<p>^^ Why do people like Shankapotamus exist?</p>
<p>Elite means not only a good school, but also one with a strong, national reputation that has a history. Liberal arts schools IMO don’t fit this profile because they just aren’t well known to the average Joe. Basically there two groups of elite (US only):</p>
<p>Super-Elite:
Harvard
Yale
Princeton
MIT
Stanford
Penn (Just Whorton)</p>
<p>Elite:
Columbia
Penn
Brown
Dartmouth
Cornell
Westpoint
Annapolis</p>
<p>Just Missing the Cutoff:
Chicago
Caltech
Georgetown
Johns Hopkins
Duke</p>
<p>^ So to you a school is “elite” because people have heard of it? Is there ANYONE on this thread who cares about the pure academic quality of a school without overvaluing their so-called perceived prestige. Just to point out… you may not know this because you seem to only care about what the “average joe” thinks… but Chicago is academically better than at least half the schools you placed above it. Once again, how is the average joe’s opinion on US schools relevant? The average people’s ignorance should not determine the list for “elite” schools.</p>
<p>Chicago is too relatively unknown to be considered elite, however it is very very good. There’s a difference. Elite is basically Ivy League + MIT + Stanford + Service Academies.</p>
<p>@BuddymcAwesome
Notre Dame doesn’t have a “strong national reputation that has a history”??? Lol, of course it does.</p>
<p>@collegekid9
part of being an elite school is the pride that goes with it. You might call it arrogance. And no one ever said that Notre Dame is “the only great school in the country”. If you are going to succeed in college, you need to work on those debating skills.</p>
<p>@Shankapotamus, yes, Notre Dame has a strong national rep etc., however, only a complete shill would say that it is on the same footing as the ivy league.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is frequently cited as a top 5 dream school of students over many of the Ivies. The Ivies are ranked higher in magazines such as US News because of reputation and graduate research. ND also will never rank high in those magazines because of its Catholicism. I would put ND up against ANY Ivy in terms of undergraduate education. Don’t be such a sheep.</p>
<p>
Data to support your conjecture?
I would not.
I suggest you follow your own advice and work on those “debating skills”.</p>
<p>Shankapotamus, you and I both know that while Notre Dame is a very good school, it is not an elite school. Maybe it is elite within the context of Catholic schools, however, even within that context, I would say that Georgetown is better.</p>
<p>The schools most named by students as their “Dream Colleges” were:
Stanford University
Harvard College
New York University
Princeton University
Brown University
Yale University
University of California–Los Angeles
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Southern California
Cornell University</p>
<p>The schools most named by parents as their “Dream Colleges” were:
Stanford University
Princeton University
Harvard College
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Yale University
University of California–Los Angeles
University of Notre Dame
Brown University
University of Southern California
New York University</p>
<p>[Princeton</a> Review’s 2010 ‘College Hopes & Worries Survey’ – NEW YORK, March 24 /PRNewswire/ --](<a href=“http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/princeton-reviews-2010-college-hopes--worries-survey-88983487.html]Princeton”>Princeton Review's 2010 'College Hopes & Worries Survey')</p>
<p>@jersey</p>
<p>The most recent one I read was from the Princeton Review, and it was the top 10 list of dream schools by Parents for their kids:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>The schools most named by parents as their “Dream Colleges” were:</p></li>
<li><p>Stanford University</p></li>
<li><p>Princeton University</p></li>
<li><p>Harvard College</p></li>
<li><p>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</p></li>
<li><p>Yale University</p></li>
<li><p>University of California–Los Angeles</p></li>
<li><p>University of Notre Dame</p></li>
<li><p>Brown University</p></li>
<li><p>University of Southern California</p></li>
<li><p>New York University</p></li>
</ol>
<p>so ND was 7th in that one. I have seen polls with ND listed as #3 by students, I will have to find that one. </p>
<p>Re undergraduate education, that is because you don’t know any better.</p>
<p>In any event, when you are nationally known, have the strongest and most active alumni base in the country, have the huge endowment ND has, and are considered a top choice school by a huge percentage of your students, you are an elite institution. Its as simple as that.</p>
<p>Notre Dame is always higher ranked than Georgetown. Give me a break. Notre Dame is one of the most recognizable schools in the world. That is what an elite school is.</p>
<p>Elite colleges aren’t defined by what people consider their “dream school.” People are often interested in schools for reasons other than academics, especially schools like Notre Dame, where both religious reasons and sports reasons exist.</p>
<p>
A word of advice, strongly asserting your opinion does not make it fact.</p>
<p>
Notice how that list of dream schools is determined by parents? You seem to have missed that inconsistency.</p>
<p>Here is a list of dream schools named by students
The schools most named by students as their “Dream Colleges” were:
Stanford University
Harvard College
New York University
Princeton University
Brown University
Yale University
University of California–Los Angeles
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
University of Southern California
Cornell University</p>
<p>ND is not in the Top 10.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Elite colleges aren’t defined by whether some rando has heard of Milton Friedman, Linus Pauling or Robert Millikan.</p>
<p>^ I can’t tell if you are agreeing with me, or disagreeing with me about Chicago, lol</p>
<p>An elite school is a NATIONAL school that is a top choice school for the majority of the student body. 99% of the people in this country have never heard of schools like Williams and Swathmore. And I will repeat, in terms of UNDERGRADUATE education, ND is right up there with any Ivy. The Ivies don’t stress undergrad, its all about graduate research. At ND, its about the undergrad. You are taught by profs at ND, not TAs trying to write their thesis. ND has all the advantages and resources of a major university but teaches in the manner of a small liberal arts college. The social service, and sports aspects are just icing on the cake baby.</p>
<p>
Your mind seems to be unable to grasp the fact that Ivy League does not equal Harvard University.</p>
<p>Since parents generally foot the bill, their preference when it comes to dream schools for their kids would be highly relevant skeezix.</p>
<p>
Seeing as the claim I asked you to defend with data is quoted below, what a parent thinks about any school is completely irrelevant. With that said, I can only conclude that you lack even basic reasoning skills. </p>
<p>
</p>