<p>Wait does somebody seriously think that Vanderbilt has more prestige than UChicago?? Find me this puny being so I can fart in his general direction!</p>
<p>Hawkette, I appreciate the advice and will take it onboard.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Many academy grads have gone onto great things (Nobel Prizes,
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<p>I was not aware of any West Point grads winning Nobels. Navy had a couple, but West Point? Who did that? </p>
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[quote]
People know these places. Unfortunately, many people on CC see the military as negative. Many of my classmates turned down schools like Harvard, Dartmouth and Princeton to come here because we believe in a cause greater than ourselves. There is no greater prestige than defending your country and having the history of the greatest military institution on Earth to reinforce it. You need a congressional nomination!
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<p>Uh, you don't need to go to an academy to become an officer, and in particular, you don't need to turn down other top schools to do so. I know people who went to ROTC at Harvard and are now serving as active-duty officers. I hope that nobody is going to impugn their patriotism or commitment to the nation just because they didn't attend an academy. </p>
<p>Eleven</a> elevated to officer — The Harvard University Gazette</p>
<p>Hence, I don't know that you can say that those academy grads turn down top schools because they 'believe in a cause greater than themselves'. After all, I don't see any reason to believe that those Harvard ROTC grads believe in the cause any less than do the academy grads. In fact, I could make the argument that they actually believe in it more: after all, it's easier to believe in a cause when everybody around you believes in it too (as what happens in an academy) , but much harder when many people around you don't believe in it (as an Ivy ROTC student probably feels). </p>
<p>But anyway, the point is not really to debate who is more committed to the country. The point is simply to establish the fact that you can go to a top school like Harvard and still become a military officer and that those officers are no less committed to the nation than the academy officers.</p>
<p>^ Of course, sakky. </p>
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[quote]
Hence, I don't know that you can say that those academy grads turn down top schools because they 'believe in a cause greater than themselves'.
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</p>
<p>GoNavy says so because that's what HE did.</p>
<p>Ok, id rather go to vandy because of the student body and d 1 sports, but if we are going on academic prestige there is no question u chicago is better.</p>
<p>Simply in terms of general "wow" prestige among laypeople, I'd have to rank the most prestigious schools as follows:</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>M.I.T.</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>University of Pennsylvania</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>University of California - Berkeley</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>Northwestern</li>
</ol>
<p>You will note that Chicago does not appear on the list. As one who has been accepted to the school (and may well attend), I can personally attest to the fact that nobody knows about Chicago. By "nobody" I mean the average layperson. It's very frustrating - when I tell people I've been admitted to the University of Chicago, I hardly get a simple congratulation; the first thing out of their mouths is usually "I've never heard of it," or "Oh." They then give me a half-hearted handshake, or a shrug, or a hastily muttered "Nice" (of course having no knowledge whatever of the school), and walk away with the impression that I've been admitted to some crappy public school in Illinois ("Why not just go to a SUNY?", think they), which is quite unfortunate; despite some naysayers, general prestige is definitely to be considered when evaluating schools.</p>
<p>Also, Berkeley, despite its being ranked lower than all of the schools on this list by U.S. News and World, enjoys a fair amount of prestige even in New York as a vigorously competitive hive of super-smart science nerds. Whether this impression is accurate I cannot say.</p>
<p>aristotle1990: I agree with your list for the most part, but I think that, like Chicago, Caltech isn't as widely known. I'd say Johns Hopkins is more well-known than Caltech. Same for Penn. Otherwise, your list seems to be about right, from my viewpoint.</p>
<p>
[quote]
