they’re nowhere on the rankings.</p>
<p>The bit more educated people knows about Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, Berkeley. The brightest ones also heard about Georgetown, UCLA, MIT, Johns Hopkins, and probably UChicago. And I think basically just the academics or those who are really interested in universities heard about the rest. (Of course, the UK is an exemption in this matter, since the people here knows much more about US unis that any other nation in the EU.)</p>
<p>As I see, in the US most people heard about the bigger Ivies and Oxbridge - in the latter, Oxford have the edge over Cambridge. (Bit amongst academics, this is not the case.)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>ROFL. My D just got into a top LAC (you can check my posts and figure out which one). Most of the kids at her school, and many of her teachers, wouldn’t know what school this was (except vaguely through a prominent alum) or how great an achievement this is, since they just all fell off the turnip truck as far as we’re concerned. She’s excited and it doesn’t matter that “no one knows.” The people who MATTER know the difference. The people who don’t matter? Well, they’re the ones constantly checking their reflection in the eyes of others.</p>
<p>Here’s another post that explains it well - bclintonk (who lives in Minneapolis/St Paul) discussing his daughter’s acceptance to Haverford:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>You’re all so laughably chasing prestige. You don’t even get that the point of view expressed in the above post – oh well, if you don’t know the quality of my school, that’s too bad for you, but not my problem – is SO much more elite and prestigious than your constant “ooh, is this school prestigious enough for you? how about this one? and how about that one? do you like me now?”</p>
<p>^Oh, so true, if not just a bit Mitford-esque! lol</p>
<p>A bit off the question of international prestige, but an interesting article, nonetheless…</p>
<p>[The</a> Prestige Racket by Daniel Luzer | Washington Monthly](<a href=“http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/the_prestige_racket.php?page=1]The”>http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/feature/the_prestige_racket.php?page=1)</p>
<p>I don’t really see any point in any further argument, as you keep saying that I’m chasing prestige, while I just proved myself to be exactly on the same side as you. I’m just pointing out that unfortunately, only a small group of people are able to understand that a quality education does not have to be tied in with “prestige” and international recognition.</p>
<p>Especially in third world countries, only the more internationally “renown” universities will be known, because of the lack of knowledge about higher education that the people usually hold.</p>
<p>Well, heaven forbid those people ever be challenged or corrected. If they were to say NYC is the capital of New York state, then it would clearly be more important to kowtow to their beliefs than actually clue them in to the truth.</p>
<p>Do you honestly think that third world rich entrepreneurs will come to these boards seeking the answer to “prestigious” schools? Of course, there are many more people that incorrectly hold this concept, but the most important ones are the ones that <em>most likely</em> don’t come to this board.</p>
<p>The tradition of top-tier education being tied in with international recognition has been in place for a long time. LAC education has been flying under the radar for a long time, but they do have their merits. Just to show my support for LAC education, here are some statistics:</p>
<p>"Though small in number when compared to America’s large public universities, liberal arts college graduates are represented disproportionately among leaders in the arts, education, science and medicine, public service and business. A 1998 study found that even though only 3 percent of American college graduates were educated at a residential liberal arts college, alumni of these colleges accounted for:</p>
<pre><code>* 8 percent of Forbes magazine’s listing of the nation’s wealthiest CEOs in 1998
<p>On a per capita basis, liberal arts colleges produce nearly twice as many students who earn a Ph.D. in science as other institutions. Liberal arts graduates also are disproportionately represented in the leadership of the nation’s scientific community. In a recent two-year period, nearly 20 percent of the scientists elected to the prestigious National Academy of Sciences received their undergraduate education at a liberal arts college."</p>
<p>[About</a> Liberal Arts Colleges -](<a href=“http://www.collegenews.org/x66.xml]About”>http://www.collegenews.org/x66.xml)</p>
<p>Honestly, “prestige” is overrated, and as the generation moves on, more and more people will have knowledge of LACs. The new generation of students, especially of third world countries, are researching more than ever overseas studies (more in the US than anywhere else), and this will lead to a new wave of leaders/businessmen that understand the true value of a liberal arts education.</p>
<p>For now, the trend of ignorance will be difficult to change.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>The people who matter have always known about, and highly valued, the better / elite LAC’s.</p>
<p>Having lived in Eastern Europe for a long time, I can say that Harvard, Oxford, and Cambridge are most well known.
However, if a person just says “I studied in America” he gets immediate respect.</p>