prestige factor

College Search & Selection
1

<p>Obviously, the "prestige" of a school is a factor that gets consideration or at least discussed. Certainly it is of more importance to some than to others. </p>

<p>I was curious though as to how you define prestige, is it a common knowledge sort of thing such as, well everyone knows Harvard. Is it an ego thing or some other emotional intangible. Is there any hard cold facts such as some amazing hiring rate for every graduate of a given school? Is it football success that puts the school in the paper every month so everyone knows about that campus (academics aside)? Is it really what we read in US News & World Report?</p>

<p>What defines a school's prestige factor and how important is it to you?</p>

<p>If I can give one perhaps superficial analogy, a Jaguar is a very prestigious car, beautiful, expensive, etc. Historically, though, they are unreliable, need constant repair, etc. So if you are in that prestigious car, but it doesn't work for you.........well, as I began, I'm not sure exactly how prestige gets defined and fits in to a college choice.</p>

2

<p>The best anology I see here is that 10 years ago Jaguars were not reliable and WashU was not particularly prestigeous. Today the reverse is true, American marketing and engineering made both a much better product.</p>

3

<p>Recognized by professionals at other institutions as having good academics/high level of student graduating/adequate funding. Also.....more folks wanting to be admitted than can be......more demand than space allows.</p>