When is a college or university considered elite?

College Search & Selection
41

<p>As usual, posters are using different criteria and definitions. </p>

<p>Per the criteria I suggested in post #31, perhaps only HPY meet all of those criteria as the concept of “elite” involves more than just selectivity/academic ranking. So, it always comes down to the context in which the concept is used. </p>

<p>If you want to limit the criteria for elite status to selectivity and/or academic rank, there is a much larger number of institutions, many of which are arguably better than H in terms of academics for undergrads. There’s not much point in still another thread that limits elite status to selectivity or academic rank, however, as such a list has been constructed countless times and there’s a general consensus about the schools on that list (though not necessarily about their rank order).</p>

42

<p>

</p>

<p>No; I believe USNWR didn’t apply those factors. And if they did, they didn’t apply those factors in rightful proportion.</p>

43

<p>

It’s prestigious and has a certain sophistication. Need I say more?</p>

<p>Elites are good at recognizing when someone is one of their own. There’s just a sense of clubbiness that one enjoys when one is an elite.</p>

44

<p>

</p>

<p>Don’t agree with this at all. See Dad2’s post (#15). He nails it. If a person doesn’t know cars - or colleges - his/her opinion about them is of questionable value. A lot of people expend hot air opinions about all manner of subjects in reality they know very little about, so counting their sentences is evidence only that the person enjoys the sound of his or her voice, not the depth of their knowledge about “elite” vs. non-elite colleges.</p>

<p>I can’t count the number of people who thought they knew colleges but drew a blank at the name Haverford or thought I meant Harvard or Howard, or think Wesleyan is Wellesley or Wesley College or Ohio Wesleyan, and never heard of Carleton. So their opinion about “elite” colleges is utterly worthless.</p>

45

<p>UC Berkeley is Elite!!</p>

46

<p>I think there are more than two or three schools that are elite. Maybe the top 10 or 15 or so. Harvard, Stanford, a couple of others are what I would call super elite.</p>

47

<p>^^ Yeah, I think Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Stanford and MIT are the super elites. (I consider MIT grads super elite even though most of them are super nerds.)</p>

48

<p>This is pretty much a rehash of this recent and tiresome thread, started by the same OP:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1003067-schools-we-can-consider-ivy-league-caliber.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1003067-schools-we-can-consider-ivy-league-caliber.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Threads soon to be started:</p>

<p>Schools That Can be Called “High-End”
Which Schools Can Regarded as Really Super Special?
Which Colleges are Thought of as Most Wonderful?</p>

<br>

<br>

<p>Thank you for saying that. We can all relax now. This is what the OP was desperately hoping someone would say.</p>

49

<p>I will give it a shot. When your school has $26 billion in endowment?</p>

50

<p>Criteria for an elite university (i.e HYPMSC, Columbia, UChicago, UCB) :

  1. Mean SAT score of >2100
  2. Consistently appears in the top 10 of any rankings (USNWR, THES, QS, etc)
  3. Acceptance rate of <20%
  4. Outstanding alumni </p>

<p>You guys have clearly forgotten about Caltech! (#2 overall, #1 in engineering according to THE rankings) :)</p>

51

<p>Berkeley’s admissions rate is over 20%. If you factor in their Spring admits, their admissions rate is even over 25%. -.-</p>

52

<p>

</p>

<p>coureur, I’ve been counting since I saw this thread, 7 1/2 hour and 45 posts. Not bad at all :)</p>

53

<p>@kwaldner
Berkeley doesn’t fulfill your elite criteria 1) or 3). The only items it fulfills well is 2). It could be subjectively argued to fulfill 4) but the university matriculates a lot of students.</p>

<p>

I don’t know. From the way matt said it, it appeared he might just be humoring RML. -.-</p>

54

<p>^ Apparently! Ok, let’s wait for a real one to come.</p>

<p>Wait, it’s in #50, but you disagree. So this thread can end or it just officially start ? :)</p>

55

<p>I AM NOT A BERKELEY ALUMNUS, so there’s nothing to worry about. :)</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Sounds brilliant. Let’s see if we can use this.</p>

