<p>^^^^ Hmm. I think Vanderbilt is more prestigious than Cornell though. Penn does belong there though- I just plain forgot. XD</p>
<p>Oh crap. I also forgot Stanford too.....</p>
<p>OK, here's my new list: </p>
<p>Stanford, Yale, Harvard, Princeton, Penn, Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, Caltech, UC Berkeley, UCLA, John Hopkins, Columbia, Duke, Vanderbilt</p>
<p>atrophicwhisper, Vanderbilt does not belong. If you add Vanderbilt, you must add schools like Georgetown, Notre Dame and WUSTL. And maybe to you, Cornell is not as prestigious as Vanderbilt, but most people would say that it is.</p>
<p>absolutely agree with Alex. Cornell's profile on both national and international levels is far higher than Vanderbilt's.</p>
<p>What idad said.</p>
<p>Here goes nothing:</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton, Penn, Oxford, Cambridge, MIT, Caltech, Chicago, Dartmouth, Johns Hopkins, Columbia, Duke, Cornell</p>
<p>^I concur.</p>
<p>(10 char)</p>
<p>^^^^^^^^^^</p>
<p>From this day on, the above list is the official top 15 in the world list.</p>
<p>Well... it will be until someone points out that, in their opinion U of C and Cornell don't deserve to be in it.</p>
<p>georgetown should be added</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT
Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, UPenn
Caltech, Duke, Northwestern, Chicago, JHU</p>
<p>the_prestige, I agree with your groups for the most part. However, I disagree with Cornell being in group 2. Every school in your second group has an SAT average well above a 1400. In fact, every school in the third group (except for JHU) has an average SAT well above a 1400. Thus, I think that Cornell belongs in group 3. If you want to differentiate schools within Cornell, I would be willing to put Cornell CAS and engineering in group 2. Similarly, I'd put Penn Wharton in group 1. </p>
<p>The most recent college admissions statistics are now available. </p>
<p>HYPM+CalTech all have an SAT average above a 1450
Dartmouth and Duke are both around 1440
Brown, Columbia, Penn, Northwestern, UChicago are all in the range of 1420-1435</p>
<p>Cornell and JHU are both below 1400</p>
<p>At this level, I'd view the prestige of a school as a function of its student body strength. The best students on average will attend the schools that they perceive as the best schools. I think that student body strength is the most important element in determining a school's prestige.</p>
<p>actually collegebound, i didn't really mean to place them in "ordered" tiers.</p>
<p>I started with HYPSM, because well, its HYPSM.
Then the remaining 5 Ivies came immediately to mind
Out of the non-HYPSM, non-Ivy schools left, Caltech, Duke, NW, Chicago and JHU came immediately to mind.</p>
<p>And there you go, 15.</p>
<p>Prestige according to whom exactly? Are we discussing "prestige" on CC (or among high schoolers and their parents)? If that's the case, then I agree with the_prestige's list. But "prestige" varies from group to group. For example:</p>
<p>Prestige according to academe is best captured by the PA of the USNWR. I don't think many people would disagree with that:
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
Yale University
California Institute of Technology
Columbia University
Cornell University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
Brown University
Duke University</p>
<p>Prestige internationally (hard to measure, but it is probably similar to prestige according to academe)
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
Yale University
California Institute of Technology
Columbia University
Cornell University
Johns Hopkins University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
Brown University
Duke University</p>
<p>Prestige on the East Coast:
Brown University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia
Yale University</p>
<p>Prestige on the West Coast
California Institute of Technology
Claremont McKenna College
Columbia University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Pomona College
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
Yale University</p>
<p>Prestige in the Midwest:
Columbia University
Cornell University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Notre Dame
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Washington University
Yale University</p>
<p>Prestige in the South:
College of William & Mary
Duke University
Emory University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Rice University
Stanford University
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Texas-Austin
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Yale University</p>
<p>Prestige to Engineers/Techies:
California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Purdue University-West Lafayette
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Texas-Austin
University of Wisconsin-Madison
Yale University</p>
<p>Prestige in Silicon Valley
California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University
Cornell University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Washington
Yale University</p>
<p>Prestige on Wall Street:
Brown University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
New York University
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virgnia
Yale University</p>
<p>Prestige to sports enthusiasts:
Duke University
Georgetown University
Stanford University
University of California-Los Angeles
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill
University of Notre Dame</p>
<p>Prestige to conservatives:
Dartmouth College
Duke University
Georgetown University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Northwestern University
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of Notre Dame
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton)
University of Virginia
Vanderbilt University
Yale University</p>
<p>Prestige to Liberals
Brown University
Columbia University
Cornell University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Princeton University
Stanford University
University of California-Berkeley
University of Chicago
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
Yale University</p>
<p>Those are all major segments of the populations, and quite frankly, I find it too simplistic to believe that one can truly narrow the list of the more "prestigious" universities to just 15. I think it is far more realistic to go with just 5 (Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford and Yale) or, if one wishes to stretch the field, to submit to the fact that there are too many definitons of "prestige" to limit the group to just 15.</p>
<p>Wow Alexandre, that should halt any more debate. :D</p>
<p>Are those in order? Or are they simply schools that are prestigious?</p>
<p>Also, being from the West Coast, I have to say the Claremont Colleges (claremont Mckenna, Pomona) aren't very highly regarded at all.</p>
<p>In regard to international prestige, why not take a look at some world rankings.</p>
<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Columbia, Brown, Dartmouth, UPenn, Chicago, Duke, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Georgetown</p>
<p>Alexandre,</p>
<p>Great analysis -- it's really difficult to narrow them down, not to mention it's very subjective, and your 'subgroups' make sense.</p>
<p>So why does it seem that Cornell's admissions statistics do not reflect its ranking in US News or just overall prestige?</p>