Elite universities, Ivy Plus/Equivalents...

[Anonymous]

According to the most popular and widely used college ranking, USNWR;
#13 Dartmouth
#14 Brown
#17 Cornell
So generally we can refer to 'Ivy level' college = T20.

HYPSM is a real term commonly used.
So in general this would be a good sub category.
1. HYPSM or T5
2. T10
3. T20 = Ivy level
4. T30
5. T50 

Some ranking obsessed parents would try to further split the hairs regarding which one makes T10, etc. and which one is ranked higher within the category as a hobby,
but it comes down to the field of study/major, location, personal preference, cost, etc. when choosing a college.
School name is important, but focus more on the fit.  

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the most popular and widely used college ranking, USNWR;
#13 Dartmouth
#14 Brown
#17 Cornell
So generally we can refer to 'Ivy level' college = T20.

HYPSM is a real term commonly used.
So in general this would be a good sub category.
1. HYPSM or T5
2. T10
3. T20 = Ivy level
4. T30
5. T50 

Some ranking obsessed parents would try to further split the hairs regarding which one makes T10, etc. and which one is ranked higher within the category as a hobby,
but it comes down to the field of study/major, location, personal preference, cost, etc. when choosing a college.
School name is important, but focus more on the fit.  

Thank you! Ivy level is top 20ish , because Cornell is 17 was 18 last year.

[Anonymous]

For US news I usually divide it by
1-10
11-25
26-50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the most popular and widely used college ranking, USNWR;
#13 Dartmouth
#14 Brown
#17 Cornell
So generally we can refer to 'Ivy level' college = T20.

HYPSM is a real term commonly used.
So in general this would be a good sub category.
1. HYPSM or T5
2. T10
3. T20 = Ivy level
4. T30
5. T50

Some ranking obsessed parents would try to further split the hairs regarding which one makes T10, etc. and which one is ranked higher within the category as a hobby,
but it comes down to the field of study/major, location, personal preference, cost, etc. when choosing a college.
School name is important, but focus more on the fit.  

It's always funny to see how we are so obsessed with multiples of 5. The whole reason HYPS became HYPSM on college confidential was so that there could be a "top 5." Then people started trying to create arbitrary distinctions like T10s and T20s, because supposedly God only allows there to be 10 elite schools instead of 11. Actually, according to natural law, if a school falls from 10th to 11th on USNWR, the professors become incapable of teaching anything, and the students lose all their intelligence to become future worker bees of a company that was founded by a USNWR #1-10 school alum.

[Anonymous]

Agree.

I had posted in the thread from last year that there are really about 45-50 "top" schools, mostly covered in this thread.

The idea that any one is "better" for an undergrad from a curricular experience standpoint is trash. they are all good schools and cover roughly the same topics.

Things that differ: specific research opportunities, setting, size/geography - ie mostly personal lifestyle options having nothing to do with school name or "prestige" but rather, would you rather be in Boston or Palo Alto, if you were given the choice?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the most popular and widely used college ranking, USNWR;
#13 Dartmouth
#14 Brown
#17 Cornell
So generally we can refer to 'Ivy level' college = T20.

HYPSM is a real term commonly used.
So in general this would be a good sub category.
1. HYPSM or T5
2. T10
3. T20 = Ivy level
4. T30
5. T50

Some ranking obsessed parents would try to further split the hairs regarding which one makes T10, etc. and which one is ranked higher within the category as a hobby,
but it comes down to the field of study/major, location, personal preference, cost, etc. when choosing a college.
School name is important, but focus more on the fit.  

It's always funny to see how we are so obsessed with multiples of 5. The whole reason HYPS became HYPSM on college confidential was so that there could be a "top 5." Then people started trying to create arbitrary distinctions like T10s and T20s, because supposedly God only allows there to be 10 elite schools instead of 11. Actually, according to natural law, if a school falls from 10th to 11th on USNWR, the professors become incapable of teaching anything, and the students lose all their intelligence to become future worker bees of a company that was founded by a USNWR #1-10 school alum.

No it's just that human beings are natural with a decimal system which is multiples of 10.
Don't get too obsessed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the most popular and widely used college ranking, USNWR;
#13 Dartmouth
#14 Brown
#17 Cornell
So generally we can refer to 'Ivy level' college = T20.

