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

[Anonymous]

The only people in here went to one of these types of schools or are sending or trying to send their children to one of these types of schools. Other than people competing with each other or through their children through college educations...who else would waste their time and energy on this utter nonsense

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard
Yale
Stanford
MIT
Princeton
Columbia
Chicago
Penn
Northwestern
Duke

But all are excellent schools.

+1

+2

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Harvard
Yale
Stanford
MIT
Princeton
Columbia
Chicago
Penn
Northwestern
Duke

But all are excellent schools.

+1

+2

It's a bizzare list on the way down, making it totally meaningless and useless.

Its like the UK elite list. Past Oxford and Cambridge, you’ve lost me when you try to include University of Whales or whatever to the club.

[Anonymous]

A lot of weird parochialism and claims of boosterism here from people who apparently have never left Virginia.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A lot of weird parochialism and claims of boosterism here from people who apparently have never left Virginia.

+1. I have no affiliation to NW or U Chicago and am certainly not a grad of either, and I’ve always known them to be excellent, some of the best schools in the country. Same goes with Duke, and I also have a lot of respect for liberal arts colleges like Williams and Swarthmore. I don’t understand all the nitpicking and insult-throwing and attempts to control what people are allowed to think.

[Anonymous]

I’d say the bottom of the elite colleges is probably Berkeley/UCLA/UVA.

[Anonymous]

Elite:

Harvard
Stanford
Yale
MIT
Princeton
Columbia
(Wharton)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This question is a lot like asking someone their definition of rich. It’s both a relative and absolute thing. For the average person, a NW of $1+ million may be rich, yet it is “only” the 90th percentile. The Top 1% in NW is around $10 million. Even still, it’s mostly the 600+ billionaires that grab the headlines. And, within the billionaires, there are differences. Before Musk hit it big, Bezos, Buffet, and Gates (BBG) were a separate club. In sum, perceptions of rich depend on one’s awareness and life opportunities, but there are also the cold facts that define exclusivity.

Now, apply that same logic to colleges. Each year, about 5 million kids start a four-year school. The top 1% or 99th percentile, includes 50k kids. If the average freshman class at an upper-tier school is 2000, that’s 25 schools or the Top 25. In the analogy to “what is rich,” these kids are very rich. However, the Top 0.1% of kids, or 5000, go to the Top 3 schools. Traditionally, the well-educated considered those to be HPY. But, like BBG, there’s been one extra-special club, which is Harvard. As in wealth, distinctions other than these are mostly noise.

Oh Harvard....you were doing so great with your analysis until you had to ruin it at the very end. Did they forget to teach you voting yourself "extra-special" is not " extra-special" behavior? As for the "extra-special" BBG club......none of them sent their kids to study at your " extra-special" club. Strange.

Thanks for the compliment on the analysis, but I didn’t go to Harvard. I was trying to explain the TRADITIONAL thinking about what qualifies as elite, and, for many, if they had to select ONE college that epitomizes excellence in academics across a broad range of subjects and is the beacon of American education on both the domestic AND international stage, more would choose Harvard than any other college.

[Anonymous]

Honestly just use US News or WSJ or whatever and be done with it. You all are pathetic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Elite:

Harvard
Stanford
Yale
MIT
Princeton
Columbia
(Wharton)

I’m ok with this, but take out Columbia

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Honestly just use US News or WSJ or whatever and be done with it. You all are pathetic.

Agreed. This whole thread is a validation of the USNWR rankings and the attention given to the Top 25 schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of weird parochialism and claims of boosterism here from people who apparently have never left Virginia.

+1. I have no affiliation to NW or U Chicago and am certainly not a grad of either, and I’ve always known them to be excellent, some of the best schools in the country. Same goes with Duke, and I also have a lot of respect for liberal arts colleges like Williams and Swarthmore. I don’t understand all the nitpicking and insult-throwing and attempts to control what people are allowed to think.

Attempt to control is the University of whales or the university of Buffalo insisting they belong with oxford and Cambridge. No dog in this fight. I have more respect for influential people whose children attended not so elite schools because they didn't involve themselves in shenanigans to get their kids to “elite” schools.

[Anonymous]

I’d argue for schools that made in top 10 list of all of the Forbes, US News and WSJ rankings: HYPSM, Northwestern, Duke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A lot of weird parochialism and claims of boosterism here from people who apparently have never left Virginia.

+1. I have no affiliation to NW or U Chicago and am certainly not a grad of either, and I’ve always known them to be excellent, some of the best schools in the country. Same goes with Duke, and I also have a lot of respect for liberal arts colleges like Williams and Swarthmore. I don’t understand all the nitpicking and insult-throwing and attempts to control what people are allowed to think.

Attempt to control is the University of whales or the university of Buffalo insisting they belong with oxford and Cambridge. No dog in this fight. I have more respect for influential people whose children attended not so elite schools because they didn't involve themselves in shenanigans to get their kids to “elite” schools.

God you seem pathetic. I almost feel bad for you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d argue for schools that made in top 10 list of all of the Forbes, US News and WSJ rankings: HYPSM, Northwestern, Duke

As others have noted, admissions shenanigans no longer justify this narrow focus. If one objectively compares the quality of students (average SAT, for example) attending the Top 25 schools, there isn’t much difference. Same with admission rates. And, the differences that do exist are not meaningful.