Appologies Publisher not intended. Never in doubt as to Dartmouth’s top status is irrefutable. Limited data source as noted was IVYWISE and a year dated. In all candor all of these schools have jacked up yield by taking close to 50% of class ED.
Once again not meant to diminish Dartmouth or any other school in the least, and only intended as generalities.
Thank you, but I was not offended. This was discussed in a recent thread last week. 
Re #14, if the criteria were shifted to those undergraduate colleges that
produce the most graduates who go on to highly-regarded law schools, then these colleges would be most represented on a proportional basis:
Amherst*
Brown
Claremont McKenna*
Columbia*
Cornell*
Dartmouth*
Duke*
Georgetown*
Hamilton*
Harvard*
Middlebury*
Northwestern*
Pomona*
Stanford*
Chicago*
Michigan*
Penn*
USC*
Yale*
Yeshiva*
*Graduates similarly represented in highly-regarded MBA programs.
(College Transitions.)
I’ve seen several of these threads and, while there seems to be a consensus that there are probably rough tiers, there is not agreement on which schools fall in which tiers.
Consequently there exists a consensus that there is no consensus.
Where’s the prestigiosity thread when we need it?
@Publisher Would the University of Florida make it into the tier 3 list? Because some people consider it very prestigious however I have heard some people saying it’s not that great of a university.
Did someone say “tiers”? :))
Here are mine – this is really a silly exercise, as these are all great schools (and the US boasts many more…) and you should choose your app list based on affordability and fit variables related to (namely) academics, social vibe, and location/size/environment.
Mine are based mainly on the perceived quality of undergrad academics/academic rep. I also use things like selectivity (stats and admit rate…), support/endowment, undergrad focus, and prestige to break ties… or else the tiers would each comprise about 25 schools.
Private Universities
Public Universities
Honestly, unless your state flagship(s) doesn’t offer what you want to study, or if you need to apply OOS for big auto merit scholarships, the majority of flagships are more than adequate to serve their states’ students’ needs. So perhaps nowhere is the frivolity of tiers more evident than when sorting the state flags into tiers… but you asked.
@tippy46: US News Best Colleges 2019 edition ranked The Top 30 Public National Universities:
UCal-Berkeley
UCLA
Virginia
Michigan
UC-Santa Barbara
UNC-Chapel Hill
UC-Irvine
Georgia Tech
Univ. of Florida
Coll. of Wm. & Mary
UC-Davis
UC-San Diego
Univ. of Georgia
Illinois
Wisconsin
Ohio State
Purdue
Rutgers-NB
Penn State
Univ. of Washington
UConn
Maryland
Clemson
Texas A&M
Florida State Univ.
UC-Santa Cruz
UMass-Amherst
Univ. of Pittsburgh
Minnesota
Virginia Tech
US News places the University of Florida in a tie with Georgia Tech & ahead of several very prestigious schools such as UC-San Diego, Penn State, Univ. of Washington, Wm. & Mary, Wisconsin, etc.
With respect to the largely subjective & illusive concept of prestige, those in the know rank Florida highly.
I simply do not know enough about the Univ. of Florida in order to comment. Tough to get into. I suspect that the Univ. of Florida’s soaring popularity has placed UF in a position where it needs to add professors & facilities.
Some of the smartest people whom I know who are living in the Southeast US target UF as the top choice for their kids & none are Florida residents.
P.S. If you plan to live & work in Florida after college, then it would be hard to beat UF for alumni & career connections.
@tippy46: With respect to the Univ. of Florida and the concept of “prestige”, it depends upon the situation. For employment purposes, I am not sure how West Coast (California, Washington state) employers would react to a UF degree in a not in high demand major. Same for New York City & Boston firms.
If seeking a position outside of the Southern US immediately after graduation, my best guess is that it would be wise to research UF alumni at the targeted company in order to establish a connection who might be able one to get an interview.
But @Gator88NE or other UF grads would know much more on this topic than I do.
I disagree that you can rank tiers simply by “demand for the product.” This is just a fancy word for a popularity contest, and not valid for many people.
Just because you use numbers and words with multiple syllables does not make a better ranking. “There are lies, dam* lies, and statistics.”
Where for example, are many of the women’s colleges? One or two are there. Does Barnard or Wellesley offer a better education than, say, Smith or Bryn Mawr? It’s just silly to believe that. Especially when you consider that Haverford is on the list but Bryn Mawr isn’t – they’re almost the same school, sharing facilities, majors, etc. The only difference is that BMC is all women and Haverford isn’t.
Many schools that offer educations that are not mainstream will not be on the list because serving a niche interest area removes much of the “demand” for the school.
