To you, what's the bottom of the "elite" colleges?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hasn't Columbia been harder to get into than Yale or Princeton for the last several years?

It has a lower acceptance rate, sure, but:
* It has early decision and fills nearly half of its class through that. Yale and Princeton don't. That's 100% yield for Columbia and enables them to admit less students later.
* Princeton has the most coveted location of any of the Ivies. You get a substantial number of under-qualified students applying simply because it's in NYC.
* Columbia gets to push students into alternative routes (Sciences Po, School of General Studies) which are not factored into acceptances. General Studies folks for all intents and purposes undergraduate Columbia students; they take the same courses as those in SEAS and the College. General Studies has a far higher acceptance rate- 33%- which is not accounted into the 5.8% acceptance rate. Yale and Princeton only offer one route into undergraduate.

Let's not kid ourselves here- Yale and Princeton are harder to get into.

+10000

*fewer

Here comes the SGS-obsessed and veteran-hating reject again!

I have a degree from Columbia, and that doesn't seem like SGS "hate" so much as a recognition that the reported Columbia admission rate does not reflect the actual composition of the students attending undergraduate classes.

Also agree with the fact that the number of applications at Columbia has been boosted by TV shows like Gossip Girl.

NYT reports there are a lot of unemployed or underemployed Columbia master’s students who majored in things like MFA. With $100,000-300,000 loans, students can end up with $30,000-50,000/yr paying jobs. NYT also did a similar investigation on USC grad school recently. Someone also did a similar investigation into Harvard.

Good luck Disgruntled PP. Your mistake in picking a not-so-lucrative major.

I’m the Columbia poster to whom you’re responding. My Columbia degree was not an MFA, we have a net worth in the eight figures, and I’m not disgruntled. Merely understand why some people point out the undergraduate environment at Columbia is impacted by the SGS students and that their inclusion in the application statistics for Columbia arguably would result in a more accurate portrayal of its relative selectivity. So squint harder the next time you decide to read between the lines.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hasn't Columbia been harder to get into than Yale or Princeton for the last several years?

It has a lower acceptance rate, sure, but:
* It has early decision and fills nearly half of its class through that. Yale and Princeton don't. That's 100% yield for Columbia and enables them to admit less students later.
* Princeton has the most coveted location of any of the Ivies. You get a substantial number of under-qualified students applying simply because it's in NYC.
* Columbia gets to push students into alternative routes (Sciences Po, School of General Studies) which are not factored into acceptances. General Studies folks for all intents and purposes undergraduate Columbia students; they take the same courses as those in SEAS and the College. General Studies has a far higher acceptance rate- 33%- which is not accounted into the 5.8% acceptance rate. Yale and Princeton only offer one route into undergraduate.

Let's not kid ourselves here- Yale and Princeton are harder to get into.

+10000

*fewer

Here comes the SGS-obsessed and veteran-hating reject again!

I have a degree from Columbia, and that doesn't seem like SGS "hate" so much as a recognition that the reported Columbia admission rate does not reflect the actual composition of the students attending undergraduate classes.

Also agree with the fact that the number of applications at Columbia has been boosted by TV shows like Gossip Girl.

NYT reports there are a lot of unemployed or underemployed Columbia master’s students who majored in things like MFA. With $100,000-300,000 loans, students can end up with $30,000-50,000/yr paying jobs. NYT also did a similar investigation on USC grad school recently. Someone also did a similar investigation into Harvard.

Good luck Disgruntled PP. Your mistake in picking a not-so-lucrative major.

I’m the Columbia poster to whom you’re responding. My Columbia degree was not an MFA, we have a net worth in the eight figures, and I’m not disgruntled. Merely understand why some people point out the undergraduate environment at Columbia is impacted by the SGS students and that their inclusion in the application statistics for Columbia arguably would result in a more accurate portrayal of its relative selectivity. So squint harder the next time you decide to read between the lines.

I, too, have a net worth in the eight figures - in Mexican pesos.