HYPSM is a real term commonly used.
So in general this would be a good sub category.
1. HYPSM or T5
2. T10
3. T20 = Ivy level
4. T30
5. T50 

Some ranking obsessed parents would try to further split the hairs regarding which one makes T10, etc. and which one is ranked higher within the category as a hobby,
but it comes down to the field of study/major, location, personal preference, cost, etc. when choosing a college.
School name is important, but focus more on the fit.  

Sorry but I've never heard the acronym being used outside College Confidential or DCUM... People either use "ivy league" to designate the elite schools or just "the big three," when I grew up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bingo. Strivers are clueless. It's sad when their kids get into one of their two tier schools and then they realize nobody cares, so they desperately trying to hype up how great their kid's tier two is. Unless they're at HYPSM or an Ivy, nobody cares. Nobody is impressed by a NORTHWESTERN or EMORY or CHICAGO resume. They're fine schools but no parent is going to pester you about 'how'd you do it,' you know. People just don't care and none of your hot air and forum posting is going to convince people otherwise.

I find it hard to believe that an adult wrote this.

LOL

[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.

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.

You had it ass-backwards. The Ivy League is a real grouping. HYPMS, not so much.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the most popular and widely used college ranking, USNWR;
#13 Dartmouth
#14 Brown
#17 Cornell
So generally we can refer to 'Ivy level' college = T20.

HYPSM is a real term commonly used.
So in general this would be a good sub category.
1. HYPSM or T5
2. T10
3. T20 = Ivy level
4. T30
5. T50 

Some ranking obsessed parents would try to further split the hairs regarding which one makes T10, etc. and which one is ranked higher within the category as a hobby,
but it comes down to the field of study/major, location, personal preference, cost, etc. when choosing a college.
School name is important, but focus more on the fit.  

Sorry but I've never heard the acronym being used outside College Confidential or DCUM... People either use "ivy league" to designate the elite schools or just "the big three," when I grew up.

You grew up in the 50's?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree.

I had posted in the thread from last year that there are really about 45-50 "top" schools, mostly covered in this thread.

The idea that any one is "better" for an undergrad from a curricular experience standpoint is trash. they are all good schools and cover roughly the same topics.

Things that differ: specific research opportunities, setting, size/geography - ie mostly personal lifestyle options having nothing to do with school name or "prestige" but rather, would you rather be in Boston or Palo Alto, if you were given the choice?

I don’t quite agree. I think there can be big differences between undergrad education experiences but the big fallacy on this board is to conflate good research universities with good undergrad education.

There was a poster whose kid only looked at R1 schools because he wanted to do research as an undergrad when his chances would probably be better at a SLAC.

[Anonymous]

I agree there are probably about 30-40 schools of comparable undergrad education quality, but I do think the mind naturally limits to about 10, 12 schools when thinking about "elite" which is why other factors start coming into play like endowment, prestige, desirability, and selectivity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the most popular and widely used college ranking, USNWR;
#13 Dartmouth
#14 Brown
#17 Cornell
So generally we can refer to 'Ivy level' college = T20.

HYPSM is a real term commonly used.
So in general this would be a good sub category.
1. HYPSM or T5
2. T10
3. T20 = Ivy level
4. T30
5. T50 

Some ranking obsessed parents would try to further split the hairs regarding which one makes T10, etc. and which one is ranked higher within the category as a hobby,
but it comes down to the field of study/major, location, personal preference, cost, etc. when choosing a college.
School name is important, but focus more on the fit.  

Sorry but I've never heard the acronym being used outside College Confidential or DCUM... People either use "ivy league" to designate the elite schools or just "the big three," when I grew up.

You grew up in the 50's?

80s.

[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.

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.

You had it ass-backwards. The Ivy League is a real grouping. HYPMS, not so much.

Nobody would think an Ivy league school like Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth are better than UChicago, Duke, MIT, Stanford.
So the Ivy grouping has no meaning.
T5 T10 T20 would be real grouping.

[Anonymous]

I don't agree with T20 = Ivy level. Cornell is severely underranked by US News. I'd personally put it in the top 15, which most other ranking systems do as well, so I'd say T15 is around Ivy level. That leaves 8 Ivy Leagues + about 7 other schools.