School Tier Ranking based on Privilege

[Anonymous]

Agree but where is the Boston Brahmin crowd going?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What schools have that preppy, upper crust privileged feel. I know people say UVA, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Princeton. Elaborate on it a little more if you have experience at those schools.

You cannot rank universities on unearned white privilege in 2026 without expanding your definition to include unearned Asian and Indian privilege.

Reconsider, and re-rank starting from the beginning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:God Tier

Princeton University
Harvard University
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
Stanford University
Yale University

S Tier


University of Pennsylvania
Duke University
Dartmouth College
Columbia University
Brown University


A Tier

University of Chicago
Cornell University
Northwestern University
Georgetown University
Vanderbilt University
Washington University in St. Louis

MIT is a lot of things but it's not the school of privilege.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:USC, NYU, BU

Good catch with BU. NYU is actually a bit more socioeconomically diverse than BU.

But OP didn't ask what school just have rich kids, she asked what schools have "preppy, upper crust privileged" kids.

USC, NYU, BU, UMiami, and Tulane, while attracting rich kids, do not attract preppy, upper crust privileged kids.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That preppy & privileged feel is fading significantly at Princeton. My DS says that it only really exists with the athletes & legacies at the eating clubs. Otherwise, Princeton heavily favors and targets underprivileged kids for admission.

How do kids know who is legacy? Do they go around talking about it or asking about it? I mean, unless you are obviously legacy - like kid of a famous alum - how do kids know? Honest question bc my kid is legacy and I don't see him going around introducing himself as legacy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this group well. This is where their kids go:
W&L
Bucknell
Colorado College
Wake Forest
Trinity
Middlebury
Hamilton
Bowdoin
Duke and Dartmouth if legacies

This

[Anonymous]

Doesn’t Sewanee fit this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I know this group well. This is where their kids go:
W&L
Bucknell
Colorado College
Wake Forest
Trinity
Middlebury
Hamilton
Bowdoin
Duke and Dartmouth if legacies

You are missing a few schools but this is a pretty good list.

What people should be asking themselves it "what do the wealthy and connected in the Finance, PE, Big Law crowd know that we don't" given that they send their kids to SLACs? I know of a friend group at one of those schools where the families are Tech Exec, PE, PE, IB, Big Law, Big Law, CEO, CFO, CRO. No generational wealth but a lot of wealth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That preppy & privileged feel is fading significantly at Princeton. My DS says that it only really exists with the athletes & legacies at the eating clubs. Otherwise, Princeton heavily favors and targets underprivileged kids for admission.

Princeton has a lot of super rich and a lot on Pell Grants.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Agree but where is the Boston Brahmin crowd going?

Assuming this is serious I have a few friends who are in this group and they either go to Harvard or they go to Colby, Colorado College, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What schools have that preppy, upper crust privileged feel. I know people say UVA, Dartmouth, Vanderbilt, Princeton. Elaborate on it a little more if you have experience at those schools.

UVA 🤔

Because of its size, there is a mix. It is very desirable from the OOS elite private day and boarding school set. It also pulls some serious NOVA money. And of course, it serves all Virginians in a more broad sense.

My CA kid arrived privileged and found that crowd easily. Their interests led to mixed groups. By graduation, the friend groups (more than one) were mostly mixed SES, with one elite group that they still loved.

This is the beauty of a larger school. The close core of all groups have remained in touch 5 years out.

The difference in each student’s experience at any school may boil down to how open they are to seeking out people both similar and different to themself simply because they are drawn to mutual interests, charismatic conversations, and kindness.

Not sure if the OP is seeking the list of privileged student bodies because they are drawn to it or wish to avoid it. Either of those extremes is a misstep from my perspective.

I have one kid at an Ivy and one at UVA and the monied set is far more in-your-face at UVA. There are a LOT of really wealthy OOS kids--all from private schools but not the very top privates because those have a large percentage of kids on aid. The UVA kids come from more of the flashy, monied second tier of privates.

And how do you know this exactly? I, too, have a kid at UVA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That preppy & privileged feel is fading significantly at Princeton. My DS says that it only really exists with the athletes & legacies at the eating clubs. Otherwise, Princeton heavily favors and targets underprivileged kids for admission.

Does your DS think it’s good that it’s fading?

Curious to hear. I’m a Princeton alum, BIPOC, and I think the targeting underprivileged kids has gone a bit too far. Sadly, it’s resulted in professors diluting standards to get kids who are not well-prepared academically to graduation.

You need a good mix of kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds for a first class university.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SEC schools. The Grove at Ole Miss would make DCUM strivers blush.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That preppy & privileged feel is fading significantly at Princeton. My DS says that it only really exists with the athletes & legacies at the eating clubs. Otherwise, Princeton heavily favors and targets underprivileged kids for admission.

Does your DS think it’s good that it’s fading?

Curious to hear. I’m a Princeton alum, BIPOC, and I think the targeting underprivileged kids has gone a bit too far. Sadly, it’s resulted in professors diluting standards to get kids who are not well-prepared academically to graduation.

You need a good mix of kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds for a first class university.

+1

Stats from the class of 2029
16.7% of students in the class are the first in their families to go to college.
25% of students in the class are eligible for need-based Federal Pell Grants.

So it's hardly the majority, and it looks like a healthy mix. My privileged full pay kid was also accepted in December.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree but where is the Boston Brahmin crowd going?

Assuming this is serious I have a few friends who are in this group and they either go to Harvard or they go to Colby, Colorado College, etc.

To Harvard as legacy, of course