top 15 most prestigious universities

College Search & Selection
581

<p>Caltech by all means is a fine school. Strong academically. I personally wouldn't consider Caltech prestigious. Personally, (its all sterotype though) its just a bunch of nerdy science folks, not many people (average joes) know of Caltech especially outside of California, supremely tiny student body (undergrad population, 800 total), main focus on the sciences, not that well rounded... I believe, Caltech, by definition pure definition of the word, simply is not as prestigious enough as the other schools mentioned above. There is not prestigious ring to the name Caltech. Just a very very good school ring. Hard to explain. you know what I mean?</p>

<p>For comparison, there is... "I attend Harvard University." and then there is, ::high pitch squeely voice:: "I go to Caltech in Pasadena, California."</p>

582

<p>Phead -</p>

<p>Forgive me for being a little offended here. I just don't think that saying "I personally wouldn't consider Caltech prestigious" makes sense when it has essentially the toughest required curriculum and highest average scores in the country. "High pitch squeely voice" is also pretty insulting, I'd have to say. People should really get to know schools before drawing conclusions about them.</p>

583

<p>For whatever reason -- Small population, negative stereotypes... Those scores/curriculum haven't translated into national/international prestige.</p>

584

<p>In my Opinion</p>

<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>U. Of Chicago</li>
</ol>

<p>Only American Univ. but i did overall prestige around the world , not just states. this is my opinion lol</p>

585

<p>redirect</p>

<p>I apologize. MIT bias. Never meant to be offensive or intentionally condescending or anything. I also live in Cambridge, few hundred feet away from MIT, I hang out around MIT friends all the time. May this anti-Caltech bias rub off. :)</p>

586

<p>My two cents..</p>

<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Brown</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>UC-Berkeley</li>
<li>UPenn</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>Georgetown</li>
<li>Duke</li>
</ol>

<p>Just my opinion.</p>

587

<p>No problem, Phead. Come and visit us sometime!</p>

588

<p>If based solely on "prestige"... (Caveat: this is very subjective but I feel that most people would agree with the following)</p>

<p>First: Harvard</p>

<p>Second: Yale, Stanford, Princeton, MIT</p>

<p>Sixth: Columbia, Dartmouth, Caltech, UPenn</p>

<p>Tenth: Georgetown, Duke, Brown, UC-Berkeley, Johns Hopkins, Cornell</p>

<p>Grouping these top universities is a better method in assigning prestige. To say Columbia is more prestigious than UPenn is far to subjective.</p>

589

<p>^^ I definitely agree with that list.</p>

590

<p>^^ Yeah, I like tdolson's list. Except I say Dartmouth drops down into the next group - I've always thought of Dartmouth as on par with Brown and Cornell.</p>

591

<p>I don't see a real prestige difference between Columbia, Penn, Dartmouth, Brown, and Duke.</p>

592

<p>HYPSM
Rest of Top 14 (including tied) USNWR + Berkeley - WashU</p>

593

<p>Hmmm... OP did not specify undergrad.</p>

<p>Therefore, Brown, Dartmouth, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt, and a bunch more of the USNWR top 20 would be OUT. Prestige comes from cutting edge research.</p>

<p>I'll go with the NRC 41 discipline Ph.D. rankings, and tweak it a little to add the three professional schools' prestige:</p>

<ol>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Harvard - tie</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>UC San Diego</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Chicago</li>
<li>Michigan</li>
<li>UCLA</li>
<li>Penn</li>
<li>Wisconsin</li>
<li>Washington</li>
<li>Texas</li>
<li>Illinois</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>Duke</li>
</ol>

<p>Cornell shows better when seen as academicians do ... the 3rd strongest Ivy.</p>

594

<p>
[quote]
Prestige comes from cutting edge research.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Most would probably not agree with this; especially outside of the sciences and to the exclusion of student selectivity.</p>

595

<p>
[quote]
Most would probably not agree with this; especially outside of the sciences and to the exclusion of student selectivity.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>What do you mean by 'most'? That's commonly agreed upon on CC, as far as I've seen. It's obvious that those with strong grad programs tend to be more prestigious; and research and grad programs are tied. Very old universities also tend to be prestigious, and the Ivy League carries its own prestige, even if not all of its universities have strong research output.</p>

596

<p>

So you think Berkeley is as prestigious as Harvard? Cornell and UC San Diego is better than Yale?</p>

597

<p>Duke last? I disagree as well. Duke is definitely up there as it has been consistently ranked among the top ten for many many many years.</p>

598

<p>
[quote]
So you think Berkeley is as prestigious as Harvard? Cornell and UC San Diego is better than Yale?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Could you point out where I said that? No, you can't, because I never said it. All I'm saying is, strong research leads to more recognition and, in turn, prestige. The school's history is also important; Berkeley is nearly 150 years old, Yale is about 300 years old, etc. UCSD, while having some strong grad programs and research output, is barely 40 years old.</p>

599

<p>
[quote]
Duke last? I disagree as well. Duke is definitely up there as it has been consistently ranked among the top ten for many many many years.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Not w/ regard to the strength of its academic departments.</p>

600

<p>I know. I was speaking solely for EAD's benefit. Just so he could be heard without actually be heard.</p>