top 15 most prestigious universities

College Search & Selection
821

<p>
[quote]
It's hard to have an inferiority complex when you're already a top 10 school. I haven't seen anyone in real life compare Duke to HYP or state that it wasn't among the batch of schools immediately after it. Please don't stereotype an entire school based on some of your isolated experiences. Duke's caliber is among the middle Ivies. How does that constitute an inferiority complex?

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<p>Uhhh... when a Duke student comes on these boards every other week and starts asserting that Duke is on par with Harvard, Yale, Princeton or is the next best thing after them, and begins to bash other schools like Brown, Cornell, Berkeley, etc. they definitely reek of an inferiority complex. </p>

<p>If they truly felt Duke was this good, why would they need to go on and on trying to convince everybody on CC and their mom about this matter? It should just be obviously apparent to everyone. Yet they are insecure about themselves so they have to convince themselves and others that their school is as close to Stanford, Harvard, Yale and Princeton as possible.</p>

<p>I'm guessing the majority of Duke students are HYPS rejects, and this is not a bad thing because almost everybody is a HYPS reject, but the way some Duke students cope with this on CC is ridiculous. Since you are new to CC, I am guessing you haven't looked at threads like "UC Berkeley VS. Duke" or "The Case for Duke." Go take a look at these threads. On these threads, you will see Duke alums frequently claiming that their school is a notch above schools like Brown, Cornell, Chicago Northwestern, JHU, Berkeley and as close to HYPS as possible. If they were so secure about their status among elite schools, then why do they have to convince themselves or others of being better than other schools?</p>

<p>Do you ever see an alum from another school trying to proclaim his/her school is as close to HYPS as possible and in a whole another tier than schools of comparable quality? Do you ever see another school’s newspaper publishing articles about how it thinks that it’s better than some Ivy League schools? If they truly felt this way they wouldn't need to convince themselves and others of the matter but they don't, since they are insecure. </p>

<p>Now not all alums of Duke are like this I assume, but the majority on these boards seem to be.</p>

822

<p>
[quote]
I think Stanford and MIT belong in the second group

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<p>Stanford and MIT are in the second one, after Harvard (which, as others have said, is in a class of its own).</p>

823

<p>It's definitely possible for Blue Devils to have an inferiority complex. I've seen it many times on CC.</p>

824

<p>Duke gave admitted stats to Princeton Review--honest mistake or a sign of inferiority complex?</p>

<p>
[quote]
in no part of the country besides the West and no part of the world besides Asia is its name as powerful as those of HYP. I have lived in various parts of the country and the world(Midwest, South, Australia, Singapore, Middle East, England).

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<p>Bacchanalia, at what age did you live in those places? You mean when you were, say, 8, you started running around asking people about college prestige in America? Wow!!!</p>

825

<p>I think that the limitation of this thread is the false ceiling of 15 colleges. Sort of like picking the best 15 players for the USA Olympic basketball team. We could pick 5 or more teams from the USA with no appreciable decline in the quality of the players. The same is true with US colleges. </p>

<p>We in the USA are blessed to have so many terrific colleges in every section of the country. While not equally acclaimed within academia, their reputations in the for profit world are more established and more relevant to the interests of most undergraduate students. So, I join with those who celebrate the growing of the pie that is the US elite college market. </p>

<p>As for Alex's list, here is my two cents:</p>

<p>NATIONAL UNIVERSITIES</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Move Caltech to a position alongside, but separate from, HYPSM.</p></li>
<li><p>Merge the group beginning with Brown and the group beginning with Carnegie Mellon. Differences throughout this group truly are razor thin. </p></li>
<li><p>Start new Honorable Mention group with NYU and USC. Add Tufts, Brandeis, U Rochester, Boston College and Tulane (I know, this is a controversial pick!) and probably there are many other deserving candidates. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>Harvard
Yale…………………………………………..for engineering only…..Caltech
Princeton
Stanford
MIT</p>

<p>Brown
Carnegie Mellon
U Chicago
Columbia
Cornell
Dartmouth
Duke
Emory
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern
Notre Dame
U Penn
Rice
Vanderbilt
Wash U</p>

<p>Honorable Mention:
Boston College
Brandeis
NYU
U Rochester
Tufts
Tulane
USC</p>

