<p>Carolyn, BTW, congratulations on your CC determination as Junior Member -- how'd you get classified as such while others are still New Members? However you earned it, it's well deserved.</p>
<p>It's probably dependent on post count.</p>
<p>And I certainly post often enough. (smile)</p>
<p>sgiovinc1,
I'm glad to see that you can rationally defend your choice. I have seen too many posters on this board who think that Penn and, to a lesser extent, Duke are overrated just because it's not HYPSMC, but they're on that level in US News rankings. They all spout out admissions statistics and "prestige", but none of them have first-hand experience with the school like you.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Wait... Northwestern... underrated! Hell no... defintely over. Come on.. Northeastern has so much more journalism opportunities than crap-ass Medill.</p>
<p>sgiovinc1:
"They don't tell you like they did at MIT's orientation..."Look around you. Every third seat with be empty at the end of the first year here...the work is so rigorous..and not every one will make the grade!" Who needs that at an orientation????"</p>
<p>Did you or someone you know attend this orientation? Have you looked at MIT's numbers for retention of students and graduation rates. I think not....</p>
<p>I am sure CMU is a fine school that does great things to support students. As it happens, so is MIT!</p>
<p>I think public universities are underrated by the US News type rankings, because they are not that selective with admissions compared to private schools. If you look at any individual program at Berkeley, for example, it is usually considered in the top five or ten, even though Berkeley is only ranked 21 in US News. Then again, I am going to Berkeley, so maybe I am just seeing what I want to see.</p>
<p>I believe LACs and public universities are particularly underrated. Davidson, Colgate, Holy Cross, Leigh, Swarthmore, Williams, I believe all of these schools are very good schools, but students pass them up for a more prestigous school. If you don't include the upper UCs, UMich, UVA or UNC, there are still tons of great public universities with great programs, but too often they are neglected by students who think they won't offer a good education. Columbia and Darmouth are two of the most underrated private universities. They offer superb academics, even though they are ivies, they're almost hidden ones. Too often their fate is the people who didn't get into hyps. Now, I know on this board that might not be true, but most people are not familiar with top schools besides Harvard, Princeton, MIT, or Yale.</p>
<p>Hmmm. Not sure I'd agree that Columbia and Dartmouth are 'hidden'....</p>
<p>I'd say their excellence is well known and recognized by most.</p>
<p>here in Ohio, darmouth especially is unheard of, people know OF it, but they don't really know how great it really is</p>
<p>sgiovinc: Our s. attends CMU as well, and he is finding the opposite with regard to classes (at least that is our interpretation). It is too early for us to say if CMU is over or underrated yet. I am just surprised at the difference he has experienced. He tells us his classes (except one) are all over 80 students! The student/teacher ratio in SCS is fantastic, and based on our questions and research, we expected a mix of class sizes, so we were disappointed in the number of large lecture-type classes. It is hard to find any personal attention with those numbers, and because he is not the type of student to seek guidance on his own, I'm concerned that he is more of "a number" at CMU (so far). We're hoping that will change in future years, but it has been a disappointment initially.</p>
<p>Hmmm. Not sure I'd agree that Columbia and Dartmouth are 'hidden'....</p>
<p>I'd say their excellence is well known and recognized by most.</p>
<p>columbia yes, dartmouth no, ask a random person on the street what they think of dartmouth college and you would get a blank stare from 8 out of 9 people</p>
<p>what? The "P" in HYPMSC is for Penn?! I always thought it was for Princeton</p>
<p>it definitely is for princeton</p>
<p>Dartmouth is relatively unknown on this side of the college process... but in the professional world, D is held in high regard. This is true of all the selective LACs, as well.</p>
<p>I've always been under the impression that Washington and Lee is one of the most underrated schools I've come across.</p>
<p>I won't say anything is overrated because it's not important to me what choices other students make as long as the school is perfect for them.</p>
<p>I'd say for most east coasters, the UCs.</p>
<p>RICE is way underrated. I think because it is in Texas, it's reputation is not as prestigious. 12% of the undergrads are national merit scholars, the campus is beautiful, classes are small and tutition is CHEAP. 20,000 as opposed to the 32K you have to pay for Ivies. Rice is a great alternative to expensive Ivy league schools and should get some more recognition.</p>
<p>Some other Underrated schools:</p>
<p>College of Wooster
Denison U
Hendrix
Lawrence U
Beloit
Sarah Lawrence
Lewis & Clark
U of the South
Rhodes
Earlham
The Evergreen State C.
Hampshire</p>
<p>Hope this helps. :)</p>