Elite universities, Ivy Plus/Equivalents...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Berkeley has lost it’s uniqueness in the last 10-12 years. It’s a great school. One of the best. The students there are driven and smart. But if you had a parent that attended or anyone else Pre-2010-ish,, you’d know it used to be a much more of unique experience. I have a friend who has said they are struggling to Hire talent in certain departments b/c of this. It’s no longer “fun and quirky”. I don’t think it will be long before it’s much more than a glorified state school given the shift

Yea it's lost some of its luster, UCLA is more selective now a days. Could say Georgetown and maybe Cornell lost some spark too...MAYBE.

Conversely UCLA could move up to borderline/Elite and Maybe NYU is a few years...MAYBE.

Interesting point. Frankly, I see it moving the same way as Berkeley. They are struggling to maintain distinct culture identity that put them where they are now. Not sure how to fix this. I think the east coast schools have done a better job not falling prey to this

I see what your saying, I kind of agree. Bekeley and LA are beholden to the state, and they want to make the other UCs (Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara etc) better. I heard the UC regents wants to double the size of all UCs which will certainly lower the quality. However UCLA has Los Angeles and similarly NYU has New York so that's why I said they have more potential.

[Anonymous]

Hmmm .. There are schools I definitely think are ranked too highly (Northwestern, Duke) but am also wondering about the absence of Carnegie Mellon. I'm not an alum - neither is anyone in my family - but I definitely think it's more prestigious than some of the other schools listed. Am I wrong? (Honest question here...)

I'm first generation and the thing I've noticed about state schools (whether it's Michigan, Berkely, UVA, etc) is that, over time, their reputation seems to vary more than the private elites. Maybe the state gives more or less money to schools or people leave the state or whatever, but from my oustide perspective, this doesn't seem to happen as much with generously-endowed privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm .. There are schools I definitely think are ranked too highly (Northwestern, Duke) but am also wondering about the absence of Carnegie Mellon. I'm not an alum - neither is anyone in my family - but I definitely think it's more prestigious than some of the other schools listed. Am I wrong? (Honest question here...)

I'm first generation and the thing I've noticed about state schools (whether it's Michigan, Berkely, UVA, etc) is that, over time, their reputation seems to vary more than the private elites. Maybe the state gives more or less money to schools or people leave the state or whatever, but from my oustide perspective, this doesn't seem to happen as much with generously-endowed privates.

Columbia and Chicago also ranked too high

[Anonymous]

I am always genuinely baffled by people who say things like Northwestern and Duke or Columbia and Chicago are ranked too highly. Oftentimes these statements are accompanied by little more than gut feeling.

We're talking about some of the best schools in the country. Columbia?! Literally the one school that can stand shoulder-to-shoulder to the likes of Harvard, Stanford, Yale, MIT, and Princeton. Incredibly prestigious. Chicago is an absolute academic powerhouse and proven itself to be a coveted destination for undergrads. Northwestern and Duke outperform Carnegie Mellon in almost all relevant metrics (selectivity, wealth, academic prowess, research, and yes, rankings), and have been prestigious undergraduate schools for generations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coming across the JHU thread and it’s clear there are some people unfamiliar with American colleges who think Ivy League = the best. It is worth repeating that there are just as many universities NOT in the Ivy League that are just as good and just as prestigious as the Ivies.

Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Cal Tech, JHU, Northwestern, Duke

If we expand to LACS, add Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and Pomona.

If these schools were to just start their own separate academic “league,” they would rival the Ivy League, easily.

No one thinks only Ivy League is the best. It's a straw man in your own head. But Ivy League is a real grouping that conveys prestige for lay people. MIT and Stanford are also widely accepted as being in the top 5 prestigious schools in the country. T5, HYPMS is a real grouping.

The rest of them are all good schools. But they are not prestigious.

Top boarding school counselors were grouping schools in college night for seniors and their parents.
First tier group was HYPSM. I think he has way better knowledge than you.


Lol, I believe USNews has Columbia ahead of Yale and Princeton.

As the PP said, the ivy league is a real grouping. I've also heard of the "big three" when I attended college, and yes, I went to one of them. HYPMS is not a real grouping, unless you spend every minute of your life reading college confidential. I've never heard of that acronym until I start reading the forums. Calling these schools "not prestigious" is just plain idiotic and shows how shallow your knowledge is. Not even a Harvard man has the audacity to say call these schools "not prestigious."

[Anonymous]

In the college night for seniors and their parents in my DD's school(Top private school, its name is always being mentioned in here or anywhere.),
school counselors made groups of schools and had a presentation for admission.

1st tier schools: HYPSM( yes, they used an acronym" HYPSM " in presentation )
2ns tier schools: Columbia, Upenn, Brown,Caltech, Darthmouth
2.5 :Cornell, Chicago, Duke, WASP
and so one.

I still have pictures of these grouping. Around 35% of students went to 1 -2.5 tier schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Hmmm .. There are schools I definitely think are ranked too highly (Northwestern, Duke) but am also wondering about the absence of Carnegie Mellon. I'm not an alum - neither is anyone in my family - but I definitely think it's more prestigious than some of the other schools listed. Am I wrong? (Honest question here...)

