Which colleges were the "hot" colleges several decades ago?

[Anonymous]

The big difference several decades ago was the absence of the internet. Information was much more difficult to come by and perceptions were much more regional.

Very few schools had truly national reputations. The schools mentioned in this thread are largely schools popular on the East Coast, but mostly unknown elsewhere.

There is still a regional tilt to perceptions, but more balanced now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Columbia the C in HYPSC?

Probably Chicago but that's wishful thinking. MIT is usually the 5th.

Actually I'd say Columbia or MIT. Columbia's acceptance rates are now lower than P or Y, and until WWII Columbia was actually more highly regarded than either of those.

How are you defining that? Who, exactly, is regarding them?

I'd have thought Harvard and Yale were always the biggest name brands, so to speak. After all, J Press has stores in Cambridge and New Haven, I assume because that's where entrenched classes buy their staid clothes. (The NYC store is nowhere near Columbia)

It's true. Read "Oxford Days".

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Chicago was so not hot in the 80s, it was an easy admit. Brown was hot.

Brown was hot precisely because it was the easiest Ivy to get into as long you were full-pay. My college counselor (from a public high school in the NY suburbs) was quoted in the NYT as saying, "If you're daddy can pay and your grades are decent, you're in."

Amy Carter and some other celebrity kids went there in the 80s.....that's why it was hot.

Ah -- so it was hot for full-pay wannabees with decent grades. Got it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Columbia the C in HYPSC?

Probably Chicago but that's wishful thinking. MIT is usually the 5th.

Actually I'd say Columbia or MIT. Columbia's acceptance rates are now lower than P or Y, and until WWII Columbia was actually more highly regarded than either of those.

How are you defining that? Who, exactly, is regarding them?

I'd have thought Harvard and Yale were always the biggest name brands, so to speak. After all, J Press has stores in Cambridge and New Haven, I assume because that's where entrenched classes buy their staid clothes. (The NYC store is nowhere near Columbia)

It's true. Read "Oxford Days".

+1. I read it somewhere else, but yes. The location of J Press stores in the recent decade really means nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
It's true. Read "Oxford Days".

That's your source?

For anyone following, have fun cataloging the ways Paul West's memoir is problematic as evidence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_West_(writer)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For those who were around in the 1980s or before, what were the most desirable, selective, or reputable schools? How have things changed in recent years? Which colleges were unknown then which are extremely desirable now?

You're living in the past, man! ( Seinfeld reference) but seriously who cares what was popular years ago? Focus on the here and now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's true. Read "Oxford Days".

That's your source?

For anyone following, have fun cataloging the ways Paul West's memoir is problematic as evidence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_West_(writer)

Paul West studied under Gilbert Highet at Columbia, idiot.

[Anonymous]

The biggest difference between now and several decades ago is that big "flagship" state schools are more prestigious than they once were. I know most state flagships are not prestigious to DCUMers, but they hold substantial lay prestige.

[Anonymous]

The Claremont colleges person probably just exposed themselves to IRL people who have encountered her/him with this random insertion.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The biggest difference between now and several decades ago is that big "flagship" state schools are more prestigious than they once were. I know most state flagships are not prestigious to DCUMers, but they hold substantial lay prestige.

Flagships have always been prestigious in most of the country.

DCUM = DMV = "The Swamp"

If there is one thing we've learned recently is that those living here are really out of touch with the rest of the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The big difference several decades ago was the absence of the internet. Information was much more difficult to come by and perceptions were much more regional.

Very few schools had truly national reputations. The schools mentioned in this thread are largely schools popular on the East Coast, but mostly unknown elsewhere.

There is still a regional tilt to perceptions, but more balanced now.

Another big difference is that the cost of cross-country flights has come down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
It's true. Read "Oxford Days".

That's your source?

For anyone following, have fun cataloging the ways Paul West's memoir is problematic as evidence.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_West_(writer)

Paul West studied under Gilbert Highet at Columbia, idiot.

Bless your heart.

One Brit who attended college well after WWII and slavered over Oxbridge (to which he did not gain admission as an undergraduate) decides that the American institution where he got his master's is the most prestigious place in the US, much better than those other places everyone has heard of.

Okey-doke.

If you want to argue that Columbia was in some objective way (more-educated faculty, higher-achieving students) better than Harvard or Yale, I'm sure you can do it. But it's hard to quantify prestige to begin with, and one outsider's self-serving opinion isn't going to get you there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say the biggest movers from then vs now are Vanderbilt, Northeastern, Northwestern, Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Tufts, WashU, and USC. None of these schools were considered "elite"- heck, Mudd wasn't even founded until 1955.

The schools which have fallen in reputation are Oberlin, Kenyon, Reed, the Seven Sisters, Brandeis, Lawrence U, Knox, Beloit, and Occidental. Brandeis used to attract students comparably as strong as UChicago and Stanford. Reed's US News perception seriously affected it- it used to have the highest SATs of any college, period, but now it's ranked about 41 for SAT/ACT averages. The Seven Sisters all became considerably less selective after top universities and elite LACs went co-ed in the 1970s; some have fallen greatly in rankings like Bryn Mawr (top 10 LAC back then, currently ranked 31). Occidental used to be considered the best LAC on the West Coast- now all 5 Claremonts outrank it on the US News list. Note that all these schools are fantastic schools, but they just don't have the glamour they used to.

This is a great summary, but for Northeastermers I'd say Wellesley, Bryn Mawr, etc still held a lot of cachet. Tufts was very popular as was Boston College. Northwestern was big with journalism students. U Delaware was a popular choice for average students from out of state. Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell were all top choices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford was NOT hot a few decades ago. It was much easier to get in.

+1 -- for top students at CA high schools, the biggest draws were Berkeley and east coast schools

Stanford was less hot compared to HYP. But Stanford was still much more prestigious than Berkeley, which was considered a safety for high-achieving kids at top schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is Columbia the C in HYPSC?

Probably Chicago but that's wishful thinking. MIT is usually the 5th.

Actually HYPSMC refers to Caltech. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=HYPSMC