If you apply the same analysis to Stanford -fully 12% of their students athlete-“scholars” - you wouldnt be so impressed by Stanford. Same with Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this thread is, I’ll share a little anecdote:

My husband’s family has a couple generations of Princeton grads, including his mother (one of the first women admits) and his father. My husband went to Yale - and rejected his Princeton admission - and it caused a huge uproar in his family, even among aunts and uncles. He was the rebel kid.

I went to Dartmouth and met DH right after undergrad. When I met his parents it was clear that I *barely* passed the “is she elite enough to marry my son” test. Like, they acted at times like I went to community college. I actually never applied to Princeton (I applied to Harvard and was rejected) and my ILs have used that at introductions at parties - “she went to Dartmouth, but the poor thing didn’t know to apply to Princeton, so we’ll never know if she would have been admitted!” I mean, heaven forbid someone in their circle thinks their son married someone who *didnt* get into Princeton.

There are people - many, many people - who look down on anything that’s not Princeton or maybe Yale. Harvard, among these folks, is widely known to accept “anyone” if they score highly enough, whereas Princeton and Yale look at overall “pedigree”. Like, Harvard is obviously for dorks and losers, not well rounded children from elite families. Stanford is in California and no one cares about California, and literally no other school is worth mentioning. Like, they are all the same. Ordinary schools for ordinary people. None - none! - are elite.

This is dumb, of course, and I absolutely hate my ILs and the circles they run in. But it puts into perspective that what is regarded as “elite” really depends ENTIRELY on your audience. I mean, there are women in this family who married Harvard grads and you should see how they’re treated - like interlopers who just barely managed to get an invitation to the ball. There’s one cousin who went to U Penn, but everyone kind of knew she was a loser, so we just are polite and don’t bring it up. I mean, all of this is so dumb, but I swear to god I’m not exaggerating in the slightest.

So you can argue on dcum about what is and isn’t elite, but to the people who see themselves as elite, I can guarantee you - you aren’t. I’m not. Almost no one is.

Which is funny because most people see Princeton as dead last in hypsm on DCUM or College Confidential. Don't get where that sense of superiority/entitlement comes from.

A lot of the DCUM noise about rankings has to do with rise of STEM. There is one dude on here that is determined to promote Rice and Cornell because he thinks their tech programs give international research standing compared to a humanities school, like Yale. He also detests UVA (the chronic basher) b/c it rejected him, and he’s decided to call out its engineering/CS program vs. Michigan and Berkeley. In short, for some, the humanities of Yale and Princeton are no match for the STEM of Cornell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Hasn't Columbia been harder to get into than Yale or Princeton for the last several years?

It has a lower acceptance rate, sure, but:
* It has early decision and fills nearly half of its class through that. Yale and Princeton don't. That's 100% yield for Columbia and enables them to admit less students later.
* Princeton has the most coveted location of any of the Ivies. You get a substantial number of under-qualified students applying simply because it's in NYC.
* Columbia gets to push students into alternative routes (Sciences Po, School of General Studies) which are not factored into acceptances. General Studies folks for all intents and purposes undergraduate Columbia students; they take the same courses as those in SEAS and the College. General Studies has a far higher acceptance rate- 33%- which is not accounted into the 5.8% acceptance rate. Yale and Princeton only offer one route into undergraduate.

Let's not kid ourselves here- Yale and Princeton are harder to get into.

+10000

*fewer

Here comes the SGS-obsessed and veteran-hating reject again!

I have a degree from Columbia, and that doesn't seem like SGS "hate" so much as a recognition that the reported Columbia admission rate does not reflect the actual composition of the students attending undergraduate classes.

Also agree with the fact that the number of applications at Columbia has been boosted by TV shows like Gossip Girl.

NYT reports there are a lot of unemployed or underemployed Columbia master’s students who majored in things like MFA. With $100,000-300,000 loans, students can end up with $30,000-50,000/yr paying jobs. NYT also did a similar investigation on USC grad school recently. Someone also did a similar investigation into Harvard.

Good luck Disgruntled PP. Your mistake in picking a not-so-lucrative major.

I’m the Columbia poster to whom you’re responding. My Columbia degree was not an MFA, we have a net worth in the eight figures, and I’m not disgruntled. Merely understand why some people point out the undergraduate environment at Columbia is impacted by the SGS students and that their inclusion in the application statistics for Columbia arguably would result in a more accurate portrayal of its relative selectivity. So squint harder the next time you decide to read between the lines.

