Overrated Colleges as of 2006

College Search & Selection
41

<p>why does every thread seem to turn into a "Cal is great"-festival? ... doesn't matter what the topic is or where it starts, pro-Cal folks will come out of the woodworks almost as if they are on a mission... and people wonder why CC is so anti-Cal.</p>

<p>folks, they aren't anti-Cal, they are anti-overzealous fanatics of Cal.</p>

<p>here's a tip: you might want to tone it down a couple of notches, you aren't doing Cal any favors (not to mention that it totally reeks of having a massive inferiority complex)</p>

42

<p>agoodfella is so right. cal is overrated and now after all these cal kids being so biased i'm thinking cal is even more overrated since there must be a reason all u guys are so insecure about ur school. you don't see secure kids at MIT and Stanford talk about their school the way u guys do. cal kids = insecure and for good reason too.</p>

43

<p>agoodfella,</p>

<p>If you're including me in the "rah rah" Cal group, you might want to read my typical post about Cal. I'm hardly a zealot. I just think that many of the criticisms, such as the so-called "HUGE" classes are unfounded and poorly researched.</p>

<p>I just tire of these silly threads because they're basically just childish attempts at bringing down other institutions for nothing more than jollies and ego stroking. It's overdone on this board. It's overdone in general.</p>

<p>Oh, and AcceptedAlready, opinions can be poorly formed. It's my opinion that Richard Feynman was an awful physicist because he spent too much time playing the bongos.</p>

44

<p>to use a TourGuide analogy, pro-Cal people post BIG and LOUD like they are riding in Bentleys and pro-Harvard people post humbly like they are riding Vespas... makes you wonder what they are overcompensating for...</p>

45

<p>Sternman,</p>

<p>Is it fun being a troll?</p>

46

<p>Agreed. If the Cal people weren't so ridiculous, they wouldn't be the target of so much negativity.</p>

47

<p>Hold on a second.</p>

<p>It's not like Cal is alone in this. I've seen zealots for almost every school on this board. I've seen mild statements of pride attacked as zealotry.</p>

<p>Here's a good piece of advice about people having pride in their school: GET...OVER...IT. It's that easy.</p>

48

<p>I must agree with UCLAri on this one. Cal faithful comments are a reaction to the ignorant attacks and comments made against that universally acknolwedged pillar of education. Anybody who doesn't include Cal among the top universities is either ignorant or has an agenda.</p>

49

<p>
[quote]
</p>

<p>Sansai, please tell us again how well the International School of Manila fare in admissions in 2006? How many students were accepted at Berkeley again? How many at Harvard? </p>

<p>Class of 2006 College Matriculation by GPA Quintile
Quintile 1
4.38-4.02</p>

<p>Ateneo de Manila Univ (3)
Boston College
Boston University
Brown University (3)
Claremont McKenna College
Columbia University
Duke University
Georgetown University
London School of Economics
Massachusetts Inst of Tech
Smith College
Sophia University
The Royal Veterinary College
Univ of British Columbia (2)
Univ of California, LA
Universiteit Utrecht
University College London
University of Bath
University of Chicago
University of Virginia
Yale University (2)
Yonsei University</p>

<p>from what i know, 2 of the 3 ateneo de Manila students eventually transferred to US schools.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Strange how that does not fit your fantastic stories:</p>

<p>
[quote]
High school: International School Manila
Harvard: 12 applied, 7 received offers (including me) and 3 enrolled (excluding me)
UC Berkeley: 24 applied, 3 received offers and 3 enrolled (including me)
MIT: 4 applied, 0 received offers
Stanford: 1 applied (me, 1 received an offer and no one enrolled)
Michigan: 17 applied, 13 received offers, 5 enrolled
UCLA: 27 applied, 9 received offers and 3 enrolled.
Princeton: 2 applied, 2 accepted (including me) and 1 enrolled.
Yale, 7 applied, 3 received offers and 2 enrolled.

