Top 10 schools??

<p>I think we're becoming more rational now in this thread.</p>

<p>Alexandre: I agree with much of what you say that a university is as good as the departments within it. I can't possibly know the 10 ten schools overall for everything but I know the top 10 schools for musicology, or at least the departments with the most distinquished professors (there are about 12) and the next tier of departments.</p>

<p>Here's an interesting piece of anecdotal evidence I realized. I find <em>som</em> Columbia and Yale grads going to second tier law schools and <em>some</em> graduates from NYU and Penn State going to top 5 law schools. Who you are matters for much more than where you go?</p>

<p>Hoping that cooler heads prevail in the college admission process...</p>

<p>Jonathan</p>

<p>It would appear that TheThoughtProcess, Ivy_Grad, DevilMayCry and I all agree...the day of judgment is upon us! Hehe</p>

<p>jonw,</p>

<p>yes, i believe we are all reaching a reasonable "equilibrium" on this thread...</p>

<p>that said, to comment on your anectodal evidence, yes, of course, not EVERY Columbia / Yale pre-law undergrad is going to end up at a top 5 law school. and, further, there will be pre-law undergrads from "lower" tier undergrads that end up at Top 5 law schools - absolutely.</p>

<p>As to the first scenario, it is a simple matter of supply and demand. there are not enough spaces (and more to the point - not every one of them are "good" enough / qualified).</p>

<p>As to the second scenario, yes, the very "top" students at nearly any top 50 undergrad will have a decent shot at attending a top 10 law school. </p>

<p>But I think here is the point - Columbia / Yale vs. (your example of) NYU / Penn State... as a PERCENTAGE of pre-law undergrads applying to Top 5 schools from C / Y vs. the PERCENTAGE of pre-law undergrads applying to Top 5 schools from N / P ... the overall admit percentage going to top 5 law schools is (has been) and will likely continue to be higher at C / Y.</p>

<p>Final note: i think its pretty clear that an upward trend is certainly better than a downward one.</p>

<p>in other words, all else being equal (i.e. test scores and class rank at the Law School level), in the professional world, a prospective law firm is more likely to select the Harvard Law School grad (who went to Penn State undergrad) vs. the Penn State Law grad (who went to Harvard undergrad)...</p>

<p>Why? Simply because the guy who went to Penn State undergrad MUST have excelled in order to matriculate into HLS. The Harvard undergrad? Nothing we can know for certain - but excelling within his class probably isn't the first thing that comes to mind.... which doesn't mean that he didn't, he very may well have and, further he very well may have specific reasons for choosing Penn State Law - it's just simply that this "second" guy has more explaining to do than the first guy. </p>

<p>And the "first" guy? Well, Penn State under -> Harvard Law School. Not much needs to be explained. The guy kicked ass during his undergrad years.</p>

<p>okay, i guess. didn't realize this was all a science.</p>

<p>tell me, based on their undergrad schools, who will pass the bar?</p>

<p>its not a science, its just opinion</p>

<p>oh, okay. i thought that there had to be a definitive top ten for the entire population of the earth. if i go to a top ten school, are my chances better for passing the bar if i go to a top ten law school or a top fifty law school? and most importantly, would i have more explaining to do if i chose to go to a top fifty law school over a top one law school? or can i just keep bragging about the top ten school i attended ten or fifty years from now? and will anyone care?</p>

<p>Based on statistics alone the top ten school are</p>

<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Upenn</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>CIT</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Datmouth</li>
</ol>

<p>There is nothing to discuss, this list came from USNews.com and is therefore INDISPUTABLE =). If you google top 50 colleges or something you should be able to find it.</p>

<p>Some of the lists are really quite funny. I nearly cracked up when I saw UCB in the top 10. Whoever put that must've been from California.</p>

<p>Oh and the Wall Street Journal thing on page 4 is crap. Williams? as number 5? hahaha</p>

<p>sup you have got to be kidding me. stanford and MIT are not behind duke and upenn. we have already established this on the thread. read the whole thing and you will know why</p>

<p>Hmm...</p>

<p>Princeton
Harvard
Yale
MIT
Stanford
CalTech
Penn
Chicago
Darmouth
Duke / Northwestern
Columbia (for grad school)</p>