@tippy46: If you are a Florida resident & can get admitted into the school or major that most interests you, then the Univ. of Florida is worth fighting for as the cost of attendance is incredibly low. Graduating debt free with an undergraduate degree from a major state university is a blessing that enables one to pursue almost any avenue including graduate school.
@Dustyfeathers: Although this is not my thread, I would like to respond to your comment. I agree. With respect to prestige, Wellesley College, Barnard College, Mount Holyoke, Smith College & Bryn Mawr all have a bit of an Ivy League quality identity.
@Publisher partly it’s because they produce graduates who outpace others in their respective fields, often breaking boundaries 2) they are great feeder schools for Ph.D.s and other higher ed degrees (Bryn Mawr is in the top 15 of Ph.D. feeders) and 3) there is historic precedence for them being tied directly to Ivies – although now I notice that aspect has been downplayed Wikipedia etc. There used to be a chart there of the sister-brother affiliation. It’s been removed and lines in the narrative now simply describe the fact that this relationship exists historically. If I’m remembering correctly, the affiliations were something like –
Wellesley – MIT/ Harvard
Radcliffe – eaten up by Harvard as sister school
Barnard – Columbia
Bryn Mawr – UPenn or Princeton or both
Vassar – Yale
Mt. H and Smith might be Brown but I’m not sure.
@tippy46 UF is a GREAT place to go to school. I can tell you that MANY top students choose it over Ivys and other top public schools because of the price and amazing scholarships offered in the state of Florida. My daughter for example was accepted to Berkeley, Michigan and UVA all ranked higher on those lists… as well as UT business honors which is highly presitigious. She chose UF because as a NMF she got a full cost of attendance scholarship at a top 10 school. The president of UF came from Cornell and is EXCELENT as well. If you go hear him speak about his vision for the university you will know you are in good hands. He said several things he was concerned about going to a large school from a small private school he actually found were better at UF. They are adding 500 new faculty this year alone. Many of the students my daughter is friends with also got into many Ivys and chose UF. I can tell you there are endless leadership opportunities at UF, over 1000 organizations to join and my daughter has been very happy there. In the end, you have to choose what is best for you. But with UF this year extending the same great deal of this full ride scholarship, unheard of at a top 8 school, to all out of state NMFs, it’s rankings will only be going up. I know many qualified kids with higher grades and scores than you who did not get in who would be happy to have your spot!. I’d be excited that UF saw something in you and take the offer and run with it! But that is your choice. I will say this… some schools the hardest part is getting in… that is NOT the case with UF. If you go there be prepared to work hard!! It is not an easy school. Good luck!
@Dustyfeathers A slightly more extensive version of your list of the “Seven Sisters”, as the sister colleges of the men-only Ivy league colleges or Elite LACs:
Barnard - Columbia
Bryn Mawr - UPenn, Princeton, Haverford, Swarthmore
Holyoak - Dartmouth
Radcliff - Harvard
Smith - Amherst College
Wellsley - MIT/Harvard
Vassar - Yale
Brown’s affiliated college was Pembroke, which is not part of the Seven Sisters, likely because it’s affiliation was much stronger than that of the Sisters. It’s original name was “Women’s College Adjunct to Brown University”. It became part of Brown by 1928.
Vassar has gone coed, and as you wrote, Radcliffe no longer functions as an independent college.
Brown had its own affiliated women’s college, Pembroke – which was not a 7 Sister - but beyond that was the functional equivalent of Radcliff and Barnard. That is, these three colleges were essentially partner institutions with the affiliated Ivy.
Basically, back in the day, if you were female and wanted to attend Harvard, you applied to Radcliff.
If you were female and wanted Brown, you applied to Pembroke.
If you were female and wanted Columbia, you applied to Barnard.
The only Ivies that were co-ed were Cornell & Penn.
(“Back in the day” = “when I started high school.”)
The other 7 Sister Colleges did not have formal ties to Ivies- but rather their association with one another is what led to the common perception of them as being the uppermost, elite schools for women. That is, if you were male and hoped for an elite-level education, then you aspired to Ivies, and if you were female, you aspired to Seven Sister colleges.
To be honest, I don’t believe in tiers. My daughter, however, is considering many universitys in the top tier. However, she does not “care” about the prestige, because we both know that cost is more important than perceived quality!!! Go with your “Heart!”
If I had to make tiers though, I would Say
Harvard, MIT, Princeton (my DD’s early acceptances) and just a notch below, Stanford and Yale (did not apply because DD did not enjoy the intense liberal atmosphere)