<p>LACs</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Like in the national university group, Harvey Mudd deserves a spot alongside the top tier.</p></li>
<li><p>Elevate W&L and the service academies to the second tier.</p></li>
<li><p>Add Holy Cross and U Richmond and undoubtedly several others to Honorable Mention</p></li>
</ol>

<p>Amherst
Swarthmore……………………………….for engineering only, Harvey Mudd
Williams </p>

<p>Army
Bowdoin
Carleton
Claremont McKenna
Colgate
Davidson
Grinnell
Harvey Mudd
Haverford
Middlebury
Navy
Pomona
Wellesley
Wesleyan
W&L</p>

<p>Honorable Mention:
Barnard
Bates
Bryn Mawr
Colby
Holy Cross
Oberlin
Reed
U Richmond
Smith
Vassar </p>

<p>PUBLICs</p>

<ol>
<li><p>Elevate W&M to same level with U Virginia. Elevate Georgia Tech and UCSD to same level with U Illinois.</p></li>
<li><p>Add Penn State, U Florida and Texas A&M and probably a few others to the Honorable Mention level with U Washington. </p></li>
</ol>

<p>UC Berkeley</p>

<p>UCLA
U Michigan
U Virginia
William & Mary</p>

<p>Georgia Tech
UCSD
U Illinois
U North Carolina
U Texas
U Wisconsin</p>

<p>Honorable Mention:
U Florida
Penn State
Texas A&M
U Washington</p>

826

<p>
[quote]
Duke gave admitted stats to Princeton Review--honest mistake or a sign of inferiority complex?

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</p>

<p>Do you mean they sent in the stats to PR for admitted students rather than attending students? If so, this is definitely not an honest mistake. Duke likes to hide its real numbers to make it seem better than it actually is.</p>

<p>They did this for their pre-law/pre-med placement statistics. They released pre-med statistics only for those Duke premeds that applied through the Duke advising center, and released prelaw statistics only for those Dukies who applied through the prelaw center to inflate their premed and prelaw acceptance rates that prospective students see.</p>

<p>Duke doesn't like releasing honest numbers.</p>

827

<p>Hawkette, really good list, I like your reasoning. I like Alexandre's list too, but I've never heard of the U.S. Marine Academy. I've heard of the U.S. MERCHANT MARINE Academy though.</p>

<p>In any case, I think "U.S. Military Academy (West Point)" was what Alexandre intended to put there. Interesting how US News ranked USNA and USMA as Liberal Arts Schools last year. People here were mad about that due to the engineering core curriculum that we have. The only reason why we can't be ranked as "National Universities" is because we only offer undergraduate degrees and our endowment comes mainly from the U.S. government and a small group of alumni. Otherwise, SAT's, GPA's, attrition, and other meaningful data are certainly quantifiable.</p>

828

<p>Brown man,
With all of the shots that you're taking at Duke, I'm beginning to wonder who the insecure one is here....:confused: </p>

<p>I don't think that Duke is the only school to make the "mistake" of reporting admitted student information rather than enrolled student. I agree that this policy is stupid.</p>

<p>As for the posts of certain Duke supporters, some of your criticisms may be valid, but again, Duke supporters are hardly alone in trying to embellish the reputation of their school. In fact, compared to some schools on this board, Duke's efforts are positively amateurish. :o</p>

829

<p>Hawkette,</p>

<p>Kudos on the list. You use sound reasoning and offer a slight improvement over Alex's.</p>

830

<p>Excellent list Hawkette.</p>

831

<p>
[quote]
With all of the shots that you're taking at Duke, I'm beginning to wonder who the insecure one is here....

