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Wow, a topic about prestige turned into a debate about Chinese restaurants. I sense a lock coming soon...
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Don't tempt me.</p>
<p>Get it back on track, guys.</p>
<p>Kobe beef in japan i would say is the most expensive in the world. The guys there spend upwards of a couple thousand dollars on meals.</p>
<p>..............</p>
<p>
Except Harvard doesn't offer an "incredible" undergrad education; it also doesn't have good sports teams or a particularly fun partying culture. Connections and peers...Harvard has those for sure. However, that supports the brand name argument. Part of the appeal of going to a brand name school is getting connections and most of these types of schools are going to have high-achieving students. Most Harvard students go there because of the name brand. The Harvard brand is unbeatable.</p>
<p>Most people need validation and a lot of high-achieving students know that going to an elite school will create the right first impression. If a friend introduces you to another friend by saying, "This is Michelle, she just graduated from *Penn/Duke/Northwestern etc.", then that friend will initially be impressed and assume a certain level of intelligence and accomplishment. Instead, if your friend introduces you to another friend by saying, "This is Michelle, she just graduated from Arizona State". then the friend cannot assume the same things as she could with the Duke/NU/Penn grad and you would have to prove yourself by mentioning your accomplishments and ability to carry a thoughtful conversation. It helps to have that intial edge in perception.</p>
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Most people need validation
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If a friend introduces you to another friend by saying, "This is Michelle, she just graduated from *Penn/Duke/Northwestern etc.",
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</p>
<p>no, it sounds more like you have extremely low self-esteem... and you are trying to reassure yourself only by keep reminding other ppl what school you are going to and making sure that other ppl realize how awesome the brand name of your school is.</p>
<p>so i guess there's nothing else cool about you that you can show off to other ppl than telling them, "i goto Duke, impressive, huh?"</p>
<p>well, i hope you suceed after graduating from Duke, because seriously, undergrad education is just that; undergrad education. if you are going to become a doctor, lawyer, or a mgmt consultant, you HAVE to goto a grad school, and that's what's going to matter at the end. and more than likely, you will find ppl who went to undergrad institutions much less impressive than yours.</p>
<p>for example, Caltech's biggest employer in 2006 according to their own survey was Samsung's satellite company in Austin. I've been to their onsite interview so I know this from the fact that Samsung hires mostly from UT Austin and Texas A&M grads. Out of 50 ppl they interviewed, more than 40 of them were from UT Austin. Other kids were from UMich, Purdue, etc. So all of those caltech kids are now working with UT Austin and Texas A&M grads; now if that was you right there; i can easily see yourself almost committing suicide from the fear that you are being associated with those who are much "inferior" to you. </p>
<p>well, unless you are planning to become an investment banker. but well, good luck with that.</p>
<p>
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Most people need validation and a lot of high-achieving students know that going to an elite school will create the right first impression. If a friend introduces you to another friend by saying, "This is Michelle, she just graduated from *Penn/Duke/Northwestern etc.", then that friend will initially be impressed and assume a certain level of intelligence and accomplishment. Instead, if your friend introduces you to another friend by saying, "This is Michelle, she just graduated from Arizona State". then the friend cannot assume the same things as she could with the Duke/NU/Penn grad and you would have to prove yourself by mentioning your accomplishments and ability to carry a thoughtful conversation.
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</p>
<p>No, that's YOU. YOU would be impressed by the Duke/NU/Penn grad and expect the ASU grad to prove herself. You know, really, not everyone at Duke/NU/Penn et al is the Perfect Person. Some are pedantic and some are boring and some are stupid, just like everywhere else.</p>
<p>What would happen, EAD, if someone met you and it didn't come up in the conversation that you were going to Duke? </p>
<p>What do you think they would think of you, if they met and chatted with you but didn't know that piece of information?</p>
<p>What would you hope that dropping the D-bomb would do to change their opinion of you, and under what circumstances would you be inclined to make sure it was quickly known versus hold back a bit on it?</p>
<p>I wonder what I should think my my bosses throughout my career. My first job was with Lehman Brothers in London. My boss (who recruited me on campus) was a fellow Michigan alum. However, most of my peers at Lehman (and later on at Goldman Sachs) did not attend elite universities. Many attended top universities but the majority attended schools that would be considered "second, or even third, tier" on this forum. </p>
<p>Since my investment banking days, none of my bosses attended what we would consider an elite university. At Ford, my boss was a Western Michigan alum and at Eaton, my boss was a Case Western alum, at my last couple of firms, my bosses attended the University of Manchester (in the UK) and the Ohio State University respectively.</p>
<p>At my current employer (one of the major US consulting firms with over 55,000 employees globaly), my boss is a UConn alum. Note than none of my bosses would be what I would consider the exception. Most of their peers attended similar institutions. Of my peers at the consulting firm I am currently working at, only 4 out of 40 attended top universities (one Chicago alum, one Georgetown alum one LSE alum and myself). The rest of my peers attended schools that would not inspire awe! The star of my department is an Eastern Illinois alum. The guy just knows how to get things done well and on time and he is an incredible team player and contributor. I am trying to model my behavior and attitude by watching how he operates. On a side note, the CEO of our firm is a St. Joseph University alum, and darn proud of it too.</p>
