What do people consider the most prestigious college in the Midwest?
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Anonymous
Most people don’t know what Northwestern is. Confuse it with Northeastern. It sounds like a directional U. And folks that know it’s a good school don’t generally give it the clout it warrants. It gets the “oh, good school” nod ... NEVER the “Oh, wow! Your daughter must be super smart” reaction. If you tell stranger your son is at Notre Dame they all assume golden boy valedictorian. A young lad they wish to set up with their daughter. |
Anonymous
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Notre Dame is pretty well known and respected by everyone in the Midwest because of their football program.
Schools like Northwestern and University of Chicago may be better academically and are well-known and respected among the highly educated but not as well by the populace at large. Agree that Midwestern kids are much more likely to attend a state flagship school than kids around here. Those schools garner more respect than you might think (and I’m not just talking about Michigan, either). |
Anonymous
+1 Before I got into the college search world, I thought Northwestern was somewhere near Seattle. |
Anonymous
Iberlin school of music is one of the best in the USA |
Anonymous
No Greek Life is a big bonus for ND. No exaggeration, if Notre Dame was in a better location it would be on par with Stanford and Duke. South Bend is a dump full of low-income trash, with no chance of a revival. There's just nothing there. Chicago is 90 minutes away. |
Anonymous
Oberlin is a declining LAC full of weirdos in Ohio. Going thru enrollment and financial issues. Only reason 30-45 yo people know it is because of Lena Dunham. 
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Anonymous
| I grew up in Michigan and, for the general public, probably Notre Dame. Then probably Michigan and Northwestern. Obviously, Chicago is a great school, but it's not as well known in Metro Detroit. This probably has something to do with college athletics. |
Anonymous
I think the town is a dump too. However, two of my neighbors attend ND and they say the fact that everyone stays on campus because there is nothing to do in town is a bonus. They said it makes the ND community closer. |
Anonymous
| Reading the numerous comments by people proudly flying their ignorance of the world of higher-ed on this thread--"der, never heard of University of Chicago," "der, what's Northwestern?"--you can definitely see why we've got the president we have. |
Anonymous
??? They underenrolled last year and they overenrolled this year. It’s hard for SLACs to hit the exact number. They are definitely helped in this area by donut hole kids looking for merit aid. You go much lower and SLAC rankings, and you can’t get any. Great school. I did not attend and no kids in college yet. But the kids I know applying are the same ones applying to WM. |
Anonymous
Yup. UChicago ending football in 1939 and quitting the Big 10 athletic conference (members include Northwestern, Michigan, Ohio State, Wisconsin) in 1946 was a fatal error. Not just now, it negatively impacted the college's enrollment and donations immediately. https://www.chicagomaroon.com/article/2014/2/18/uc-quits-big-10/ It ended because the president at the time was jealous of the fame the football coach had and that student-athletes were looked at as roll models on campus. He considered both a distraction away from academics. |
Anonymous
But they are a distraction from academics. Some balance in life is a good thing, but I completely agree that so many universities put the cart before the horse when they focus so excessively on their athletic programs. |
Anonymous
| ....whichever school was attended by the poster and/or the poster’s relations!!!!! |
Anonymous
| Who's defining prestige here? If we're talking the elite 1%ers, Chicago. If we're talking the general public, Michigan or Notre Dame. |
Anonymous
| It's Chicago. |