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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mental list:

1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/Columbia
5 - MIT
6 - UPenn/Chicago
8 - Northwestern/Duke/Cornell

Not exactly informed by rankings, but by my 20+ years in MBB consulting and relatives in academia. Make of it what you will.

You have a mental problem then. MBB isn't world. No way Yale is #2. It should be at the bottom o HYPSM because of its weak STEM programs. Also no way Columbia is above MIT. Are you kidding?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TRULY "elite" - let's be honest:

Princeton University (NJ)
Harvard University (MA)
Yale University (CT) (tie)
Columbia University (NY) (tie)
Stanford University (CA) (tie)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

That's it folks - those are the ONLY schools that are so elite they NEVER require explanation.

Of course Penn's Wharton School and Cornell's Hotel school are elite - but that's the point you have to specify the particular program. The other Top 25 schools are terrific, but there are NOT in the same class.

The only thing more idiotic than this thread is the fact that this poster felt the need to list the states for each of these schools. That's my 2 cents.

Surprise pp! There will always be someone more idiotic. In this case, on page 4. “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.”

That was pretty obviously a typo from someone who may have started a different sentence and then meant to refer to Columbia. These posts aren't exactly peer-reviewed journal articles.

I actually feel sorry for the people who feel so insecure about how MIT or other schools may be perceived that they compose lengthy posts that will be forgotten in a week or less.

Stop trying to make Columbia 'happen'...lol

DP with no connection to Columbia but Columbia “happened” about 250 years ago. I really don’t understand people who are deluding themselves into thinking Columbia is not elite?

I just want to know which Ivy the "Princeton has the most coveted location of any of the Ivies ... in NYC" pp attended.

DP, but I think Princeton's idyllic but Amtrak-accessible location between Philadelphia and New York is the best of any Ivy, with the possible exception of Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mental list:

1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/Columbia
5 - MIT
6 - UPenn/Chicago
8 - Northwestern/Duke/Cornell

Not exactly informed by rankings, but by my 20+ years in MBB consulting and relatives in academia. Make of it what you will.

You have a mental problem then. MBB isn't world. No way Yale is #2. It should be at the bottom o HYPSM because of its weak STEM programs. Also no way Columbia is above MIT. Are you kidding?

DP Whoa, crazy lady is a bit over-invested in this little exercise!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My mental list:

1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/Columbia
5 - MIT
6 - UPenn/Chicago
8 - Northwestern/Duke/Cornell

Not exactly informed by rankings, but by my 20+ years in MBB consulting and relatives in academia. Make of it what you will.

Princeton was omitted.

23 Elites:
1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/MIT
5 - Princeton
6 - Columbia/UPenn/Chicago
9 - Caltech/Duke/Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Northwestern/Hopkins/Berkley
17 - Amherst/Williams
19 - Rice/UCLA/UVA/Georgetown/Michigan

Should there be more?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TRULY "elite" - let's be honest:

Princeton University (NJ)
Harvard University (MA)
Yale University (CT) (tie)
Columbia University (NY) (tie)
Stanford University (CA) (tie)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

That's it folks - those are the ONLY schools that are so elite they NEVER require explanation.

Of course Penn's Wharton School and Cornell's Hotel school are elite - but that's the point you have to specify the particular program. The other Top 25 schools are terrific, but there are NOT in the same class.

The only thing more idiotic than this thread is the fact that this poster felt the need to list the states for each of these schools. That's my 2 cents.

Surprise pp! There will always be someone more idiotic. In this case, on page 4. “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.”

That was pretty obviously a typo from someone who may have started a different sentence and then meant to refer to Columbia. These posts aren't exactly peer-reviewed journal articles.

I actually feel sorry for the people who feel so insecure about how MIT or other schools may be perceived that they compose lengthy posts that will be forgotten in a week or less.

Stop trying to make Columbia 'happen'...lol

DP with no connection to Columbia but Columbia “happened” about 250 years ago. I really don’t understand people who are deluding themselves into thinking Columbia is not elite?

I just want to know which Ivy the "Princeton has the most coveted location of any of the Ivies ... in NYC" pp attended.

DP, but I think Princeton's idyllic but Amtrak-accessible location between Philadelphia and New York is the best of any Ivy, with the possible exception of Harvard.

It depends on what one is looking for. I find Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Penn’s campuses to be dreadful. I’d much rather spend four years in bucolic Hanover or Ithaca. To each their own I suppose.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mental list:

1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/Columbia
5 - MIT
6 - UPenn/Chicago
8 - Northwestern/Duke/Cornell

Not exactly informed by rankings, but by my 20+ years in MBB consulting and relatives in academia. Make of it what you will.

