<p>Yeah, I've heard that too about Harvard. The TA thing would bother me. Why spend all that money and be taught by top-notch TEACHERS? TEACHERS, not TAs.</p>
<p>If the name game is being played, Yale has a better undergrad experience. That's why Rory chose it, der. ;)</p>
<p>Just wanted to correct some rumors, hearsay, and general mischaracterizations...
Regarding TF's at Harvard (at Harvard, they are called Teaching Fellows):</p>
<p>THE VAST VAST majority of all classes are taught by PROFESSORS.
The classes are broken down into smaller groups of about 15, which meet once a week with a T.F. for group discussions, etc.</p>
<p>The ONLY exceptions are:
(1) Math Xa, Xb, 1a, 1b (pre-cal and first-year calc): These classes do not meet in large lectures at all, and are only taught in small groups of 15-20,
so that there is more interaction. You don't need to have completed a PhD to be an effective teacher of pre-cal and intro calc... in fact, T.F.'s are probably more in tune with what confuses undergrads on this lower level material.</p>
<p>(2) Intro and intermediate language classes: Harvard requires if at all possible that languages be taught by NATIVE speakers... and again, no large lectures... classes are generally small to allow for lots of opportunities to practice speaking. I took Russian for a few years, and the T.F.'s were AMAZING!</p>
<p>(3) Freshman expository writing: Generally taught by adjunct faculty or T.F.s who may not hold PhDs, but may be journalists, novelists, columnists, poets, etc.</p>
<p>By the way, the same is true at other large research universities such as Stanford, Yale, Berkeley, Michigan, etc.</p>
<p>but not of undergraduate-focused schools like princeton, dartmouth, brown, williams, swarthmore, amherst. and hey, if your going undergrad, what is the point of going to a school which is famous for its grad program but which isn't as good?</p>
<p>Of course you have recitations with TAs, but what the hell kind of school wouldn't have the lectures done by professors?</p>
<p>As long as we're mouthing off our own baseless opinions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Penn</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Columbia (why else would I ED there)</li>
<li>Cornell (always has been my second)</li>
<li>Upenn (bussiness, or SEAS, pretty sweet of a school)</li>
<li>Yale (loved their presentation at my school)</li>
<li>Princeton (good friends that graduated last year went there)</li>
<li>Dartmouth (hmm undergrad)</li>
<li>Brown ( no core!!)</li>
<li>Harvard (no I don't hate it, I'd love to go there but I dont know anything about it and natrually it's not going to be high on my list just because its Harvard.)</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Princeton - i think it's the most prestigious</li>
<li>Harvard - a close second</li>
<li>Cornell - it seems to kick ass in everything
4/5. Yale/Columbia - don't appeal as much to me as they do to others
6/7. Brown/Dartmouth - Not much into arts...plus no name-recognition</li>
<li>UPenn - Don't like the bad name-recognition (i.e. penn-state), and the neighborhood is not very good. Also, no international appeal.</li>
</ol>
<p>johnnyk, um a lil bit of bias, Penn over Harvard, go get ur head examined.</p>
<p>We all have bias. That's what this thread's about!</p>
<p>Harvard (I love Cambridge!)
Columbia
UPenn
Yale
Princeton
Dartmouth/Cornell
Brown</p>
<p>harvard rocks, its way more than just a name. No wonder why most top leaders in the US are Harvard grads :)</p>
<p>How do you guys think UChicago compares with undergrad-focused schools of princeton, dartmouth, brown, williams, swarthmore, amherst? Or don't you look at UChicago b/c SATs are lower or something...</p>
<p>chicago has MAD high sat scores, but a 40 percent acceptance rate</p>
<p>updated average rank - one last time
number of rankings = 45 (44 for U Penn and Yale)
includes additional from blyth89 up to and including ladyinred</p>
<p>Princeton 3.18
Yale 3.80
U Penn 4.18
Dartmouth 4.53
Harvard 4.67
Brown 4.96
Cornell 5.22
Columbia 5.24</p>
<p>Chicago is not glamorous like ivies-not visually, not exclusivity, and far fewer college-funded parties. It's interesting how much more colleges slid up and down in selectivity before US News and World Report started ranking. For example, in the 1950s, Swarthmore was more selective than Harvard and Yale. In 1970, it accepted 50% of its applicants. Now, it's about on par with Brown in terms of selectivity and hasn't changed much in the past 10 years. But what I was actually asking about is how you think the EDUCATION at Chicago compares?</p>
<p>1.Princeton--love the name; undergrad focus; gothic architecture;two thesis requirements would make me feel I accomplished something. Albert Einstein, John Nash, Richard Feynman, F.Scott Fitzgerald etc. strong in sciences and humanities
2. Harvard
3. Yale
4. Dartmouth--undergrad focus
5. Columbia
6. Brown
7. U. Penn
8. Cornell</p>
<ol>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Cornell - i'm there now, love it, wouldn't trade it in for any other school.</li>
<li>Columbia - it's NYC!</li>
<li>Yale - like the campus, academic reputation</li>
<li>Brown - nice campus, nice location, nice core requirement</li>
<li>Princeton - havn't really looked at, not high on the list, not low</li>
<li>Dartmouth - middle of nowhere</li>
<li>Harvard - have a friend there now, she hates it</li>
<li>Upenn - unless i really wanted to study business</li>
</ol>
<ol>
<li>Columbia- love the city, love the campus</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
</ol>
<p>I would only consider attending the top four, though.</p>
<p>cornell seems pretty high on these lists, then how come w. cross admits, the other schools like always win?</p>
<p>i mean, i have met kids here that have turned down places like brown, penn, columbia, duke, dartmouth, but its not like the norm.</p>