top 15 most prestigious universities

<p>It's great that you would choose Vandy over Chicago, but the fact of the matter is Chicago is about 10x more prestigious than Vandy. I don't think I've ever heard of Vandy until I registered for this site. Chicago is a world leading institution in the humanities and sciences. If you would rather get drunk with beer guzzling meatheads for 4 years instead of absorbing knowledge from the world's greatest minds then more power to you, I guess.</p>

<p>Idad, thanks.</p>

<p>From my experience, Univ of Chicago is more prestigious and far more renowned than Vanderbilt.</p>

<p>shizz ---- Since when does being gregarious and having good social skills translate into being a "meathead". I think if you looked at Vanderbilt's testing requirements and their 33% admissions rate you would agree that is the wrong word.</p>

<p>And yes, I think I'd be happier in a work hard-party hard enivornment. Life is short, might as well enjoy the best of both worlds. I don't want to be surrounded by psuedo-intellectuals who discuss Foucault during the harsh winters of Chicago.</p>

<p>I don't live in LA, I live in Orange County, about 45 mins away. It's not exactly like the TV show (lol), but I'm surrounded by the richest of the rich and about half of them went to USC. I agree with your comment, though, about how we don't value education as much here.</p>

<p>No matter what this board thinks, as far I'm concerned, Vanderbilt's more prestigious. My neighborhood would agree with me. Besides, prestigious or not, UChicago is widely regarded as having one of the worst, if not THE worst, college experiences in the nation.</p>

<p>I have to agree with semiserious and orangeisland83's posts.</p>

<p>In very affluent communities Vanderbilt seems to have more prestige. When I used the word "prestige", I use it to mean respect or social standing. I live in a rich suburb of New York, and people would be more impressed with the Vanderbilt name in my town aswell. It has a certain reputation that is very respected in WASPy well-connected towns.</p>

<p>uh... prestige is not just relative based on your location but also on your background. </p>

<p>semiserious thinks USC and Vanderbilt are prestigious, but i come from southern california too and i DONT think they are prestigious. vanderbilt is definitely NOT a household name here... although it might be for those who are richer or more affluent. but seriously, i have never heard anybody talk about vanderbilt in my life. the only times i hear about vanderbilt are on CC and when i'm reading the sports section. as for USC... well, that depends on who you ask. it's prestige is definitely much greater in southern california (for obvious reasons) than elsewhere. but go up to norcal and the opinions change haha. </p>

<p>then you go... no, USC has great alumni connections in norcal! and then i go: uh.. that's like asking all the democrats in texas which political party is the best, then claiming that texas is actually a democratic state. </p>

<p>for the most part, going to a UC = prestige in california. </p>

<p>as for chicago, i guess if you're in the "educated" circles and on CC often, then it is prestigious. but chicago is also not prestigious because is not definitely NOT a household name. you go to chicago? oh...</p>

<p>I can't even believe I'm reading this s**t, what a joke.</p>

<p>Wow hanna, your comment really added a lot to the discussion. I'm so glad you decided to spend 15 whole seconds typing out such a thoughtful, insightful response.</p>

<p>No one in San Francisco has ever HEARD of "Vandy" prestigious though you may call it</p>

<p>Honestly, I really take offense to you calling all Chicago students "nerds" and putting the social life down. Have you been a student there? Do you have any ****ing clue or are you talking out of your ass? I do not consider myself a nerd or misfit or square peg, or whatever you called it and there were many students like myself at Chicago. It is possible for one to want to be educated and have a beer at the same time. There is definitely a party scene there, although obvioulsy it is not as big as a state school, but neither is Harvard's. It has all kinds of students, from all walks of life. And many students go out into the city as well, which is much better than Nashville! So, please, for people who actually might think you know something about Chicago, stop putting it down. Some people, like myslef, had a wonderful time there.</p>

<p>I visited Chicago and did an overnight visit. I am not basing my argument on stereotypes but my observations of my expierences there. The girls were not attractive as a whole. I saw maybe 3 good-looking girls there the whole time. One girl I talked to at a party was alright looking but extremely shy. It was like she was afraid to talk to me. The guys, again as a whole, looked like they got beat up all the time in HS. I did meet some cool people to be fair, but it wasn't the environment I was looking for. I'm a junior at Vandy and visited Chicago three years ago when I was looking at schools so maybe things have changed drastically.</p>

<p>I agree that Nashville is overrated. I'm from NY and think its too small. Vandy kids only go downtown on Thursday to Printer's Alley. The coolest place to go. Most kids stay on campus on the weekends because the parties are amazing and there is no reason to go anywhere else.</p>

<p>Oh OK, so you keep bashing the social life and calling all Chicago students nerds because you spent one night as a prospective student with some "nerdy' host and went to some lame party. That makes sense.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.tuckermax.com/uglypeople.html%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.tuckermax.com/uglypeople.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>LOL.</p>

<p>
[quote]

Perhaps the high level of heinousness at [the University of Chicago] would be excusable if it was a fun place to be. Alas, that is not the case. This place has the social life of Riker’s Island, except without the rampant anal sex. It makes me yearn to get on the guest list for parties at the geriatric ward of Kevorkian Regional Hospital; those people are a collection of teeming, gregarious social butterflies compared to my fellow collegians. I would call this place ‘socially retarded’ but at the mall I have actually seen retarded people have fun and be social.</p>

<p>Of course there are always those schmucks who think that this place is great and say that anyone who doesn’t believe so holds unrealistic visions of college life. To those people I can only say one thing: VISIT OTHER SCHOOLS. Go spend a week at Vanderbilt, UVA, Tulane, UCLA, or any number of other schools, then come back and apologize to me for saying stupid things.

[/quote]
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<p>Dude, Tucker Max is a degenerate and an ass*hole. 90% of his stuff is full of crap.</p>

<p>Well, I'm glad to see you're mature enough to articulate your point without degenerating into rampant, needless swearing.</p>

<p>Princeton Review on University of Chicago:</p>

<p>Typically "wonkish, nerdy, cloistered, extremely studious, and religiously dedicated to academic performance," Chicago students are "brilliant, on par with those at any other school, but not the kind of people that you want to have a casual conversation with." That is somewhat attributed to "personal hygiene and social skills [that] are sometimes lacking," and partly because "we ask seemingly strange questions........The school has attempted to recruit beyond its nerdish base, bringing in more students of the frat boy/jock variety. Most agree the efforts are counterproductive. One student writes, "Chicago has a reputation for its antisocial, elitist student body, but when it tries to change this reputation, it just erodes the reason for its greatness." </p>

<p>Let me guess Princeton Review writers are also degenerates and "a-holes".</p>

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<p>Urbandictionary.com on University of Chicago:</p>

<p>definition : "where fun goes to die, on the south side of chicago."</p>

<p>sentence: I knew this really cool kid but he ended up at u of c. he now writes angst-ridden poetry and has forgotten what sunlight looks like.</p>

<p>Have you met tucker max? Are you so confident that he is so attractive that his appraisal should hold significant weight in your seemly shallow estimation?</p>

<p>you left out Duke. And it's THE most expensive school in the US. There's a reason they charge those fees.</p>

<p>hanna1, you are really only serving to validate the point that chicago is a veritable beehive of nerdery.</p>