Columbia GS

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this thread is, I’ll share a little anecdote:

My husband’s family has a couple generations of Princeton grads, including his mother (one of the first women admits) and his father. My husband went to Yale - and rejected his Princeton admission - and it caused a huge uproar in his family, even among aunts and uncles. He was the rebel kid.

I went to Dartmouth and met DH right after undergrad. When I met his parents it was clear that I *barely* passed the “is she elite enough to marry my son” test. Like, they acted at times like I went to community college. I actually never applied to Princeton (I applied to Harvard and was rejected) and my ILs have used that at introductions at parties - “she went to Dartmouth, but the poor thing didn’t know to apply to Princeton, so we’ll never know if she would have been admitted!” I mean, heaven forbid someone in their circle thinks their son married someone who *didnt* get into Princeton.

There are people - many, many people - who look down on anything that’s not Princeton or maybe Yale. Harvard, among these folks, is widely known to accept “anyone” if they score highly enough, whereas Princeton and Yale look at overall “pedigree”. Like, Harvard is obviously for dorks and losers, not well rounded children from elite families. Stanford is in California and no one cares about California, and literally no other school is worth mentioning. Like, they are all the same. Ordinary schools for ordinary people. None - none! - are elite.

This is dumb, of course, and I absolutely hate my ILs and the circles they run in. But it puts into perspective that what is regarded as “elite” really depends ENTIRELY on your audience. I mean, there are women in this family who married Harvard grads and you should see how they’re treated - like interlopers who just barely managed to get an invitation to the ball. There’s one cousin who went to U Penn, but everyone kind of knew she was a loser, so we just are polite and don’t bring it up. I mean, all of this is so dumb, but I swear to god I’m not exaggerating in the slightest.

So you can argue on dcum about what is and isn’t elite, but to the people who see themselves as elite, I can guarantee you - you aren’t. I’m not. Almost no one is.

Which is funny because most people see Princeton as dead last in hypsm on DCUM or College Confidential. Don't get where that sense of superiority/entitlement comes from.

I mean…. Old money.

The WASP establishment isn't even that relevant in the 21st century anymore. As a first generation US citizen, I can comfortably say that Princeton (and to a lesser extent, Yale) has not-so-great name recognition outside the US. You would be surprised at how many people only heard of Harvard or Stanford but not other schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this thread is, I’ll share a little anecdote:

My husband’s family has a couple generations of Princeton grads, including his mother (one of the first women admits) and his father. My husband went to Yale - and rejected his Princeton admission - and it caused a huge uproar in his family, even among aunts and uncles. He was the rebel kid.

I went to Dartmouth and met DH right after undergrad. When I met his parents it was clear that I *barely* passed the “is she elite enough to marry my son” test. Like, they acted at times like I went to community college. I actually never applied to Princeton (I applied to Harvard and was rejected) and my ILs have used that at introductions at parties - “she went to Dartmouth, but the poor thing didn’t know to apply to Princeton, so we’ll never know if she would have been admitted!” I mean, heaven forbid someone in their circle thinks their son married someone who *didnt* get into Princeton.

There are people - many, many people - who look down on anything that’s not Princeton or maybe Yale. Harvard, among these folks, is widely known to accept “anyone” if they score highly enough, whereas Princeton and Yale look at overall “pedigree”. Like, Harvard is obviously for dorks and losers, not well rounded children from elite families. Stanford is in California and no one cares about California, and literally no other school is worth mentioning. Like, they are all the same. Ordinary schools for ordinary people. None - none! - are elite.

This is dumb, of course, and I absolutely hate my ILs and the circles they run in. But it puts into perspective that what is regarded as “elite” really depends ENTIRELY on your audience. I mean, there are women in this family who married Harvard grads and you should see how they’re treated - like interlopers who just barely managed to get an invitation to the ball. There’s one cousin who went to U Penn, but everyone kind of knew she was a loser, so we just are polite and don’t bring it up. I mean, all of this is so dumb, but I swear to god I’m not exaggerating in the slightest.

