most prestigious?

<p>please tell me honestly.
rank these universities in order of prestige and respect please.</p>

<p>UChicago, Duke, NYU, UMichigan Ann Arbor</p>

<p>Depends on what you mean by prestigious, but per my definition (that is, what most people in academia would think):</p>

<ol>
<li>Duke/UChicago</li>
<li>Michigan/NYU</li>
</ol>

<p>Does it really matter? No. UChicago does not need prestige whores. -_-</p>

<p>Haha, I think phuriku captured my feelings on these kinds of discussions exactly. I won't try to even get into how the four schools you mentioned are all different in very striking and remarkable ways, and how all of them are incredibly good at what they do and will give you a good education, immerse you with bright, ambitious people, etc.</p>

<p>If I were concerned with "prestige" and sparklefactor on a resume, I'd probably choose Duke, followed by Michigan, followed by NYU, followed by Chicago. I don't think the U of C experience particularly caters to students who are looking for a prestigious name on their resumes, as I think that schools that are lower in USNWR rank (NYU, for example) are more name-brandy than the U of C.</p>

<p>If I were looking for prestige in academia, I would think a toss-up between Duke and U of C, depending on what kind of program you would be thinking of going to grad school for after and what sorts of resources are available to you at each school for that program.</p>

<ol>
<li>uchicago</li>
<li>duke</li>
<li>umichigan ann arbor</li>
<li>NYU</li>
</ol>

<p>ha. there are plenty of prestige whores here. you mean to say that we dont need any more of them.</p>

<p>Unfortunately true.</p>

<p>Happy to say I don't know of anybody I would consider a prestige whore... then again, I probably have a higher tolerance than most for snobbery/elitism.</p>

<p>I don't know, though-- where I come from, the U of C is not anywhere close to prestigious in the same way that an Ivy is, so the idea that somebody would come here for the brand name is beyond me. You could come here for the brand name, sure, but unless you also really like reading Marx and Kant, you're probably going to hate it here.</p>

<p>I live in the Northeast, and the general feeling I get from my high school is UChicago/NYU are awesome, depending on the kind of person you are, UMich is a good safety, and Duke is kind of like what? (they don't regard it as a bad school, they would just all rather go somewhere else)</p>

<p>If it were actually ranked in terms of prestige though, it would probably be UChicago, Duke, NYU, UMich though.</p>

<p>For a little historical perspective:</p>

<p>Chicago and Michigan were two of the 14 original members of the Association of American Universities. The others were Harvard, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Berkeley, Yale, Penn, Cornell, Princeton, Stanford, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Clark. That pretty much gives you a research-university top-14 as of 1900, and of those institutions only Clark is no longer seen as world-class. Chicago was one of the five institutions that convened the group, and the host of its first meeting. However, Chicago (and Stanford, and to a lesser extent Wisconsin and Cornell) was very much a new kid on that block at the time.</p>

<p>NYU and Duke are both actually much older than Chicago, but neither was seen as a first-rank research university until mid-second half of the 20th century (Duke -- 60s-80s, NYU -- 80s forward). NYU has never been strong in the hard sciences, but it has leveraged its position in NYC to attract really strong faculty in many other areas. </p>

<p>The relative prestige of these institutions has generally tracked (with leads and lags) the fortunes of their principal regions. Duke was very much the Stanford of the South, and as the South -- especially the northern South -- has become more important and vibrant, so has Duke. When NYC went bankrupt in the mid-70s, so (almost) did NYU. Michigan has been hurt by the declining economic fortunes of Michigan, and especially Detroit; Chicago's reputation has pretty much kept pace with the relative importance of its home city.</p>

<p>Endowment is also a pretty important long-term prestige-generator. Michagan and Duke handily lead that race with over $4 billion each (and Duke is a preferred beneficiary of the $2.5 billion Duke Endowment, a separate charitable foundation). Chicago comes fourth, especially taking into account the fact that the value of the real estate NYU actually uses -- so crucial for attracting faculty and students -- is not included in the calculations.</p>

<p>From a UG academic perspective if you are really into the books and considering all factors:</p>

<p>Chicago (more top departments, less of a frat crowd, not big on sports) > Duke >= Michigan > NYU.</p>

<p>From a career perspective (banking, law, med): </p>

<p>Duke / Chicago > Michigan > NYU. </p>

<p>Add the caveat that Michigan falls into an “elite” category in the eyes of most banks, firms, and hospitals that NYU does not as a UG. This has a lot to do with the trickle down prestige of Michigan as a whole (Michigan at the graduate level is pretty much good at everything, while NYU only has a few pocket strengths, e.g. law). </p>

<p>Uncle Suzie Prestige:</p>

<p>Duke >> Michigan / NYU / Chicago (as in the city)</p>

<p>Elitist, Ivy League ******* Prestige:</p>

<p>See career perspective. Note that in certain circles, people still look down on Duke as a Southern fried, fad phenomenon that is mostly about basketball, while in others Chicago, Cal Tech, MIT and JHU are seen as “nerd” institutions that should never been mentioned in the same breath as the Ivy League (whose schools are about educating “leaders”).</p>

<p>With Michigan's undergraduate business program, I'd put them on the same level at Chicago when considering banking and similar careers.</p>

<p>I think the "best" students from each of those schools do fine, and are probably pretty comparable (except maybe for NYU in hard sciences). I think there is a significant difference among the median students in a graduating class, or students around the 25th percentile level. If that's who you are, you would rather be coming out of Duke or Chicago than Michigan or NYU.</p>

<p>I agree with JHS that the best students at all the schools are probably pretty comparable. The natural question to follow the rest of his post, though, is where a 25% student at Chicago would fall at Michigan or NYU.</p>

<p>wow. this has sure been an exercise in hair splitting. </p>

<p>IMHO, the "best" is the one that accepts you. More than one? Who gave the best fin aid package? Still tied? Ask your grandma, an uncle or neighbors, since "prestige" is an issue and may vary from place to place...</p>

<p>Hahahaha, I agree. The student who gets admitted to any of the four has nothing to complain about.</p>

<p>While financial aid can be a serious deciding factor, asking family members is a pretty poor idea, even if they are a professor, doctor or the like. A better way to go when you are looking at multiple admissions is to scout the CV’s and matriculation profiles of the graduate programs / leading firms for fields you are interested in. The aggregate admission rate to medical schools or whether a UG institution is a leading target school for say quantitative finance can really cut through the BS people will spew about every alma mater. The WSJ feeder study speaks volumes to how wildly placement can vary amongst seemingly comparable schools on a purely academic level.</p>

<p>It probably depends on the audience as to which university is the most prestigious among Chicago, Duke, NYU, and Michigan. Employers may have a different view than graduate schools, Southerners a different perspective than a New England or Midwestern resident. Without regard to any particular major, my opinion is that Chicago is the most academically prestigious overall. Duke is second, with NYU and Michigan highly respected third place finishers. NYU, however, is first for finance and arts related majors, Michigan tops in business and engineering, Duke is first for science majors and Chicago is the most intellectual.</p>

<p>
[quote]
A better way to go when you are looking at multiple admissions is to scout the CV’s and matriculation profiles of the graduate programs / leading firms for fields you are interested in.

[/quote]

Darn. Here I was thinking it was best to choose based on things like housing and weather.</p>

<p>The number of students who choose based on qualities like "ambiance" or "feel" is amazing.</p>