[/quote]
</p>

50

<p>
[quote]
I must agree with UCLAri on this one. Cal faithful comments are a reaction to the ignorant attacks and comments made against that universally acknolwedged pillar of education. Anybody who doesn't include Cal among the top universities is either ignorant or has an agenda.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Doesn't that depend ENTIRELY on YOUR definition of top universities, Alexandre? Is there a definitive or universal list of the "pillars of education" that should be listed among the top universities? And what should the criteria be?</p>

51

<p>wow sansai you just keep getting pwned by xiggi. Seems Berkeley accepts kids with low intelligence and morality.</p>

52

<p><em>BUSTED</em></p>

<p>It's not an "outlier" but fake???? So much for picking Berkeley over Harvard and Stanford.</p>

<p>xiggi,</p>

<p>Good detective work!</p>

53

<p><strong><em>lol</em></strong></p>

<p>sansai, you might want to hold back on any future claims that you are passing up a chance to study as a Rhodes scholar at Oxford in favor of staying at Cal to clean the Stanford Axe.</p>

54

<p>uchicago is underrated, if anything. the core makes sure the students are well-rounded, not just one-dimensional like, say, brown. duke is overrated. its basically a huge, really good high school.</p>

55

<p>Um, Yeshiva University is a top 44 university?</p>

56

<p>Top-class Schools:
Harvard
Stanford
MIT
Yale
Princeton
CalTech</p>

<p>2nd-class Schools:
All other Ivys
Chicago
Northwestern
Berkeley
Georgetown
Carnegie Mellon
Johns Hopkins
Rice
Emory</p>

<p>3rd-class schools:
Virginia
Michigan
UCLA
USC
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Illinois-Urbana Champaign
NYU
UT-Austin</p>

<p>4th-Class:
All other UCs
Georgia Tech
Washington University in St. Louis
Boston College
Penn State - University Park
Maryland - College Park
UW - Seattle</p>

<p>Crap Schools:
All Others (excluding LACs cuz they automatically beat most of the Big Universities)</p>

<p><em>Puts on the Flame-Protection Suit</em></p>

57

<p>
[quote]
why does every thread seem to turn into a "Cal is great"-festival? ... doesn't matter what the topic is or where it starts, pro-Cal folks will come out of the woodworks almost as if they are on a mission... and people wonder why CC is so anti-Cal.</p>

<p>folks, they aren't anti-Cal, they are anti-overzealous fanatics of Cal.</p>

<p>here's a tip: you might want to tone it down a couple of notches, you aren't doing Cal any favors (not to mention that it totally reeks of having a massive inferiority complex)

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The only person I've really seen tout "Berkeley is great" is sansai. I'm going to leave her alone to her opinions, which isn't the opinion of most people. Besides her...I don't see a lot of cheerleading for Berkeley. Maybe you could point some out?</p>

<p>
[quote]
Top-class Schools:
Harvard
Stanford
MIT
Yale
Princeton
CalTech</p>

<p>2nd-class Schools:
All other Ivys
Chicago
Northwestern
Berkeley
Georgetown
Carnegie Mellon
Johns Hopkins
Rice
Emory</p>

<p>3rd-class schools:
Virginia
Michigan
UCLA
USC
North Carolina
Wisconsin
Illinois-Urbana Champaign
NYU
UT-Austin</p>

<p>4th-Class:
All other UCs
Georgia Tech
Washington University in St. Louis
Boston College
Penn State - University Park
Maryland - College Park
UW - Seattle</p>

<p>Crap Schools:
All Others (excluding LACs cuz they automatically beat most of the Big Universities)</p>

<p><em>Puts on the Flame-Protection Suit</em>

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Here comes the flame! Well...not really.</p>

<p>Your list is okay, except it's really tough to distinguish tiers. For example, I don't think UVa is far behind Berkeley and even offer better undergrad education in some aspects. And also...WUSTL below schools like Illinois-UC and UT-Austin? Come on, WUSTL is overrated a little but not by 40 places on US News! I think it would fit well in "tier two."</p>

<p>Anyway, it's hard to list tiers. I think most people can agree on HYPSM(C) but beyond that and it gets ambiguous.</p>

58

<p>Decent list by Dhl, but I would definitely bump WUSTL, UVA and Michigan up one tier. Also, I don't think you can really put Caltech in group I. Yes, Caltech is awesome. Pound for pound, it is probably the best university on Earth. But as a whole, it is hard to put up their with the likes of Harvard or Stanford.</p>

59

<p>Good list by DHL with some small changes. </p>

<p>Anyways, xiggi congrats on exposing the truth.</p>

60

<p>"Oh lord not another UC Berkeley discussion."</p>

<p>:D Yeah these types of discussions have a tendency to get locked so let's be careful.</p>

<p>DHL - your list is decent but I really think WUSTL should be in the second/third class.</p>