Princeton was omitted.

23 Elites:
1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/MIT
5 - Princeton
6 - Columbia/UPenn/Chicago
9 - Caltech/Duke/Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Northwestern/Hopkins/Berkley
17 - Amherst/Williams
19 - Rice/UCLA/UVA/Georgetown/Michigan

Should there be more?

I would put Swarthmore in with Williams and Amherst. There are probably some other top colleges that should be there, maybe Pomona? I would add Tufts and Emory to the 19 line.

[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.

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.

Further goes on to show how insecure modern-day Princeton grads really are when they're being surpassed by schools like Stanford and MIT in prestige and renown. It really should be hymsp or hsymp lol

I come from a generation of Yale grads on one side, and my other side is filled with grads from MIT, Stanford, Northwestern, and Cambridge. The idea of there being some strange cut-off or threshold for eliteness/prestige within an already rarefied group of universities is very bizarre to me. Is this really something that Princeton grads agonize over?

Oh my god no Princeton grads do not agonize over this. What PP describes is how a very small percentage of alums (likely old money) would behave. But I’m quite sure the point of the anecdote is that JUST AS those Princeton grads are crazy for drawing some ridiculous and arbitrary line in the sand about who is and isn’t elite, so too are all the idiots on this board debating the relative rank of top schools.

[Anonymous]

Harvard/MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Yale

gap...

Caltech
Columbia
That's all

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TRULY "elite" - let's be honest:

Princeton University (NJ)
Harvard University (MA)
Yale University (CT) (tie)
Columbia University (NY) (tie)
Stanford University (CA) (tie)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

That's it folks - those are the ONLY schools that are so elite they NEVER require explanation.

Of course Penn's Wharton School and Cornell's Hotel school are elite - but that's the point you have to specify the particular program. The other Top 25 schools are terrific, but there are NOT in the same class.

The only thing more idiotic than this thread is the fact that this poster felt the need to list the states for each of these schools. That's my 2 cents.

Surprise pp! There will always be someone more idiotic. In this case, on page 4. “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.”

That was pretty obviously a typo from someone who may have started a different sentence and then meant to refer to Columbia. These posts aren't exactly peer-reviewed journal articles.

I actually feel sorry for the people who feel so insecure about how MIT or other schools may be perceived that they compose lengthy posts that will be forgotten in a week or less.

Stop trying to make Columbia 'happen'...lol

DP with no connection to Columbia but Columbia “happened” about 250 years ago. I really don’t understand people who are deluding themselves into thinking Columbia is not elite?

I just want to know which Ivy the "Princeton has the most coveted location of any of the Ivies ... in NYC" pp attended.

DP, but I think Princeton's idyllic but Amtrak-accessible location between Philadelphia and New York is the best of any Ivy, with the possible exception of Harvard.

It depends on what one is looking for. I find Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Penn’s campuses to be dreadful. I’d much rather spend four years in bucolic Hanover or Ithaca. To each their own I suppose.

Princeton has a pretty campus but in a sleepy location IMO. I would personally rather be closer to a vibrant urban core. Yale has stunning architecture with a vibrant scene in New Haven (despite its grittiness). UPenn's Locust Walk is idyllic in great foody Philly (despite its grittiness). Columbia's campus is the best city in the world. All 3 of these are dreadful? No way.

BTW, Princeton's Amtrak access is less than ideal with very few trains compared to UPenn, Columbia, Yale and Harvard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mental list:

1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/Columbia
5 - MIT
6 - UPenn/Chicago
8 - Northwestern/Duke/Cornell

Not exactly informed by rankings, but by my 20+ years in MBB consulting and relatives in academia. Make of it what you will.

Princeton was omitted.

23 Elites:
1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/MIT
5 - Princeton
6 - Columbia/UPenn/Chicago
9 - Caltech/Duke/Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Northwestern/Hopkins/Berkley
17 - Amherst/Williams
19 - Rice/UCLA/UVA/Georgetown/Michigan

Should there be more?

I would put Swarthmore in with Williams and Amherst. There are probably some other top colleges that should be there, maybe Pomona? I would add Tufts and Emory to the 19 line.

Row 19 not elite in any way

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard/MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Yale

gap...

Caltech
Columbia
That's all

You are right but I guess I was trying "to give a trophy" to more than your 7.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mental list:

1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/Columbia
5 - MIT
6 - UPenn/Chicago
8 - Northwestern/Duke/Cornell

Not exactly informed by rankings, but by my 20+ years in MBB consulting and relatives in academia. Make of it what you will.

Princeton was omitted.

