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

[Anonymous]

If you're talking about socially elite, and you certainly should be, then the only schools that matter are.....

Princeton
Willians/Amherst
Harvard
Dartmouth
Bowdoin/Midd
Wellesley/Wesleyan

The rest are vulgar, jumped up, pre-professional diploma mills.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're talking about socially elite, and you certainly should be, then the only schools that matter are.....

Princeton
Willians/Amherst
Harvard
Dartmouth
Bowdoin/Midd
Wellesley/Wesleyan

The rest are vulgar, jumped up, pre-professional diploma mills.

LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're talking about socially elite, and you certainly should be, then the only schools that matter are.....

Princeton
Willians/Amherst
Harvard
Dartmouth
Bowdoin/Midd
Wellesley/Wesleyan

The rest are vulgar, jumped up, pre-professional diploma mills.

Take out Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin (?), Middlebury (?!), Wellesley, Wesleyan ( ) and add in Yale, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, Penn, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and then we're talking.

I'm sorry my poor child but absolutely no one is looking at a Bowdoin or a Middlebury degree and thinking, "Ah, yes, socially elite."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1 - Harvard/Stanford
3 - Yale/MIT/Columbia/Princeton
7 - Chicago/Penn
9 - Northwestern/Caltech/Duke
12 - Johns Hopkins/Cornell/Brown/Dartmouth

That's it. That's the top 15. The elite of the elite. We can call it now.

Columbia doesn't belong to T5.

Agreed.
1 - Harvard/Stanford
3 - Yale/MIT/Princeton
6 - Columbia/Penn
8 - Chicago/Caltech/Duke/Northwestern
12 - Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Hopkins

Acceptable?

Agreed.
1 - Harvard/Columbia
3 - Yale/MIT/Princeton
6 - Stanford/Penn
8 - Chicago/Caltech/Duke/Northwestern
12 - Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Hopkins

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:1 - Harvard/Stanford
3 - Yale/MIT/Columbia/Princeton
7 - Chicago/Penn
9 - Northwestern/Caltech/Duke
12 - Johns Hopkins/Cornell/Brown/Dartmouth

That's it. That's the top 15. The elite of the elite. We can call it now.

Columbia doesn't belong to T5.

Agreed.
1 - Harvard/Stanford
3 - Yale/MIT/Princeton
6 - Columbia/Penn
8 - Chicago/Caltech/Duke/Northwestern
12 - Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Hopkins

Acceptable?

Agreed.
1 - Harvard/Columbia
3 - Yale/MIT/Princeton
6 - Stanford/Penn
8 - Chicago/Caltech/Duke/Northwestern
12 - Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Hopkins

1 - Harvard/Stanford
3 - Yale/MIT/Princeton
6 - Columbia/Penn
8 - Chicago/Caltech/Duke/Northwestern
12 - Dartmouth/Brown/Cornell/Hopkins

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're talking about socially elite, and you certainly should be, then the only schools that matter are.....

Princeton
Willians/Amherst
Harvard
Dartmouth
Bowdoin/Midd
Wellesley/Wesleyan

The rest are vulgar, jumped up, pre-professional diploma mills.

Take out Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin (?), Middlebury (?!), Wellesley, Wesleyan ( ) and add in Yale, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, Penn, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and then we're talking.

I'm sorry my poor child but absolutely no one is looking at a Bowdoin or a Middlebury degree and thinking, "Ah, yes, socially elite."

Gross. You clearly didn’t attend a proper prep school.

-NP, but that guy was spot on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're talking about socially elite, and you certainly should be, then the only schools that matter are.....

Princeton
Willians/Amherst
Harvard
Dartmouth
Bowdoin/Midd
Wellesley/Wesleyan

The rest are vulgar, jumped up, pre-professional diploma mills.

Take out Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin (?), Middlebury (?!), Wellesley, Wesleyan ( ) and add in Yale, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, Penn, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and then we're talking.


I'm sorry my poor child but absolutely no one is looking at a Bowdoin or a Middlebury degree and thinking, "Ah, yes, socially elite."

Gross. You clearly didn’t attend a proper prep school.

-NP, but that guy was spot on.

+1 Lol, seriously.

Also, anyone who’s anyone knows that “elite-ness” matters far more for your graduate degree - where you rub shoulders with the best of the best from around the world, professionally speaking…

Everyone I know who went to a super selective liberal arts school (15 or so people?) made sure to attend a top program and/or Ivy for their JD/MBA/PhD. Pretty sure actual stats back this up- that SLACs send proportionately more kids to top grad programs- but can’t be bothered to check at the moment

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Elite stops with row 9. The rest are not relevant to the general population or globally.

