<p>I’m live on the North Shore of Long Island, and here almost everyone has heard of Columbia and knows it’s an Ivy. But there is a kind of stigma about it, because it’s in the city. A lot of people are scared of the city, so while lots of people from around here have gone to Brown or Cornell almost nobody goes to Columbia.</p>
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<p>From what my LI friends tell me, the north shore tends to be the more affluent area…not to say there arent south shore kids who arent smart, but income definitely plays a part (at least for the general population) in knowing things like what schools the ivy league is made up of and where those schools are located.</p>
<p>I disagree with some of the Ivies mentioned as most obscure…A couple years ago, back before high school, I wasn’t familiar with all eight Ivies. Dartmouth was unfamiliar to me, let alone the knowledge that it was in the Ivy League, and while I had heard of Brown, Upenn, and Columbia I did not know these were Ivies either.</p>
<p>Defrasne, USNWR ranks Princeton as #1.</p>
<p>“Defrasne, USNWR ranks Princeton as #1”</p>
<p>that’s probably why people have heard more of princeton than columbia. Another reason is that very few things are named princeton, only the univ, it’s town and a sports company, so the name princeton is associate with princeton university. Columbia has a bigger sports company, columbia pictures, other columbia colleges etc. Upenn is the more extreme example, the lay man does not realize it’s a pretty amazing university or ivy legue.</p>
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<p>Overheard in a bar in the East Village:</p>
<p>“where do you go to school”
-“upenn”
“awesome! i hear state schools are really big party schools, not like nyu at all”</p>
<p>look at that! get to hate on nyu AND upenn in one post :)</p>
<p>Confidential-- No, the girl did not know other top colleges. I’m guessing she would know Harvard and Yale, because everyone knows them, but other than that, I’m sure she knows only schools in her “level”. Not to be rude or anything, she just isn’t what one would consider a good student. ;p</p>
<p>And the Cornell girl.. I found her comment pretty shocking as well. Even more funny though, because many people do the same thing when they hear about Cornell.</p>
<p>Haha, if NYU was only a public school, I could’ve saved a ‘few’ grand.</p>
<p>“And the Cornell girl.. I found her comment pretty shocking as well. Even more funny though, because many people do the same thing when they hear about Cornell.”</p>
<p>yup.</p>
<p>“I’m sure she knows only schools in her “level”. Not to be rude or anything, she just isn’t what one would consider a good student. ;p”</p>
<p>this makes some sense, but would still be a rarity.</p>
<p>If you Google “Columbia,” here’s what turns up on the first Google page only:</p>
<p>“Columbia University in the City of NY, Columbia College, Chicago, Univ. of S.C. – Columbia, Columbia Sportswear, Columbia Records, Columbia space shuttle / NASA, Columbia, South America, Columbia Restaurant, Columbia Aircraft, Columbia Funds.”</p>
<p>“Columbia” unfortunately, is one of the most ubiquitous brand names in our culture. Since the university’s athletic teams are not very distinguished, the school doesn’t get the TV time of the Division 1-A schools, and the name of the university sometimes gets lost in the mass of “Columbias” out there. Consider that there is virtually no area in which Columbia would be considered a lesser university than Dartmouth, but if you walked down main street of an American town anywhere outside the Northeast, I’d wager that Dartmouth’s name recognition would be several times that of Columbia’s.</p>
<p>As far as the recognition bestowed by Ivy League membership, you might want to talk to prospective UPenn students, many of whom will receive Nittany Lion tee-shirts from friends as graduation gifts. Or check out the numerous posts on CC by students researching elite schools, who frequently inquire “What makes a university considered ‘Ivy League’?”</p>
<p>What can I say, if people don’t know Columbia, they are dumb.</p>
<p>And it could be worse…your school could have the same name as a US state ;)</p>
<p>“Consider that there is virtually no area in which Columbia would be considered a lesser university than Dartmouth, but if you walked down main street of an American town anywhere outside the Northeast, I’d wager that Dartmouth’s name recognition would be several times that of Columbia’s.”</p>
<p>no, noones heard of dartmouth either, because it isn’t a famous name, their sports aren’t great either, and their about a 4th of the size, which means their alumni and famous alumni are about a 4th the size. People in general are local in their knowledge, just like their knowledge of international geography. Even companies like lehman brothers or the boston consulting group, are unheard of by people not into finance or consulting / aware of it.</p>
<p>HPYSM are the hardest ones to get into, not in a league of their own. Oh yeah, everyone who hasn’t been living under a rock knows Columbia. You make it sound like its a claremont college or something…</p>
<p>Hardest to get into is HYCPS in that order.</p>
<p>And what is the C in this? Caltech? If it is Columbia, prove it, please.</p>
<p>in terms of hardest to get into:</p>
<p>H,Y,P, MIT,Caltech, Princeton, Stanford, Columbia, (maybe Dart, Brown, Penn, Duke After) - in that order, from combination of acceptance rate and SAT score. Clearly some schools weigth SAT scores more, but that’s at least a little bit notceable from their 25-75th percential spreads.</p>