23 Elites:
1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/MIT
5 - Princeton
6 - Columbia/UPenn/Chicago
9 - Caltech/Duke/Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Northwestern/Hopkins/Berkley
17 - Amherst/Williams
19 - Rice/UCLA/UVA/Georgetown/Michigan

Should there be more?

I would put Swarthmore in with Williams and Amherst. There are probably some other top colleges that should be there, maybe Pomona? I would add Tufts and Emory to the 19 line.

25 Elites:
1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/MIT
5 - Princeton
6 - Columbia/UPenn/Chicago
9 - Caltech/Duke/Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Northwestern/Hopkins/Berkley
17 - Amherst/Williams/Swathmore
19 - Rice/UCLA/UVA/Georgetown/Michigan/Pomona

Should there be more or less?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:TRULY "elite" - let's be honest:

Princeton University (NJ)
Harvard University (MA)
Yale University (CT) (tie)
Columbia University (NY) (tie)
Stanford University (CA) (tie)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology

That's it folks - those are the ONLY schools that are so elite they NEVER require explanation.

Of course Penn's Wharton School and Cornell's Hotel school are elite - but that's the point you have to specify the particular program. The other Top 25 schools are terrific, but there are NOT in the same class.

The only thing more idiotic than this thread is the fact that this poster felt the need to list the states for each of these schools. That's my 2 cents.

Surprise pp! There will always be someone more idiotic. In this case, on page 4. “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.”

That was pretty obviously a typo from someone who may have started a different sentence and then meant to refer to Columbia. These posts aren't exactly peer-reviewed journal articles.

I actually feel sorry for the people who feel so insecure about how MIT or other schools may be perceived that they compose lengthy posts that will be forgotten in a week or less.

Stop trying to make Columbia 'happen'...lol

DP with no connection to Columbia but Columbia “happened” about 250 years ago. I really don’t understand people who are deluding themselves into thinking Columbia is not elite?

I just want to know which Ivy the "Princeton has the most coveted location of any of the Ivies ... in NYC" pp attended.

DP, but I think Princeton's idyllic but Amtrak-accessible location between Philadelphia and New York is the best of any Ivy, with the possible exception of Harvard.

It depends on what one is looking for. I find Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Penn’s campuses to be dreadful. I’d much rather spend four years in bucolic Hanover or Ithaca. To each their own I suppose.

Princeton has a pretty campus but in a sleepy location IMO. I would personally rather be closer to a vibrant urban core. Yale has stunning architecture with a vibrant scene in New Haven (despite its grittiness). UPenn's Locust Walk is idyllic in great foody Philly (despite its grittiness). Columbia's campus is the best city in the world. All 3 of these are dreadful? No way.

BTW, Princeton's Amtrak access is less than ideal with very few trains compared to UPenn, Columbia, Yale and Harvard.

There's really no shortage of trains one can catch to get to NYC or DC from Princeton. You can also catch a bus to NYC directly across from the university. IMO the total package (campus, architecture, and proximity to major cities) makes it the most attractive of the Ivies.

Yale has fantastic architecture, but New Haven isn't very nice. Harvard has a great location, in a city full of students, but the architecture is underwhelming. The urban schools have rather small campuses, but are nice if you want to attend school in a city (Columbia > Penn & Brown IMO), and Cornell and Dartmouth are isolated (good if you want to be in a remote locale, but not if you periodically want to make easy trips into the city).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mental list:

1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/Columbia
5 - MIT
6 - UPenn/Chicago
8 - Northwestern/Duke/Cornell

Not exactly informed by rankings, but by my 20+ years in MBB consulting and relatives in academia. Make of it what you will.

Princeton was omitted.

23 Elites:
1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/MIT
5 - Princeton
6 - Columbia/UPenn/Chicago
9 - Caltech/Duke/Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Northwestern/Hopkins/Berkley
17 - Amherst/Williams
19 - Rice/UCLA/UVA/Georgetown/Michigan

Should there be more?

I would put Swarthmore in with Williams and Amherst. There are probably some other top colleges that should be there, maybe Pomona? I would add Tufts and Emory to the 19 line.

25 Elites:
1 - Harvard
2 - Yale
3 - Stanford/MIT
5 - Princeton
6 - Columbia/UPenn/Chicago
9 - Caltech/Duke/Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Northwestern/Hopkins/Berkley
17 - Amherst/Williams/Swathmore
19 - Rice/UCLA/UVA/Georgetown/Michigan/Pomona

Should there be more or less?

Well, if you want 25, you can add one more, because UVA is not 'elite.' And Pomona and Tufts are not elite. Nor is Michigan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Harvard/MIT
Stanford
Princeton
Yale

gap...

Caltech
Columbia
That's all

+1