and they're snobby |
What is snob appeal? |
yep |
Snob appeal by my definition is old money and that’s the ivies and a few SLAC’s. The schools people go to learn for the sake of learning and network, but not necessarily for goal of employment. That’s a luxury take on college. Not quite the same today, but those are still the schools for their history and prominence in that circle. |
Well they probably are physically. |
There’s New England snobby, DMV snobby, Southern snobby, African American snobby, Asian American snobby, Hispanic snobby, Midwest Snobby, West Coast snobby and Southern snobby. Then there’s business program snobby, pre-med snobby, comp sci/STEM snobby. Then there’s Greek-snobby. Take your pick and each category will yield a different list of schools. |
New England snobby is the official, all others are like “public ivy” designations. 😁 |
That's kind of what makes it snobby. |
Smart snobs? Ivies, Stanford, MIT, Non-smart snobs? SMU, Furman, Hollins, Baylor |
Delaware? No. |
This is the best answer. |
Add all of the Seven Sisters |
This is correct. And there isn't a single school that transcends these categories. Not even Harvard, which fails among the Smart Snobby, STEM snobby, West Coast snobby and so on. Different people value different things. But New England snobby is the grandmother of all snobbery. And that would be HYP and Dartmouth - but definitely not Columbia or Cornell. Plus Williams, Amherst and the Seven Sisters, which absolutely no one today can name. But the dowager in Concord is impressed by a Bryn Mawr girl. |
Just let ChatGPT do the work for you:
Alright — here’s a tongue-in-cheek, stereotype-driven ranking of U.S. colleges by perceived snobbiness, mixing prestige, wealth, exclusivity, and “old-money” aura. Think of this as what you’d hear in a gossip column, not a serious sociological study: Tier 1 – “Monogrammed Bathrobe” Snobbery Harvard University – The gold standard for name-dropping at cocktail parties. Princeton University – Feels like an exclusive club where even the squirrels have legacy status. Yale University – Secret societies, Gothic towers, and a faint scent of inherited wealth. Stanford University – Silicon Valley’s royalty training ground, but with flip-flops. Tier 2 – “My Grandfather Went Here” Snobbery 5. University of Pennsylvania – Especially Wharton; finance bros with trust funds. 6. Dartmouth College – Ivy League meets rustic ski lodge. 7. Williams College – The Amherst–Williams rivalry is basically nobles fencing over who has the finer silverware. 8. Amherst College – Intellectual snobbery with a leafy backdrop. 9. Georgetown University – Preppy D.C. politicos in pastel polos. Tier 3 – “New Money Meets Old Traditions” Snobbery 10. Brown University – Rich kids who thrift-shop ironically. 11. Middlebury College – Patagonia puffer jackets as far as the eye can see. 12. Claremont McKenna College – Networking culture that starts freshman year. 13. University of Chicago – More “I read Kant in the original German” than “old money,” but still elite. 14. Duke University – Southern Ivy vibe, basketball glory, and Vineyard Vines wardrobes. 15. Vanderbilt University – Country clubs and cotillions meet top-tier academics. Tier 4 – “We’re Exclusive, But We Don’t Talk About It” Snobbery 16. Bowdoin College – Lobster rolls and legacy admissions. 17. Colby College – Similar to Bowdoin, but with more L.L.Bean. 18. Northwestern University – Midwestern manners soften the edge, but still very name-brand. |
All the SLACs including Davidson, Carleton, Colorado, Haverford, St. Olaf, etc.
The fact that most people haven't heard of them is a plus - gives them a more exclusive feel - the collegiate Moynat to the Ivy League's LVMH |