What do people consider the most prestigious college in the Midwest?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Chicago.

Signed, an ND grad.

No one is seriously disagreeing with you on this. What people are disagreeing with, I think, is the idea that ND is a prestigious school generally, and of course it is -- Catholic or not.

PP here. I do think ND is prestigious (tooting my own horn, indirectly, of course) but the thread asked what people considered the MOST prestigious college in the Midwest and I think Chicago out-prestiges ND for sure.

How so?

[Anonymous]

Do people really confuse football with academic prestige?

[Anonymous]

Like, to the point that for some posters, football trophies matter more than Nobel Prizes?

[Anonymous]

US News which while flawed is at least consistent

UChicago 3
NW 11
Notre Dame 18
Michigan 28

[Anonymous]

It's obviously Chicago, but I definitely agree with the "what's the major" poster -- there are many prestigious programs across the midwest, so that matters. But as far as "household name" (among people who would have some basis for judging college prestige), Chicago wins. ND for has a strong reputation bolstered obviously by its historical strength in sports, which makes it a household name, but it's not as academically strong.

But then -- UIUC has a globally famous engineering program. One of the world's best medical schools is the Mayo Clinic, and Michigan's law school is also extremely strong.

So, as is the case with all of these threads about prestige, it depends on what you're talking about.

[Anonymous]

Undergrad rep based off just seeing college on resume:

ND: Virtuous, solid, outgoing kid. Was probably valedictorian of his or her high school.

Chicago: Likely very weird.

Michigan: Partier. Probably pretty smart, and outgoing. Ideal for sales/marketing.

Northwestern: Probably an arrogant dork.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Like, to the point that for some posters, football trophies matter more than Nobel Prizes?

What % of the population do you think cares about Nobel prizes, or can name one laureate? Easily less than 1% of the US population. It’s just a total non factor here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do people really confuse football with academic prestige?

Apparently Stanford thinks it’s important. And Berkeley. And UCLA. And USC. And Harvard and Georgetown care a heck of a lot about basketball. *shrug*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, to the point that for some posters, football trophies matter more than Nobel Prizes?

What % of the population do you think cares about Nobel prizes, or can name one laureate? Easily less than 1% of the US population. It’s just a total non factor here.

But when you are talking about colleges and universities and prestige, to me that means academic reputation rather than popularity or name recognition. Prestige isn't "do parents of high school students in Peoria want their kids to attend this school," it's about national and international reputation among people who actually know something about universities and academic knowledge.

[Anonymous]

You people are crazy in your fixation on "prestige", which is poorly defined, and generally unimportant. Also, in your instance on making ever-finer distinctions between things as a way to try to make yourselves feel better by ranking higher than others.
The answer- all of the schools that are mentioned here are great schools full of very smart kids. Don't believe me?
ACT 25-75
UC 32-35
NU 32-35
ND 32-35
UM 30-33 (brought down by requirement to have a high in-state population. Still has very smart kids)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Undergrad rep based off just seeing college on resume:

ND: Virtuous, solid, outgoing kid. Was probably valedictorian of his or her high school.

Chicago: Likely very weird.

Michigan: Partier. Probably pretty smart, and outgoing. Ideal for sales/marketing.

Northwestern: Probably an arrogant dork.

Says more about you than about schools and their reps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You people are crazy in your fixation on "prestige", which is poorly defined, and generally unimportant. Also, in your instance on making ever-finer distinctions between things as a way to try to make yourselves feel better by ranking higher than others.
The answer- all of the schools that are mentioned here are great schools full of very smart kids. Don't believe me?
ACT 25-75
UC 32-35
NU 32-35
ND 32-35
UM 30-33 (brought down by requirement to have a high in-state population. Still has very smart kids)

ACT scores are it much of an indication re who is very smart.

[Anonymous]

When I was in HS in the Midwest the University of Chicago was a target for graduate school not undergrad.

There is focus on state schools there, with certain schools having a focus more so than others, but not prestige. For instance UIUC for engineering, Missouri for journalism, KU for architecture, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Undergrad rep based off just seeing college on resume:

ND: Virtuous, solid, outgoing kid. Was probably valedictorian of his or her high school.

Chicago: Likely very weird.

Michigan: Partier. Probably pretty smart, and outgoing. Ideal for sales/marketing.

Northwestern: Probably an arrogant dork.

Lol! This is awesome and totally accurate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Like, to the point that for some posters, football trophies matter more than Nobel Prizes?

What % of the population do you think cares about Nobel prizes, or can name one laureate? Easily less than 1% of the US population. It’s just a total non factor here.

But when you are talking about colleges and universities and prestige, to me that means academic reputation rather than popularity or name recognition. Prestige isn't "do parents of high school students in Peoria want their kids to attend this school," it's about national and international reputation among people who actually know something about universities and academic knowledge.

And Notre Dame grads have incredible success getting into grad schools, medical schools, etc.