1. Harvard
2. M.I.T.
3. Princeton
4. Yale
5. Stanford
6. Columbia
7. University of Pennsylvania
8. Duke
9. Dartmouth
10. Brown
11. Cornell
12. Caltech
13. University of California - Berkeley
14. Johns Hopkins
15. Northwestern
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, I would say that Berkeley is clearly more prestigious to the lay-person than is Caltech. Even my brother - a proud Caltech alumni - would not disagree. </p>
<p>In fact, to the lay person, Berkeley is probably at least as prestigious as places like Dartmouth, Brown, and (especially) UPenn: the last one suffering from the problem that its name makes it sound like an unremarkable public school, easily confused with Penn State.</p>
<p>from a california perspective, and if I were to include lacs in my list....</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Amherst</li>
<li>Georgetown</li>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>Williams</li>
</ol>
<p>TBH, I think to the lay-person Ohio or Michigan would be really high ranked. This is not in any way meant to be condescending. My best friends are lay-*people<a href="?%20lol%20is%20that%20right?">/I</a>. I think so, just because those are big football schools. Maybe Harvard will be up there, but I don't know if Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth or even MIT would be up there.</p>
<p>
[quote]
when I tell people I've been admitted to the University of Chicago, I hardly get a simple congratulation; the first thing out of their mouths is usually "I've never heard of it," or "Oh." They then give me a half-hearted handshake, or a shrug, or a hastily muttered "Nice" (of course having no knowledge whatever of the school), and walk away with the impression that I've been admitted to some crappy public school in Illinois ("Why not just go to a SUNY?", think they)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That's been my experience with the school, but to be honest, I think that I probably could use a few swift kicks to the posterior for the sake of humility, and I've learned not to feel I have to impress people upon first meeting by mentioning a <em>name-brandy</em> school. I think if you choose to attend a school despite the fact that your friends, relatives, and strangers know nothing about it, you're bound to be happier with your choice, as you are choosing the school for your own reasons, not other peoples'.</p>
<p>I highly dislike "prestige" ranks for exactly this reason, but I think you can come away from this thread realizing that no matter where you end up attending, a significant and influential group of people will think pretty highly of it, and another significant and influential group of people will have no idea where you went or think of it as "decent," but not glitzy.</p>
<p>Sometimes, though, I wonder if glitz is always the thing to aim for. One of the smartest people I know is a hardcore Virginia grad, and she mentioned to me that one of her younger sisters had considered attending "one of those northeastern snob schools" over her dear UVA. What was the snob school in question? Only Amherst. I tried not to be too offended by her comment about my general region of the country, but I took mental note that not everybody equates prestige with positive aspects.</p>
<p>
[quote]
My best friends are lay-people (? lol is that right?). I think so, just because those are big football schools. Maybe Harvard will be up there, but I don't know if Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth or even MIT would be up there.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Maybe Harvard? Hmmm... reminds me of that Miss S. Carolina pageant question that 1 out of 5 Americans cannot find US on a map.</p>
<p>Prestige is a thing of the past. Irrelevant. Most of the students on this post won't "get it." No more than 10% of the Fortune 500 companies have CEOs from "prestige" colleges. The prestige of a college has been replaced by your GPA. In other words, how hard did you work for the past 4-5 years that gives you the right to interview at this company? WHERE you worked won't matter. Sorry to burst your bubble.</p>
<p>Chicago is a GREAT school, however it is not nearly as prestigious as its peers. People on CC are jaded. When you discuss prestige, you need to think of an average person, AN AVERAGE PERSON DOES NOT APPLY TO ALL OF THE IVIES. For example, it is COMPLETELY ASSONINE to think Yale is as prestigious as Harvard. LACs have no prestige. Chicago, to the average person, is jsut a University of....with no real name to it. As for vanderbilt, the school carries a strong name in the south, and even nation wide. Vanderbilt has bigger sports, and thus has more national attention.</p>
<p>that being said...prestige wise solely..</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard - by far
<huge drop=""></huge></li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Stanford
<huge drop.=""></huge></li>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>Vanderbilt</li>
<li>JHU</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
</ol>
<p>The "average" person has not heard of most of these, and believes Harvard & Yale are still where the rich kids go and will pass no matter what they do. MIT is where engineers build robert cars. The only "elite" schools known to the average person are those that participate in big sports conferences, e.g., Stanford, Duke, & Northwestern. Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, UPenn, JHU, Columbia, etc. are almost completely unknown to the average person. At the local pub if a school doesn't have a well known sports program, no one has heard of it. For the most part, the local state flagship is considered the most prestigious by most folks.</p>
<p>Recently, in an off the top of the head unscientific survey, I asked a group of 5 mostly State Univ. Ph.D's to name the Ivy League Colleges, most I got was five. I asked for first impressions of schools I named. Duke: Good basket ball, Dartmouth: no comment, shrugs, Chicago: That genius school, Harvard: Rich folks school, Columbia: Is that the school in NY?, Stanford: Pac 10, Berkeley: Hippies, and so on. Most of the world does not know nor does it care about prestige. If, however, one wants to stay in that club, teaching, research, legacy, etc., then it matters and everyone knows everyone, including Chicago, Rice, North Carolina, UVA, etc.</p>
<p>I may be wrong, but I've always thought that UCLA was among the 15 most prestigious universities in the United States, ranked alongside Duke, Northwestern and Cornell.</p>
<p>you're wrong bruin. j/k ;-)</p>
<p>It recieves more applications than any other college in the world someone told me once.</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Caltech, MIT, Brown, Oxford, Cambridge, UC Berkeley, UCLA, John Hopkins, Columbia, Duke, WashU, Vanderbilt, Dartmouth (16, but whatever.)</p>
<p>^^^^
Take out some WashU/Vanderbilt, maybe Dartmouth; add in some Penn/Cornell/Chicago</p>