I'm first generation and the thing I've noticed about state schools (whether it's Michigan, Berkely, UVA, etc) is that, over time, their reputation seems to vary more than the private elites. Maybe the state gives more or less money to schools or people leave the state or whatever, but from my oustide perspective, this doesn't seem to happen as much with generously-endowed privates.

More prestigious than which schools. I think it's on the WashU level of schools

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the college night for seniors and their parents in my DD's school(Top private school, its name is always being mentioned in here or anywhere.),
school counselors made groups of schools and had a presentation for admission.

1st tier schools: HYPSM( yes, they used an acronym" HYPSM " in presentation )
2ns tier schools: Columbia, Upenn, Brown,Caltech, Darthmouth
2.5 :Cornell, Chicago, Duke, WASP
and so one.

I still have pictures of these grouping. Around 35% of students went to 1 -2.5 tier schools.

It's been a couple years, but our private school (not in DC) had a similar presentation with "clusters" of schools. It was understood these were all elite and I would guess ~60% of kids end up at one of these.

Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Stanford
UChicago, Brown, Northwestern, Duke, UPenn
Dartmouth, Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Williams, Amherst

STEM (these were separated out):
MIT, Caltech
Berkeley, CMU

Notably Swarthmore and Pomona were not included.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Coming across the JHU thread and it’s clear there are some people unfamiliar with American colleges who think Ivy League = the best. It is worth repeating that there are just as many universities NOT in the Ivy League that are just as good and just as prestigious as the Ivies.

Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Cal Tech, JHU, Northwestern, Duke

If we expand to LACS, add Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and Pomona.

If these schools were to just start their own separate academic “league,” they would rival the Ivy League, easily.

Here we go again. Most of the crowd here does not agree with your random list of other Ivy schools. Everyone has an opinion and everyone knows there are other choices. Why bring this up again and again. BTW - I do NOT think Williams, Amherst or Hopkins or Duke or Pomona deserve to be on this list. Lots of reasons make them terrible schools. Oh, and lets go to Hopkins in Baltimore and worry every minute about the crime rate.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coming across the JHU thread and it’s clear there are some people unfamiliar with American colleges who think Ivy League = the best. It is worth repeating that there are just as many universities NOT in the Ivy League that are just as good and just as prestigious as the Ivies.

Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Cal Tech, JHU, Northwestern, Duke

If we expand to LACS, add Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and Pomona.

If these schools were to just start their own separate academic “league,” they would rival the Ivy League, easily.

Here we go again. Most of the crowd here does not agree with your random list of other Ivy schools. Everyone has an opinion and everyone knows there are other choices. Why bring this up again and again. BTW - I do NOT think Williams, Amherst or Hopkins or Duke or Pomona deserve to be on this list. Lots of reasons make them terrible schools. Oh, and lets go to Hopkins in Baltimore and worry every minute about the crime rate.

What make Williams, Amherst, and Pomona terrible schools? Genuinely curious, I don't have a dog in this fight at all.

[Anonymous]

How could there possibly be yet another version of this topic that got 16 pages in 1 day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How could there possibly be yet another version of this topic that got 16 pages in 1 day?

I completely agree. It's the exact same conversation. I think there is a disgruntled parent out there so very very desperate to justify a non Ivy school acceptance. Give it up. No one cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In the college night for seniors and their parents in my DD's school(Top private school, its name is always being mentioned in here or anywhere.),
school counselors made groups of schools and had a presentation for admission.

1st tier schools: HYPSM( yes, they used an acronym" HYPSM " in presentation )
2ns tier schools: Columbia, Upenn, Brown,Caltech, Darthmouth
2.5 :Cornell, Chicago, Duke, WASP
and so one.

I still have pictures of these grouping. Around 35% of students went to 1 -2.5 tier schools.

One opinion from one school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I be the person who asks how Duke made it onto OP’s list?

I’d leave Duke but I was side-eying Northwestern. Only to tiger moms who obsess over US news is Northwestern undergrad in any way that impressive.

I remember seeing this same exact comment verbatim on another thread a whole ago and it reeks of some bizarre combination of insecurity and elitism. Got no dog in this fight, but lemme guess, your DC didn’t get into Northwestern?

And a slight whiff of racism with "tiger moms" comment. From overall and where students gravitate, I don't see an issue with either Northwestern or Duke on this list. JHU is not one I've heard as one that is popular for prestige seekers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Coming across the JHU thread and it’s clear there are some people unfamiliar with American colleges who think Ivy League = the best. It is worth repeating that there are just as many universities NOT in the Ivy League that are just as good and just as prestigious as the Ivies.

Stanford, MIT, Chicago, Cal Tech, JHU, Northwestern, Duke

If we expand to LACS, add Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore and Pomona.

If these schools were to just start their own separate academic “league,” they would rival the Ivy League, easily.

Here we go again. Most of the crowd here does not agree with your random list of other Ivy schools. Everyone has an opinion and everyone knows there are other choices. Why bring this up again and again. BTW - I do NOT think Williams, Amherst or Hopkins or Duke or Pomona deserve to be on this list. Lots of reasons make them terrible schools. Oh, and lets go to Hopkins in Baltimore and worry every minute about the crime rate.

What make Williams, Amherst, and Pomona terrible schools? Genuinely curious, I don't have a dog in this fight at all.

Why would you be curious for the opinion of some obvious imbecile on an anonymous forum? This entire thread is trafficked by a small group of lunatics who quite obviously never attended any of these colleges.