Elite is relative so it is pretty meaningless and there are multiple areas in which a school may be considered elite (undergraduate, graduate professional, other graduate, research and publications, athletics, etc.). There are really only a few schools where there is a reasonable likelihood that most enrolled students are really attending their absolute top choice if all options are open to them, and those are Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. The other possible ones there, but less likely are Yale, Princeton, and Caltech. (Caltech is still pretty attractive to a small set of students that want a more theory-driven and pre-academic option compared to MIT.) If a student is interested in military service, then West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy would join the list. Beyond that, all the schools listed above are second choice and down. At the graduate level, there is too much variation to contemplate, as PhD students often pick on who they may be studying with in their field of interest.

In my view if you are extending to LACs as the above shows with Amherst and Williams there are a number of others that should be included like Pomona and Swarthmore, but they are obviously only potentially elite in the undergraduate education context. Likewise, if you look at some of the schools above like Dartmouth, Brown, Rice, UVA, Georgetown, they are far from elite across the board in research, influential papers, graduate and undergraduate STEM, etc. Schools like Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, UCSD, and North Carolina are generally stronger than they are in a number of these areas.

I would also say there are quite a few schools that have similar or better stats than say UVA. Emory and Notre Dame are examples. I am not sure what the basis is for excluding them.

There are a lot of students who would be competitive (or as competitive as those who apply) at Harvard, Stanford, and MIT who set their sights on other elite schools, at least at the undergraduate level. Harvard has a reputation for arrogance and ignoring undergraduates, Stanford is on the West Coast, and MIT is a niche school with a STEM focus.

Harvard and Stanford have over 80% yield rates and MIT is at 77% and they aren't doing it by locking in based on EA. What other schools can do that?

Stamford offers full scholarship to athletes to lock them in. What elite school does that?

If you want elite athletes, you need to offer elite scholarships. Stanford is competing against schools that are true. D1 powerhouses.

We are talking about elite educational institutions, not about an elite athletic department. Imagine the $$$$ cost of supporting Stanford athletes. That’s the amount elite educational institutions such as Harvard, Columbia, Yale, MIT, Princeton don’t have to spend. That’s the extra amount elite educational institutions have for scholarly endeavors. If academics were Olympics sports, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, MIT, and Princeton win gold, silver, and bronze medals. Stanford comes in at distant 6th place, at the bottom of the elite group.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“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?


Elite stops with row 9. The rest are not relevant to the general population or globally.”

Berkeley not elite globally? You’re seriously that uninformed?

Berkeley is on row 9...

Sorry. The spelling (Berkley) threw me off

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Elite stops with row 9. The rest are not relevant to the general population or globally.

Elite is relative so it is pretty meaningless and there are multiple areas in which a school may be considered elite (undergraduate, graduate professional, other graduate, research and publications, athletics, etc.). There are really only a few schools where there is a reasonable likelihood that most enrolled students are really attending their absolute top choice if all options are open to them, and those are Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. The other possible ones there, but less likely are Yale, Princeton, and Caltech. (Caltech is still pretty attractive to a small set of students that want a more theory-driven and pre-academic option compared to MIT.) If a student is interested in military service, then West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy would join the list. Beyond that, all the schools listed above are second choice and down. At the graduate level, there is too much variation to contemplate, as PhD students often pick on who they may be studying with in their field of interest.

In my view if you are extending to LACs as the above shows with Amherst and Williams there are a number of others that should be included like Pomona and Swarthmore, but they are obviously only potentially elite in the undergraduate education context. Likewise, if you look at some of the schools above like Dartmouth, Brown, Rice, UVA, Georgetown, they are far from elite across the board in research, influential papers, graduate and undergraduate STEM, etc. Schools like Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, UCSD, and North Carolina are generally stronger than they are in a number of these areas.

I would also say there are quite a few schools that have similar or better stats than say UVA. Emory and Notre Dame are examples. I am not sure what the basis is for excluding them.

There are a lot of students who would be competitive (or as competitive as those who apply) at Harvard, Stanford, and MIT who set their sights on other elite schools, at least at the undergraduate level. Harvard has a reputation for arrogance and ignoring undergraduates, Stanford is on the West Coast, and MIT is a niche school with a STEM focus.

Harvard and Stanford have over 80% yield rates and MIT is at 77% and they aren't doing it by locking in based on EA. What other schools can do that?

Stamford offers full scholarship to athletes to lock them in. What elite school does that?

If you want elite athletes, you need to offer elite scholarships. Stanford is competing against schools that are true. D1 powerhouses.

We are talking about elite educational institutions, not about an elite athletic department. Imagine the $$$$ cost of supporting Stanford athletes. That’s the amount elite educational institutions such as Harvard, Columbia, Yale, MIT, Princeton don’t have to spend. That’s the extra amount elite educational institutions have for scholarly endeavors. If academics were Olympics sports, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, MIT, and Princeton win gold, silver, and bronze medals. Stanford comes in at distant 6th place, at the bottom of the elite group.

Funny you should mention academics. Stanford beats them all. It has no weakness in its offerings.

[Anonymous]

Socially elite? What, are you checking resumes? If you want to go to Harvard for "socially elite" proposes than "go to Harvard". No one is going to bother to check up on this or know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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?

Elite stops with row 9. The rest are not relevant to the general population or globally.