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Hawkette, </p>

<p>What are all the shots I have taken at Duke by the way? I do feel that some Duke CC posters are insecure and I feel that reporting false numbers to prospective students is deeply unethical, but other than that, what shots have I taken that merit my insecurity? </p>

<p>Do I parade around these boards asserting my school is as close to HYPS as possible? No. Do I frequently stomp around these boards asserting my school is in a whole different tier than many schools of comparable quality? No. How does this make me insecure?</p>

832

<p>^^ if it weren't for your username, I wouldn't know which university you attend. :p</p>

833

<p>I don't attend Brown. I go to Cornell engineering.</p>

834

<p>^^ my (and your) sentiments precisely. I've never seen you parade your school.</p>

835

<p>Hawkette, CalTech is not an engineering powerhouse. It's main strengths are the hard sciences.</p>

<p>That said, excellent list.</p>

836

<p>


</p>

<p>Have you lived in other parts of the world to know this?</p>

837

<p>I would generally agree with Hawkette's list, although wouldn't have Vanderbilt so close to being interchangable with Dartmouth and Brown. Also, Hamilton is at least as strong/selective as Colby, Bates and would say Bucknell, Trinity, Connecticut College are stronger than Holy Cross, URichmond.</p>

838

<p>

Most educated people know about MIT but not all. You overestimate the amount of knowledgeable people in the country who are also knowledgeable about the top colleges in the country. The truth is, most people in the US don't neccessarily care about getting an elite education. They have some great public options in-state that will provide them with a good education and will save them some money, so why venture out of state?</p>

<p>Based on my work experience, MIT holds regional appeal(Northeast) and is not as universally known as HYP in most circles. It's no knock against its status because it is indeed a great school. However, it doesn't have the cachet that HYP has in the professional world besides the serious academic circles.</p>

<p>

They're pretty good. There' no need to be so nitpicky over this stuff at the undergrad level. At MIT, you will be surrounded by many brilliant peers and you're going to get a good education if you put in the effort. That's all that really matters.</p>

<p>

Wait, how old are you again? 17? 18? I have been to many regions of the country and the world for work and family reasons and I can tell you that Harvard and Yale are seen as the two most prestigious colleges in the world almost unanimously. Princeton follows them closely and then Stanford, Columbia, Penn, etc. etc. All of the top private and public schools in the US are viewed extremely favorably worldwide so we're arguing semantics here.</p>

<p>

When did I mention overall athletic excellence? I don't believe I ever did. No need to be so insecure.</p>

<p>

Beyond prestige and selectivity, I don't see a real tangible difference between the top colleges in the country. Stanford is in no way shape or form "better", "more" or "greater" than Columbia, Duke, Penn, etc. in any way. They are among the top colleges in the country and peers. Geez, I can't comprehend the level of elitism you display at such a young age.</p>

<p>

Keep on humoring yourself that " Duke is not nearly on the level of Stanford and Harvard for research". Just like those two schools, the research opportunities are nearly endless with the top Duke Hospital researchers/labs just nearby and the school's location in the Research Triangle for engineering research. What do I know though? It's not like I don't have more real-world knowledge and experience than a young college student or high schooler.</p>

<p>

Wait what? The common stereotype of Duke is that it's elitist and there is a lot of self-segregation. Racist plantations? Sexist affairs? What century are you living in? If you're going to stereotype a place, at least use the right ones.</p>

<p>

What's laughable is how outwardly elitist you are at such a young age. Why can't you just accept that all the top schools offer equally great educations for the most part? Do you have to tear other schools down to make yourself feel better?</p>

<p>

Well, Duke's been ranked above Stanford on your precious USNews rankings before and it probably won't be the last time. As per the current edition, it seems to suggest that Penn is better than MIT. I guess MIT is not a top 5 school since you insist on stratifying the top 10 schools so much.</p>

<p>

Are you really doubting the institution's integrity? Grow up kid. ALL Duke students use their premed and prelaw advising. That's what they are there for. Duke is not "hiding numbers". The ones you see in the USNews are the real numbers. It's not the school's fault if people get confused about the difference between statistics for "Enrolled Students" and "Admitted Students".</p>

839

<p>Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, Caltech, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Brown, Dartmouth, UPenn, Northwestern, Cornell, UC Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon</p>

<p>extras: Georgetown + NYU</p>

840

<p>Hawkette, I question your Honorable Mention lists a tad bit. Boston College and Brandeis are household names among most Roman Catholic and Jewish families, respectively. NYU was ranked by the Princeton Review for several years as the dream school that most students aspire to (let's not question the quality of these students or of NYU). Tufts is pretty much known as the Ivy League safety school. Smith was one of the bastions of the WASP elite, and had been extremely prestigious at one time. They're all great schools, I mean, but in drawing distinctions strictly in terms of prestige and reputation, academic quality and research power are not factors that should be weighed heaviest.</p>