<p>Stanford's overrated and MIT is a nerdy engineering school.</p>

<p>UofPenn and Duke are no-name schools. Princeton practices "strategic admissions" and is afraid to compete with Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT head on. Therefore, the very top schools in my opinion are Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT. They are the best of the best.</p>

<p>thats good, collegeperson, what about the other 6 spots?</p>

<p>
[quote]
UofPenn and Duke are no-name schools. Princeton practices "strategic admissions" and is afraid to compete with Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT head on. Therefore, the very top schools in my opinion are Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT. They are the best of the best.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Lol wow just wow</p>

<p>Top ten is a very arbitraty numer. We have a fascination with the number 10 just because we go by the decimal system. If we went by the binary system, we would be fascinated by the number 2. If we went by the hexadecimal system, we would be fascinated by the number 16. Therefore, the number 10 is meaningless. It's far more meaningful to say that only 4 schools are the best of the best. The next school on the list, Princeton, does not measure up to HYSM. Caltech measures up but is too small and obscure.</p>

<p>Sup,</p>

<p>Williams at number 5 is no joke! They have more students at Harvard Law than a place like Northwestern, which is 4 times bigger! At Columbia Business (where I go...and not a WSJ feeder) they are number 11 overall, which is remarkable considering their size. Don't discount the LACs, I have been astounded with their success in placing graduates.</p>

<ol>
<li>Harvard </li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>M.I.T.</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>CalTech</li>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>UChicago</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
</ol>

<p>Well, since we are all ranking, want the hell! LOL</p>

<h1>1 Harvard University</h1>

<h1>1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>1 Princeton University</h1>

<h1>1 Stanford University</h1>

<h1>1 Yale University</h1>

<h1>6 California Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>6 University of California-Berkeley</h1>

<h1>8 Brown University</h1>

<h1>8 Columbia University</h1>

<h1>8 Cornell University</h1>

<h1>8 Dartmouth College</h1>

<h1>8 Duke University</h1>

<h1>8 Johns Hopkins University</h1>

<h1>8 Northwestern University</h1>

<h1>8 University of Chicago</h1>

<h1>8 University of Michigan-Ann Arbor</h1>

<h1>8 University of Pennsylvania</h1>

<p>All of those 17 schools are legitimate top 10 universities if you ask me. </p>

<h1>18 Carnegie Mellon University</h1>

<h1>18 Emory University</h1>

<h1>18 Georgetown University</h1>

<h1>18 Rice University</h1>

<h1>18 University of California-Los Angeles</h1>

<h1>18 University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill</h1>

<h1>18 University of Notre Dame</h1>

<h1>18 University of Virginia</h1>

<h1>18 University of Wisconsin-Madison</h1>

<h1>18 Vanderbilt University</h1>

<h1>18 Washington University</h1>

<p>Any of those 11 schools can make a reasonable claim at the top 10 too..there really isn't a huge difference between this group and the group above. </p>

<h1>28 College of William and Mary</h1>

<h1>28 Georgia Institute of Technology</h1>

<h1>28 New York University</h1>

<h1>28 University of California-San Diego</h1>

<h1>28 University of Illinois-Urbana Chapmaign</h1>

<h1>28 University of Southern California</h1>

<h1>28 University of Texas-Austin</h1>

<p>UCB and UMich do NOT belong there for undergrad, Alex. I am sorry, but I think USNews banged the nail right on the head on that issue. However, I would be honored to go there for grad school.</p>

<ol>
<li><p>HYPSMC</p></li>
<li><p>Duke, Penn, COlumbia</p></li>
<li><p>Dartmouth</p></li>
</ol>

<p>there really isn't a huge difference between this group and the group above.
Obviously... if Rice is below Michigan... absurd</p>

<p>Almost everyone can agree that the top five spots are reserved for HYPSM. The next five are impossible to determine definitively, because there are so many schools that possess their own unique qualities and are almost at the caliber of the top five. For example, CalTech's an amazing tech school, but very small and weak in the humanities. The other Ivies have their own weaknesses as well. Duke's a great school overall, but people claim that its prestige and reputation is very regional. Basically, you can say with near certainty that the top five are HYPSM (perhaps in that order). As for the next five, you can basically pick any schools from the USNews top 25, depending on personal preference.</p>