So you can argue on dcum about what is and isn’t elite, but to the people who see themselves as elite, I can guarantee you - you aren’t. I’m not. Almost no one is.

This whole thread is pretty dumb and your post certainly did not help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this thread is, I’ll share a little anecdote:

My husband’s family has a couple generations of Princeton grads, including his mother (one of the first women admits) and his father. My husband went to Yale - and rejected his Princeton admission - and it caused a huge uproar in his family, even among aunts and uncles. He was the rebel kid.

I went to Dartmouth and met DH right after undergrad. When I met his parents it was clear that I *barely* passed the “is she elite enough to marry my son” test. Like, they acted at times like I went to community college. I actually never applied to Princeton (I applied to Harvard and was rejected) and my ILs have used that at introductions at parties - “she went to Dartmouth, but the poor thing didn’t know to apply to Princeton, so we’ll never know if she would have been admitted!” I mean, heaven forbid someone in their circle thinks their son married someone who *didnt* get into Princeton.

There are people - many, many people - who look down on anything that’s not Princeton or maybe Yale. Harvard, among these folks, is widely known to accept “anyone” if they score highly enough, whereas Princeton and Yale look at overall “pedigree”. Like, Harvard is obviously for dorks and losers, not well rounded children from elite families. Stanford is in California and no one cares about California, and literally no other school is worth mentioning. Like, they are all the same. Ordinary schools for ordinary people. None - none! - are elite.

This is dumb, of course, and I absolutely hate my ILs and the circles they run in. But it puts into perspective that what is regarded as “elite” really depends ENTIRELY on your audience. I mean, there are women in this family who married Harvard grads and you should see how they’re treated - like interlopers who just barely managed to get an invitation to the ball. There’s one cousin who went to U Penn, but everyone kind of knew she was a loser, so we just are polite and don’t bring it up. I mean, all of this is so dumb, but I swear to god I’m not exaggerating in the slightest.

So you can argue on dcum about what is and isn’t elite, but to the people who see themselves as elite, I can guarantee you - you aren’t. I’m not. Almost no one is.

Which is funny because most people see Princeton as dead last in hypsm on DCUM or College Confidential. Don't get where that sense of superiority/entitlement comes from.

I mean…. Old money.

The WASP establishment isn't even that relevant in the 21st century anymore. As a first generation US citizen, I can comfortably say that Princeton (and to a lesser extent, Yale) has not-so-great name recognition outside the US. You would be surprised at how many people only heard of Harvard or Stanford but not other schools.

And guess who doesn't care about that at all ... Princeton grads. They know what elite means. /s

[Anonymous]

The most elite schools, including Princeton, have moved on the types of obsessions about social class that a lot of uninformed DCUM posters with archaic assumptions bring to the discussion. They maintain their position in higher education by limiting the number of students they admit, but figured out a long time ago they were at least as good at conferring status than rewarding it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:top 25 universities, top 5 lacs. So 30 in total.

There’s a T40 SLAC that claims no less than 4 Nobel prize winners among its alums. For a school the size of an HS, this is extraordinary. One of them was Caltech’s first President, turning a provincial vocational school to what it is today. He was also Caltech’s first Nobel prize winner.

[Anonymous]

I'd consider most schools with 1400+ SAT averages to be prestigious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:top 25 universities, top 5 lacs. So 30 in total.

There’s a T40 SLAC that claims no less than 4 Nobel prize winners among its alums. For a school the size of an HS, this is extraordinary. One of them was Caltech’s first President, turning a provincial vocational school to what it is today. He was also Caltech’s first Nobel prize winner.

If you think CalTech is elite, it all started at,

O B E R L I N.

[Anonymous]

T15 for SLACs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this thread is, I’ll share a little anecdote:

My husband’s family has a couple generations of Princeton grads, including his mother (one of the first women admits) and his father. My husband went to Yale - and rejected his Princeton admission - and it caused a huge uproar in his family, even among aunts and uncles. He was the rebel kid.