56

<p>RML, so you really starts at #50 :o, but why left out the very important line in that quote :wink:

</p>

57

<p>Thank you everyone for participating on this thread. With your inputs, we might be able to list down elite colleges other than HYPSM, as they are not the only elite schools in a country full of many talented kids and with resources richer than any country anywhere in the world. Schools are often measured by 1. Academics, 2. Student Quality, 3. Quality of Life and 4. overall campus resources. A degree from one of these elite schools will surely lead to a successful career.</p>

<p>Based on the proposed criteria, Student Quality says about school quality. Naturally, the more selective the schools are the smarter their students are. So, let’s use acceptance rate, SATs scores and % of top students enrolled to come up with a list of schools that enroll top-quality students. </p>

<p>Schools with acceptance rate of 25% or lower</p>

<p>Curtis Institute of Music Philadelphia, 5%<br>
Cooper Union, 7%<br>
Harvard, 7%<br>
Yale, 8%<br>
Juilliard School New York, 8%<br>
Stanford, 8%<br>
College of the Ozarks, 9%<br>
Alice Lloyd College Pippa Passes, 9%<br>
United States Naval Academy, 10%<br>
Columbia, 10%<br>
Princeton, 10% </p>

<p>MIT, 11%<br>
Brown, 11%<br>
Dartmouth, 13%<br>
United States Military Academy, 15%<br>
California Institute of Technology, 15%<br>
Victory University, 15% </p>

<p>Amherst College, 16%<br>
Pomona College, 16%<br>
Claremont McKenna, 16%<br>
United States Air Force Academy, 17%<br>
Swarthmore College, 17%<br>
University of Pennsylvania, 18%<br>
Berea College, 19%<br>
Duke, 19%<br>
Washington and Lee, 19%<br>
Cornell, 19%<br>
Bowdoin College, 19%<br>
Georgetown, 20%<br>
Liberty University, 20%<br>
Vanderbilt, 20%<br>
Pitzer College, 20%<br>
Williams College, 20%<br>
Middlebury College, 20% </p>

<p>Art Academy of Cincinnati, 21%<br>
UC-Berkeley, 22%<br>
UCLA, 22%<br>
Wesleyan University, 22%<br>
Washington University in St. Louis, 22%<br>
Rice, 22%<br>
CUNY–Baruch College, 23%<br>
Jarvis Christian College Hawkins, 23%<br>
Kentucky State University Frankfort, 24%<br>
USC, 24%<br>
Delta State University Cleveland, 24%<br>
United States Coast Guard Academy, 25%<br>
Tougaloo College, 25%<br>
United States Merchant Marine Academy Kings Point, 25%<br>
Vassar College, 25%<br>
Haverford College, 25% </p>

<p>more data to follow soon.</p>

58

<p>So RML, do you think Liberty U and Kentucky State are elite?</p>

<p>Acceptance rates aren’t a factor. The remaining Seven Sisters are elite even though they have high acceptance rates out of a self selected pool. Acceptance rates just reflect “places where a lot of 17 year olds flock to apply.” 17 yos don’t define what is elite or what isn’t.</p>

59

<p>The Western Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing had an acceptance rate of 17% (186 applicants for 32 slots):</p>

<p>[Western</a> Pennsylvania Hospital School of Nursing - Review | American School Search](<a href=“http://www.american-school-search.com/review/western-pennsylvania-hospital-school-of-nursing]Western”>http://www.american-school-search.com/review/western-pennsylvania-hospital-school-of-nursing)</p>

<p>So I guess that makes them elite, certainly more elite than those pikers such as Penn, Cornell, Duke, Williams, UCLA, and UC Berkeley.</p>

60

<p>ok, here’s a definitive list:
Swarthmore
Williams
Amherst
Middlebury
Carlton
Haverford
Pomona
Stanford
U Chicago
MIT
CalTech
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Dartmouth
Cornell</p>

<p>2nd tier elite:</p>

<p>Penn
Brown
Davidson
Duke
Wesleyan
CMC
Rice
Reed</p>

<p>etc.</p>