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<p>Hahaha. Oh god, this is actually getting a bit hilarious.</p>
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<p>I really cannot believe this…Do you understand about 4 people exluding myself here currently take issue with you and are probably lauging their ass of everytime you commment?
I can’t believe a person more delusional than the Situation existed…</p>
<p>And yes RML, I don’t know how to do it. My MIT education failed to incorporate me with the necessary skills to deal with whole numbers. Maybe I should consult a Berkeley grad for help.</p>
<p>For the record, I wanted to objectively capture something so subjective yet partially objective. For instance, why “HYPSM”? Why isn’t Columbia or Chicago included? Is is really USNWR? Then why is WUSTL considered lower than Brown? I reasoned there had to be something substantial.
I feel some people want to go to the best of the best schools. There’s a point where people realize academics is academics. And peer pressure to chose the “best” (what others see best? Does than shape what YOU see best?) takes over.
For instance, if a person gets into UIUC and Harvard but finds that he fits much better in UIUC, will he really choose that? Will he really forsake a Harvard degree? The Harvard degree? Even if his major was computer engineering?
Maybe you might. But a lot of people might not. </p>
<p>I also guess I mainly wanted to solve CC from having threads like these in the future:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/95198-top-15-most-prestigious-universities-138.html?highlight=top+15[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/95198-top-15-most-prestigious-universities-138.html?highlight=top+15</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/851678-rating-top-uk-universities-vs-top-us-universities-20.html?highlight=top+15[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/851678-rating-top-uk-universities-vs-top-us-universities-20.html?highlight=top+15</a></p>
<p>It seems like some people on this thread are so insecure about colleges and prestige that they spend their friday nights on CC. In all honesty, no one cares where you went to school once you have an awesome job. As long as you are happy and successful then nothing else matters. Seriously, no one will ask where you went to school or care, really. So instead of spending my friday night on CC, I am going out. Peace.</p>
<p>At the top 15, how well you do at your school matters more than which school you attend. And, come on, who doesn’t respect the Ivy+, the top two flagships (UCB & Michigan), and the top three LACs.</p>
<p>It has nothing to do with SAT II, GPA, and etc. </p>
<p>In terms of quality of academic departments across the board, Berkeley’s only peers are Harvard and Stanford, + MIT in science and engineering.</p>
<p>“In terms of quality of academic departments across the board, Berkeley’s only peers are Harvard and Stanford, + MIT in science and engineering.”</p>
<p>Actually Harvard isn’t really all that great in engineering. :-)</p>
<p>The premise of this thread apparently is that there is some measurable, rankable, important feature of certain universities that is not directly associated with academic quality alone. So maybe Amherst and Grinnell, or Princeton and Chicago, are fairly close in academic quality … but nevertheless not in “prestige”. Why? </p>
<p>To isolate the mojo he’s trying to measure, Mr. Prince starts with the USNWR criteria, then subtracts several objective factors including faculty resources, graduation and retention rates, financial resources, and alumni giving. The assumption is that the resulting list is a better indicator of “prestige” than the original USNWR list.</p>
<p>Is it really? It’s hard to say, because it is so hard to know for example what is really driving the Guidance Counsellor rankings or what distinguishes them from the PA rankings. The PA rankings, too, may be influenced more by perceived research production than by “prestige”. Yet you observe differences in the resulting lists and attribute these differences to something you cannot clearly observe or define, which you want to call “prestige”. </p>
<p>If this is a real measurable quality, what significant effects does it produce? Suppose for example a guy walks into a bar or a job fair table and announces, “Hi, I go to Harvard.” What happens next? Does the bartender’s hand shake as he pours a drink? Do women’s lips quiver and their breasts suddenly heave? Do recruiters rush the table with applications? Probably not. Some people are as likely to say, “Get bent.” A few ears may perk up but you better have something else interesting to say to retain their interest. Even if this does amount to a commanding edge in certain initial market opportunities, I seriously doubt anyone can produce good evidence of lasting, significant effects of “prestige”, per se, in career or quality of life outcomes.</p>