College tiers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, this list is not done very well. I hope it didn't take too much time. I'll address the top since that is all DCUM tends to really care about.
MIT and Princeton are not at top in everything in the same way as Harvard and Stanford.
Those two are in their own tier and Yale would go with MIT and Princeton.
Most of the differences between the others are too subjective to break into multiple tiers (though a few schools may need to be removed). Deciding between them based on aid and preference is entirely reasonable.

Disagree. I am very familiar with the schools you mentioned, and MIT/Stanford go together in the first tire, while the others are second tier - if we are ranking top schools, which I personally think is ridiculous - especially considering that most people on DCUm have very little, if any idea what they are talking about (and certainly no personal experience).

MIT is a Stanford peer in maybe half of their departments. For STEM focused kids, they are truly 1 and 1a but that just isn't true of any other area. Even the strongest MIT social sciences areas and the b-school are better at Stanford. The humanities departments are hardly even comparable. In the biological sciences areas, MIT is also more limited by not having a med school.

Has PP not heard that Standford is also a jock factory? It's difficult to be a meathead and be a world class scholar in STEM or in humanities at the same time. Student athletes take up disproportionate amount of resources at Stanford. STEM and humanities scholars are having to fight over leftover resources at Stanford. Stanford ain't all that.

Uh-huh. Sure.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM obsession with prestige is so exhausting. Everything must be ranked and hierarchical.

Welcome to the U.S.A.

I may be wrong, but I had assumed it was newcomers to the U.S. driving this.

There is a higher percentage of those new to the country who are misinformed about how the college attended affects outcomes, but really prestige obsession is distributed pretty well across the spectrum of Americans. It's truly sad.

yes but 'new to the country' people actually know better about how the college affects outcomes, hence they prefer real subjects such as CS, Engineering, Medical school, etc.

DP here. Those who are new tend to do slanted research and call it truth, with unwavering conviction.

Data and information is very clear.

With your slanted "data" and "information" you can make it "clear" if you want it to - but it does not mean that you are accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM obsession with prestige is so exhausting. Everything must be ranked and hierarchical.

Welcome to the U.S.A.

Isn’t this where we all chant “USA, USA, USA”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Honestly, this list is not done very well. I hope it didn't take too much time. I'll address the top since that is all DCUM tends to really care about.
MIT and Princeton are not at top in everything in the same way as Harvard and Stanford.
Those two are in their own tier and Yale would go with MIT and Princeton.
Most of the differences between the others are too subjective to break into multiple tiers (though a few schools may need to be removed). Deciding between them based on aid and preference is entirely reasonable.

Disagree. I am very familiar with the schools you mentioned, and MIT/Stanford go together in the first tire, while the others are second tier - if we are ranking top schools, which I personally think is ridiculous - especially considering that most people on DCUm have very little, if any idea what they are talking about (and certainly no personal experience).

MIT is a Stanford peer in maybe half of their departments. For STEM focused kids, they are truly 1 and 1a but that just isn't true of any other area. Even the strongest MIT social sciences areas and the b-school are better at Stanford. The humanities departments are hardly even comparable. In the biological sciences areas, MIT is also more limited by not having a med school.

Has PP not heard that Standford is also a jock factory? It's difficult to be a meathead and be a world class scholar in STEM or in humanities at the same time. Student athletes take up disproportionate amount of resources at Stanford. STEM and humanities scholars are having to fight over leftover resources at Stanford. Stanford ain't all that.

Uh-huh. Sure.

Doesn't even realize he spelled it wrong.

[Anonymous]

Re: College Tiers:

The top 15 most selective colleges & universities might be grouped as Tier One:

Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, U Chicago, Yale, Brown, Princeton, U Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Pomona, Vanderbilt, & Northwestern.

Another way to group is by size of endowment.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, college tiers do not determine success.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Re: College Tiers:

The top 15 most selective colleges & universities might be grouped as Tier One:

Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Columbia, U Chicago, Yale, Brown, Princeton, U Penn, Dartmouth, Cornell, Duke, Pomona, Vanderbilt, & Northwestern.

Another way to group is by size of endowment.

omg Vandy in and JHU out??? heaven forbid!!

[Anonymous]

Thank you SO MUCH for reposting this annoying thread. Now we can do this whole thing over, Again.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really depends on major. I think it is generally ivy+ as tier 1, then t30 as tier 2 and then tier 3 is like Boston university and northeastern.

BostonU and Northeastern are more competitive and selective than some of the T30(by USN&WR) schools.

Stop trying to make Northeastern happen. No One in the T30 even thinks about Northeastern.

People would choose Northeastern over 2nd tier UCs or UF unless instate.