I went to Dartmouth and met DH right after undergrad. When I met his parents it was clear that I *barely* passed the “is she elite enough to marry my son” test. Like, they acted at times like I went to community college. I actually never applied to Princeton (I applied to Harvard and was rejected) and my ILs have used that at introductions at parties - “she went to Dartmouth, but the poor thing didn’t know to apply to Princeton, so we’ll never know if she would have been admitted!” I mean, heaven forbid someone in their circle thinks their son married someone who *didnt* get into Princeton.

There are people - many, many people - who look down on anything that’s not Princeton or maybe Yale. Harvard, among these folks, is widely known to accept “anyone” if they score highly enough, whereas Princeton and Yale look at overall “pedigree”. Like, Harvard is obviously for dorks and losers, not well rounded children from elite families. Stanford is in California and no one cares about California, and literally no other school is worth mentioning. Like, they are all the same. Ordinary schools for ordinary people. None - none! - are elite.

This is dumb, of course, and I absolutely hate my ILs and the circles they run in. But it puts into perspective that what is regarded as “elite” really depends ENTIRELY on your audience. I mean, there are women in this family who married Harvard grads and you should see how they’re treated - like interlopers who just barely managed to get an invitation to the ball. There’s one cousin who went to U Penn, but everyone kind of knew she was a loser, so we just are polite and don’t bring it up. I mean, all of this is so dumb, but I swear to god I’m not exaggerating in the slightest.

So you can argue on dcum about what is and isn’t elite, but to the people who see themselves as elite, I can guarantee you - you aren’t. I’m not. Almost no one is.

Sorry you married into such a dumbass family. Stupid anecdote. No one cares what your in-laws think.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As dumb as this thread is, I’ll share a little anecdote:

My husband’s family has a couple generations of Princeton grads, including his mother (one of the first women admits) and his father. My husband went to Yale - and rejected his Princeton admission - and it caused a huge uproar in his family, even among aunts and uncles. He was the rebel kid.

I went to Dartmouth and met DH right after undergrad. When I met his parents it was clear that I *barely* passed the “is she elite enough to marry my son” test. Like, they acted at times like I went to community college. I actually never applied to Princeton (I applied to Harvard and was rejected) and my ILs have used that at introductions at parties - “she went to Dartmouth, but the poor thing didn’t know to apply to Princeton, so we’ll never know if she would have been admitted!” I mean, heaven forbid someone in their circle thinks their son married someone who *didnt* get into Princeton.

There are people - many, many people - who look down on anything that’s not Princeton or maybe Yale. Harvard, among these folks, is widely known to accept “anyone” if they score highly enough, whereas Princeton and Yale look at overall “pedigree”. Like, Harvard is obviously for dorks and losers, not well rounded children from elite families. Stanford is in California and no one cares about California, and literally no other school is worth mentioning. Like, they are all the same. Ordinary schools for ordinary people. None - none! - are elite.

This is dumb, of course, and I absolutely hate my ILs and the circles they run in. But it puts into perspective that what is regarded as “elite” really depends ENTIRELY on your audience. I mean, there are women in this family who married Harvard grads and you should see how they’re treated - like interlopers who just barely managed to get an invitation to the ball. There’s one cousin who went to U Penn, but everyone kind of knew she was a loser, so we just are polite and don’t bring it up. I mean, all of this is so dumb, but I swear to god I’m not exaggerating in the slightest.

So you can argue on dcum about what is and isn’t elite, but to the people who see themselves as elite, I can guarantee you - you aren’t. I’m not. Almost no one is.

Hahaha my family of Harvard, Stanford, Yale and MIT alums would laugh at how stupid yours comes across as.

The top twelve-or-so universities in the country are gold standard. Including all Ivy League schools. Please don’t embarrass yourself or your family any further.

[Anonymous]

I'm Gen X Washingtonian, non tech, and my mental list is like:

1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. Yale University (CT)
4. MIT
5. Columbia University (NY)
6. Stanford University (CA)
7. University of Pennsylvania
8. Johns Hopkins University (MD)
9. Cornell University (NY)
10. Dartmouth (NH)
11. Duke University (NC)
12. Brown University (RI)
....
14. Georgetown!