I think many of you are under estimating the public. In the 1950s most people in areas away from the coasts attended local schools. Not true anymore. So I think the various top schools are well known to the lay public. From an international perspective, I’d expect far fewer to be known except for by those who have family members who attend or plan to attend US schools or who have spent a lot of time in the US. Just like Cambridge and Oxford (but not others) are known by most Americans, I expect those from other countries to know Harvard and Johns Hopkins (maybe Stanford). Why Hopkins? Maybe because of the medical school but when I’ve traveled outside the US those two are the ones mentioned most by people who don’t know a lot about education…