<p>Which of these schools do you think is more prestigious? Thanks for your input.</p>
<p>Dartmouth unless you get into Wharton</p>
<p>Dartmouth, unless you get into Wharton and want to go into business, or get into SEAS and want to go into engineering, or get into the nursing school and want to become a nurse.</p>
<p>In other words, Dartmouth > uPenn CAS, but uPenn is better for specialty schools, especially when it comes to business.</p>
<p>It's really hard to say which school is more prestigious when both schools are highly ranked and in the ivy league, and neither school is HYPS. So I'd say they're about the same. A lot of people have never heard of either school. A lot of people confuse U Penn for Penn State, and a lot of people confuse Dartmouth for U Mass at Dartmouth. </p>
<p>Prestige and rankings are always changing.
I've heard rumors (as in I might be completely wrong) that:
1. 80-100 years ago, Dartmouth was viewed as one of the easier (if not easiest) Ivy/Ancient Eight to get into.</p>
<ol>
<li>A decade or two ago, U Penn wasn't ranked nearly as high as it is now, and was considered one of the easiest Ivies to get into.<br></li>
</ol>
<p>Point is, 20 years from now, Dartmouth may have overtaken all the other Ivies (except maybe Harvard and Yale), or U Penn may end up ranking the highest.
But they'll both always be Ivy League schools, and have the prestige of Ivy league schools.</p>
<p>80 to 100 years ago, admissions to all the colleges was pretty much, "I'm from a Mayflower family, my parents need a passive aggressive way of showing off how much money we have, and I didn't get enough finishing at Exeter." There was no "admissions process" per se. Hard to believe, I know, but the need for things like Princeton Review and College Confidential hasn't been around forever (what was the acceptance rate of Harvard for the class of 1640? Did they have ED or EA back then?). So the statement, "in 1900 Dartmouth was the easiest Ivy to get into" is not applicable. Not like wrong or inaccurate, it just has no meaning.</p>
<p>To the OP - there is no meaningful difference. Can I give you a suggestion? Don't consider this question when you are choosing where to matriculate to, not just for Dartmouth and Penn, but all the schools that you have gotten into.</p>
<p>The current admissions process dates back to about a hundred years ago. Harvard started using the college entrance examination board scores (equiv. of SAT) in the 1900's.
The current application process, with its questions about parent's birthplace, etc. and use of recommendations was adopted around the 20's. </p>
<p>
[quote]
So the statement, "in 1900 Dartmouth was the easiest Ivy to get into" is not applicable.
[/quote]
Harvard, Yale and Princeton have been nationally prestigious since at least the mid 19th century. School's like Dartmouth and Penn attracted mostly regional students. I attended a lecture earlier this year on the history of Dartmouth's buildings, and the professor also mentioned that Dartmouth mostly attracted regional (provincial) students. It was in the early 20th century that Dartmouth attracted more and more students from the cities. </p>
<p>
[quote]
80 to 100 years ago, admissions to all the colleges was pretty much, "I'm from a Mayflower family, my parents need a passive aggressive way of showing off how much money we have, and I didn't get enough finishing at Exeter."
[/quote]
</p>
<p>The adoption of the CEEB test changed this somewhat. By 1908 almost half of the students at Harvard (and I assume any other Ivy league school using the CEEB test) were from public schools. </p>
<p>I second what Xanatos said about prestige. It should be the least of your concerns when choosing schools, especially since it's such a subjective, intangible and changing thing.</p>
<p>I was exaggerating. My point was, 100 years ago nobody went around saying, "Hey what's the easiest Ivy to get into?" "If I only get a 780 on my SAT II Spanish does that mean I get automatically rejected from all the Ivies?" etc.</p>
<p>How does Columbia compare with regards to prestige?</p>
<p>You're joking, right?</p>
<p>No I am not</p>