Elite is relative so it is pretty meaningless and there are multiple areas in which a school may be considered elite (undergraduate, graduate professional, other graduate, research and publications, athletics, etc.). There are really only a few schools where there is a reasonable likelihood that most enrolled students are really attending their absolute top choice if all options are open to them, and those are Harvard, Stanford, and MIT. The other possible ones there, but less likely are Yale, Princeton, and Caltech. (Caltech is still pretty attractive to a small set of students that want a more theory-driven and pre-academic option compared to MIT.) If a student is interested in military service, then West Point, Annapolis, and the Air Force Academy would join the list. Beyond that, all the schools listed above are second choice and down. At the graduate level, there is too much variation to contemplate, as PhD students often pick on who they may be studying with in their field of interest.

In my view if you are extending to LACs as the above shows with Amherst and Williams there are a number of others that should be included like Pomona and Swarthmore, but they are obviously only potentially elite in the undergraduate education context. Likewise, if you look at some of the schools above like Dartmouth, Brown, Rice, UVA, Georgetown, they are far from elite across the board in research, influential papers, graduate and undergraduate STEM, etc. Schools like Washington, Texas, Wisconsin, UCSD, and North Carolina are generally stronger than they are in a number of these areas.

I would also say there are quite a few schools that have similar or better stats than say UVA. Emory and Notre Dame are examples. I am not sure what the basis is for excluding them.

There are a lot of students who would be competitive (or as competitive as those who apply) at Harvard, Stanford, and MIT who set their sights on other elite schools, at least at the undergraduate level. Harvard has a reputation for arrogance and ignoring undergraduates, Stanford is on the West Coast, and MIT is a niche school with a STEM focus.

Harvard and Stanford have over 80% yield rates and MIT is at 77% and they aren't doing it by locking in based on EA. What other schools can do that?

Stamford offers full scholarship to athletes to lock them in. What elite school does that?

If you want elite athletes, you need to offer elite scholarships. Stanford is competing against schools that are true. D1 powerhouses.

We are talking about elite educational institutions, not about an elite athletic department. Imagine the $$$$ cost of supporting Stanford athletes. That’s the amount elite educational institutions such as Harvard, Columbia, Yale, MIT, Princeton don’t have to spend. That’s the extra amount elite educational institutions have for scholarly endeavors. If academics were Olympics sports, Harvard, Columbia, Yale, MIT, and Princeton win gold, silver, and bronze medals. Stanford comes in at distant 6th place, at the bottom of the elite group.

Funny you should mention academics. Stanford beats them all. It has no weakness in its offerings.

Funny, many Stanford students who feel as if they are second class agree with US News, #6. They should to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're talking about socially elite, and you certainly should be, then the only schools that matter are.....

Princeton
Willians/Amherst
Harvard
Dartmouth
Bowdoin/Midd
Wellesley/Wesleyan

The rest are vulgar, jumped up, pre-professional diploma mills.

Take out Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin (?), Middlebury (?!), Wellesley, Wesleyan ( ) and add in Yale, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, Penn, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and then we're talking.

I'm sorry my poor child but absolutely no one is looking at a Bowdoin or a Middlebury degree and thinking, "Ah, yes, socially elite."

Dear, you either know or you don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're talking about socially elite, and you certainly should be, then the only schools that matter are.....

Princeton
Willians/Amherst
Harvard
Dartmouth
Bowdoin/Midd
Wellesley/Wesleyan

The rest are vulgar, jumped up, pre-professional diploma mills.

Take out Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin (?), Middlebury (?!), Wellesley, Wesleyan ( ) and add in Yale, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, Penn, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and then we're talking.

I'm sorry my poor child but absolutely no one is looking at a Bowdoin or a Middlebury degree and thinking, "Ah, yes, socially elite."

Dear, you either know or you don't.

DP - if you really think you're going to convince people on an anonymous internet board that schools like Bowdoin or Middlebury are elite, you've got a long, uphill battle ahead of you. The kids that attend those schools might be bright, but they're not elite. Trust me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're talking about socially elite, and you certainly should be, then the only schools that matter are.....

Princeton
Willians/Amherst
Harvard
Dartmouth
Bowdoin/Midd
Wellesley/Wesleyan

The rest are vulgar, jumped up, pre-professional diploma mills.

Take out Williams, Amherst, Bowdoin (?), Middlebury (?!), Wellesley, Wesleyan ( ) and add in Yale, Columbia, Stanford, MIT, Penn, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke, Cornell, Brown, Dartmouth and then we're talking.

I'm sorry my poor child but absolutely no one is looking at a Bowdoin or a Middlebury degree and thinking, "Ah, yes, socially elite."

Dear, you either know or you don't.

DP - if you really think you're going to convince people on an anonymous internet board that schools like Bowdoin or Middlebury are elite, you've got a long, uphill battle ahead of you. The kids that attend those schools might be bright, but they're not elite. Trust me.

They are "socially elite" apparently.