<p>
[quote]
but how then do you account for the standing of Princeton, which has neither a law nor a medical school?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>That is the reason why Princeton isn't as well known as HYSM or even UC Berkeley on global stage. Many would argue that Princeton is actually a bit better than Harvard in undergrad education due to its focus on undergrads, and it has been ranked higher than Harvard in US News ranking for several years. Regardless, the general public, both in U.S. and especially overseas, regard Harvard with much higher regard. Imo, this comes from Harvard's strong programs in Law, Medicine, MBA, and other grad schools in science-related fields.</p>
<p>
[quote]
How about hotel management and ag sciences? (two areas that Cornell is strong in) Are those more valuable than audiology in determining prestige?</p>
<p>How about the arts / music / theater / dance? Do Yale and NU's respective theater departments not impact their prestige?
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Not nearly as much as the traditional, big majors (which is why NU's journalism school wasn't even included).</p>
<p>I will disagree w/ patlees on one point and say that English is one of the traditional, big majors.</p>
<p>Once again - this is about "academic" prestige - there are other ways of looking at "prestige".</p>
<p>Social prestige, perhaps? Thread drift, but there are certainly schools that may not be the biggest academic power-hitters, but have a certain level of social prestige, esp in certain parts of the country. SMU in Dallas comes to mind in the Dallas area. Any others that people can think of that have social prestige?</p>
<p>I know this is old and somewhat irrelevant, but I haven't been back and want to clear something up. My "defense" of Cornell was very different from what I see on this forum. A very strong Duke advocate was trying to use sporting attendance records to suggest that it makes Duke intrinsically superior. </p>
<p>I just don't tolerate this relatively persistent effort to tear down the "lower Ivies" and make them out to be hack schools that coast by on an irrelevant sporting league slapped on them decades or centuries after they built their reputations. Many people do it and they're doing it here again with Vanderbilt. </p>
<p>A school, such as Vanderbilt, can be great in its own right without having to try to prove it's "better" (to whom, I don't know) than Brown or Dartmouth or Northwestern or wherever. </p>
<p>oh - and I don't know anything about Emory. Heard of it a few times. No idea where it is so I'm sure you're right. I didn't include it in the schools, though.</p>
<p>On another note - I definitely think that social prestige is a Southern thing. I was trying to think of a school in the Northeast or Midwest (the regions I know well) that draws people in that way and I can't think of one. There seems to be a direct correlation between quality of school and social prestige. Perhaps someone will prove otherwise.</p>
<p>applejack,
I'd like to avoid misinterpreting your statement-would you please expand on what you mean by "social prestige" and how that relates to the quality of a school?</p>
<p>applejack, I don't know where you live.
But I can guarantee you that if you drop the fact that your kid goes to Harvard, Yale or Princeton at a Manhattan soiree, your social status will take off like an ICBM.</p>
<p>^
Those schools' reputations are directly correlated to academic quality (and the fact that the ruling class pumps billions of dollars in so they can buy the best resources). </p>
<p>Pizzagirl was, I believe, pointing out that there are certain schools that have a regional draw primarily as a status symbol. I was simply saying that doesn't generally happen in the Midwest or Northeast, as far as I am aware, without a correlating academic reputation.</p>
<p>I think some state flagships do get a general hearty approval in the Midwest unconnected to national prestige, such as Purdue, Indiana or Iowa, or Penn State in the Northeast.
But I understand your general assertion.</p>
<p>"I just don't tolerate this relatively persistent effort to tear down the "lower Ivies" and make them out to be hack schools that coast by on an irrelevant sporting league slapped on them decades or centuries after they built their reputations. Many people do it and they're doing it here again with Vanderbilt."</p>
<p>Think about it, though, applejack. Who is doing this tearing down? A bunch of hs seniors who think they are all that and a bag of chips in terms of their knowledge of "prestige." They're not out in the real world, they haven't interacted with anyone yet, they don't fully get that in the real world, no one parses schools to the level / depth that we all do on CC, they don't fully understand that it's not whether you go to Duke or Cornell that gets you that first job, it's *you and how you present yourself and how you come across, and they have no clue whatsoever that smart, ambitious people from (gasp) state-schoolz-OMG do quite well in life.
So take it for what it's worth.</p>
<p>applejack,
I'm still hoping you are going to explain what you meant by "social prestige." It sounds like you think that "social prestige" is related to what college offers the best social life, regardless of the academic strength. Is that your meaning? If not, would you please expound a little and help me/us understand where you are coming from?</p>
<p>Pizzagirl introduced that phrase to describe schools that attract people because, in their circles, it's fashionable to say, "I went to X school", even if X school isn't really that great academically.</p>
<p>I was simply responding to her post, pointing out that I have never noticed people doing that in the Northeast and Midwest, but have noticed it in the South. Perhaps it happens in the Southwest as well, now that i think about it.</p>
<p>I didn't really have a specific thing in mind, so feel free to invent all kinds of meanings :-). SMU came to mind, because it appears to have a lot of social prestige in Texas. Tulane comes to mind as well, as I have found there are certain circles where Tulane carries as much prestige as Duke and Vandy even though academically I think T isn't in that same circle. (Which is not a slam on Tulane, btw. I think it offers some unique things.) </p>
<p>I remember reading the Preppy Handbook and I would say there are some colleges that have social prestige but not academic prestige in some circles. Sweet Briar comes to mind for some people.</p>