<p>Bottom line, if you attend a top university, or eat at an awesome restaurant or stay at an exclusive resort or drive a performance vehicle, be sure you do it for your own satisfaction and development. Anybody worth his (or her) salt will not judge you based on any of those.</p>
<p>"whoever dissed pf changs (i'm too lazy to read anything other than the last page) is a ****tard</p>
<p>orange chicken + chow mein + great wall of chocolate = orgasm"</p>
<p>Indiejimmy, I did not diss P F Chang personally. I had dinner at the Troy (Michigan) chain a few years ago. It was definitely a nice experience. The food was very decent and the atmosphere was pretty trendy. However, I would not go so far as to say that the cuisine was "orgasmic". </p>
<p>Tell you what, for a truly orgasmic dining experience, when your travels take you to France, travel to Normandy and stay at Maisons de Bricourt. Here's a look at the menu.</p>
<p>Olivier</a> Roellinger - Relais Gourmand : the carte</p>
<p>Or you could go to the Burgundy wine country and stay at the Maison Troisgros...arguably the best restaurant on earth. </p>
<p>Marie-Pierre</a> and Michel Troisgros: hotel and gastronomic restaurant, Roanne, France</p>
<p>In Paris, one of the hottest restaurants is at the Hotel Le Meurice. </p>
<p>Those are just 3 of 20 or so restaurants in France that are in a league of their own. Well, Germany, Italy and Japan each have 10 or so such restaurants of their own. the US has several (15-20) excellent restaurants as well, but not quite as good.</p>
<p>pf changs is fake chinese cuisine geared towards american tastes. now i didnt read any single post about this thread but here is the fact. american colleges are the best and most respectable in the world. no other country has as much many colleges with a caliber like ours.</p>
<p>IMO, a hole-in-the-wall style Italian/Chinese/whatever restaurant beats any restaurant that charges $200+ a person. Especially if said hole-in-the-wall place is in NY (the city, Long Island, or just north of the city).
It may just be me, but a 1:1 ratio doesn't mean anything to me (and yes, I have been to a restaurant like that to compare the two).</p>
<p>But back to the original discussion, schools that my high school 'loved' (outside of HYPSM) in no particular order:
WashU
Auburn
Rhodes
Davidson
-insert random small LAC here-</p>
<p>Fairly random list, I know.</p>
<p>Johnson181, taste is subjective. Some people love nothing better than a low-key, well-cooked meal. I confess that such a meal appeals to me 9 times out of 10.</p>
<p>"american colleges are the best and most respectable in the world. no other country has as much many colleges with a caliber like ours."</p>
<p>Karina, I agree with your statement above. Part of the reason why the US has more universities of a certain calibre than any other country is because the US is far and away the largest developed country on Earth. Japan, the second largest developped country in the World has a population less than half that of the US. Germany, the third largest developed country on Earth has a population roughly a quarter that of the US. France, the fourth largest developed country in the World has a population one fifth that of the US. The US is the size of Japan, Germany, France and England combined. And that's just in terms of GDP and population. In terms of landmass (which also matters because universities were mostly founded in the 19th and early 20th century, when most students had to attend universities close to their home because of travel restrictions) the US is larger than all 25 EU nations and Japan combined. The only teo developed nations with landmasses similar to that of the US are Canada and Australia, but neither one of those countries have evenly spreat out populations. In the case of Australia, almost 90% of the population lives on the East Coast and most of the remaining population lives on the West Coast. In the case of Canada, most of the population lives in the Southern parts of the large country. In fact, 90% of Canda's population probably lives within 200 miles of the US border. Australia has a population of 20 million (same population as NY or Texas) and Canada has a population of 35 million (same as California). Neither comes close to having the same population density as the US, with a population of over 300 million.</p>
<p>doesn't harvard have the biggest prestige in the whole world?</p>
<p>Alexandre, i am from Canada and i am impressed with you knowledge about our country. i suppose YOU know that McGill is NOT the best univ. we have :) </p>
<p>and yes, harvard has the 'biggest' prestige at most places around the world.</p>
<p>McGill is a great university as far as I am concerned. So are the University of Toronto, the University of British Columbia, the University of Western Ontaria and the University of Waterloo to name a few. But Canadian universities are not designed like US universities. Canadian universities are more European in their design.</p>
<p>IMO and in the opinion of almost every single ranking... U of T>UBC> McGill> Queens> Waterloo> the rest... I could be wrong. In terms of prestige in CANADA... its U of T>Waterloo> UBC>Mc Gill>Queens> the rest</p>
<p>However, in the US and internationally, I would say that the top 2 universities in Canada, by a significant margin, are McGill and Toronto (in no particular order). In the US, Queens and Western Ontario also have strong reputations and in Asia, Waterloo and UBC have strong reputations.</p>
<p>I mostly agree with that alexandre. Same can be said with US univ. Apart from HYP.. prestige is mostly regional. If i may ask,are you applying to any US colleges or Canadian ones</p>
<p>I applied (past tense) to two Canadian universities back in the fall of 1991! LOL! I also applied to 11 US universities and 5 British universities (through UCAS, the British version of the common application).</p>