Not all people. (I wouldn’t)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really depends on major. I think it is generally ivy+ as tier 1, then t30 as tier 2 and then tier 3 is like Boston university and northeastern.

BostonU and Northeastern are more competitive and selective than some of the T30(by USN&WR) schools.

Stop trying to make Northeastern happen. No One in the T30 even thinks about Northeastern.

People would choose Northeastern over 2nd tier UCs or UF unless instate.

Not all people. (I wouldn’t)

Good for you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Really depends on major. I think it is generally ivy+ as tier 1, then t30 as tier 2 and then tier 3 is like Boston university and northeastern.

BostonU and Northeastern are more competitive and selective than some of the T30(by USN&WR) schools.

Stop trying to make Northeastern happen. No One in the T30 even thinks about Northeastern.

People would choose Northeastern over 2nd tier UCs or UF unless instate.

Not all people. (I wouldn’t)

Good for you?

Yeah, it is good for me. Thanks!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tier 1 - HPSM (tops academically at everything, no special recruitment tactics needed)

Tier 2 - Caltech, UPenn, Duke, Yale, Columbia (great academically at vast majority of things, highly desirable but still employ some special recruitment tactics to compete with Tier 1)

Tier 3 - Brown, Dartmouth, UChicago, Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Rice, Berkeley, UCLA, Georgetown, UMich, Cornell, Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, Bowdoin, Harvey Mudd, Olin College of Engineering (great academically at many things, slightly less desirable than previous tiers and slightly worse undergrad outcomes)

Tier 4 - UVA, NYU, UNC, Georgia Tech, USC, CMU, WUSTL, Emory, Carleton, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Middlebury, Claremont McKenna, Barnard, Davidson, Grinnell…

Based on this link https://www.ivyscholars.com/2021/02/12/which-college-is-right-for-you/

Tier 1

These are schools with admissions rates below 10%. This means that of every 100 people who apply, fewer than 10 will be accepted. These schools want academic excellence and stellar extracurriculars, but those are only enough to get you into contention. MIT has reported that 70% of the students who apply are academically qualified, yet have an admission rate of 7%.

These are the most difficult schools to get into, and will be reach schools for all students, even the most qualified. This is not to say that gaining admission to these schools is impossible, merely that it should never be treated as guaranteed.

Tier 1 schools include: Stanford, Harvard, Princeton, Yale, MIT, UChicago, Caltech, Columbia, Brown, Northwestern, The University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth, Duke, Vanderbilt, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, and Rice.

Tier 2

These schools are still highly competitive, but less so than tier 1. They generally have acceptance rates below 20%. While they have similar demands for academic excellence and extracurricular achievement, the number of students who apply to them is smaller, meaning that each qualified student has a greater chance of acceptance.

Highly qualified students may count these schools as target, and most students can count them as reach schools, though it won’t always be worth applying to them. These schools are often less well known than tier 1 schools, but are nonetheless academically strenuous for it.

Tier 2 schools include: USC, Washington University in St Louis, Tufts, Tulane, NYU, Boston University, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Michigan Ann Arbor, Notre Dame, Emory, University of Virginia, Wake Forest, UT Austin College of Natural Sciences, Boston College, Georgia Tech, William and Mary, UCLA, UC Berkeley, Georgetown, Carnegie Mellon, and University of Rochester.

Tier 3

These are still good schools, but are not as competitive for admissions, as they have more spaces offered, and fewer applicants overall. The most qualified students will be able to treat these as safety schools, while less competitive candidates should treat them as targets. Admissions rates for these schools are generally below 35%.

Tier 3 schools include: UT Austin College of Liberal Arts, Villanova, Northeastern, Brandeis, Case Western Reserve, Occidental, Washington and Lee, Babson College, Virginia Tech, UC San Diego, Lafayette College, UIUC, University of Florida, and DePauw.



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Rankings may seem meaningless, especially when public universities are included in the mix. People might be reluctant to pay the same amount for an out-of-state public school as they would for a private school. I believe it's best to find the right school for your kid based on an overall assessment of tiers.

Is that where your kid goes or something? It does not belong on this list.

[Anonymous]

This never gets old really never. Post some more rankings tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DCUM obsession with prestige is so exhausting. Everything must be ranked and hierarchical.

Welcome to the U.S.A.

99% of the U.S.A. does not care about this and you people who are constantly posting rankings are weirdos.

[Anonymous]

Tier 3 schools include: UT Austin College of Liberal Arts, Villanova, Northeastern, Brandeis, Case Western Reserve, Occidental, Washington and Lee, Babson College, Virginia Tech, UC San Diego, Lafayette College, UIUC, University of Florida, and DePauw.

This grouping is so very, very strange.