Elite universities, Ivy Plus/Equivalents...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

[Anonymous]

Let me try to summarize.

Is the Ivy League a sports league? Yes.
Does the Ivy League invoke a secondary meaning of academic accomplishment and prestige? Yes.
Is every school in the Ivy League prestigious academically? Yes.
Do most people think that going to any Ivy League school indicates some measure of academic success? Yes.
Is every school in the Ivy League equally prestigious? No.
Are there non-Ivy League schools that are just as prestigious as any Ivy league schools? Yes.
Are there non-Ivy League schools that are more prestigious than some Ivy league schools? Yes.
Are there some Ivy League League schools that wouldn’t be considered as academically prestigious if they weren’t in the Ivy League? Yes.
Does every student who could be admitted to an Ivy League school go to one? No.
Can you get an equivalent or better education at a non-Ivy League school? Yes.
Is academic prestige the same thing as quality of education? No.

[Anonymous]

^Yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

Yeah... let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Georgetown’s definitely not more prestigious than Cornell and Brown and isn’t at the same level of the schools we’re talking about.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

Yeah... let’s not get ahead of ourselves here. Georgetown’s definitely not more prestigious than Cornell and Brown and isn’t at the same level of the schools we’re talking about.

My point is that outside the top 5 or so the schools ranked 10ish to 25ish are seen as the same by lay people who did not go to these schools, and employers. Only people who went to one of these elite 25 schools try to differentiate between them. There are over 4000 schools in this country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can I be the person who asks how Duke made it onto OP’s list?

I’d leave Duke but I was side-eying Northwestern. Only to tiger moms who obsess over US news is Northwestern undergrad in any way that impressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can I be the person who asks how Duke made it onto OP’s list?

I’d leave Duke but I was side-eying Northwestern. Only to tiger moms who obsess over US news is Northwestern undergrad in any way that impressive.

I remember seeing this same exact comment verbatim on another thread a whole ago and it reeks of some bizarre combination of insecurity and elitism. Got no dog in this fight, but lemme guess, your DC didn’t get into Northwestern?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be the best choice for some kids.

I got into Georgetown SFS early and, even though I was competitive for Ivies, did not apply to any. Why? Because I wanted a career in the USG. No school is better for that than SFS. I went there, graduated in the top 9% of my class, and developed connections that got me my dream job, which I still have and love.

My point is that schools you might not consider prestigious can provide the perfect path for certain people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be the best choice for some kids.

I got into Georgetown SFS early and, even though I was competitive for Ivies, did not apply to any. Why? Because I wanted a career in the USG. No school is better for that than SFS. I went there, graduated in the top 9% of my class, and developed connections that got me my dream job, which I still have and love.

My point is that schools you might not consider prestigious can provide the perfect path for certain people.

Oh and I’ll add: at my fed agency—which is extremely competitive to get hired at—we have a ton of people from Georgetown, many from Michigan and Northwestern, and a handful from HYP. After that it’s universities you’d all look down your nose at. I don’t know a single person there who went to Cornell or Brown.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be the best choice for some kids.

I got into Georgetown SFS early and, even though I was competitive for Ivies, did not apply to any. Why? Because I wanted a career in the USG. No school is better for that than SFS. I went there, graduated in the top 9% of my class, and developed connections that got me my dream job, which I still have and love.

My point is that schools you might not consider prestigious can provide the perfect path for certain people.

Nothing says striver like top 9 percent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be the best choice for some kids.

I got into Georgetown SFS early and, even though I was competitive for Ivies, did not apply to any. Why? Because I wanted a career in the USG. No school is better for that than SFS. I went there, graduated in the top 9% of my class, and developed connections that got me my dream job, which I still have and love.

My point is that schools you might not consider prestigious can provide the perfect path for certain people.

Nothing says striver like top 9 percent.

And how did you do in college, big shot?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be the best choice for some kids.

I got into Georgetown SFS early and, even though I was competitive for Ivies, did not apply to any. Why? Because I wanted a career in the USG. No school is better for that than SFS. I went there, graduated in the top 9% of my class, and developed connections that got me my dream job, which I still have and love.

My point is that schools you might not consider prestigious can provide the perfect path for certain people.

And no one disputes that, but that's also really a separate question.

In terms of your motives, you probably were also somewhat hedging your bets. A ton of people are "competitive for Ivies," but it is very much a crapshoot. The odds may very well have been against you for the top-tier of the Ivies that are more clearly more prestigious than Georgetown.

So, under the circumstances, it would be completely rational for you (or anyone else) to choose a school like Georgetown early in an effort to increase your chance at admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:FWIW I chose to attend one of the schools on OP’s list (not MIT or Stanford) over two Ivies, Dartmouth and Penn, and knew more than just several at my alma mater who had chosen similarly.

The Ivies derive their prestige from their association with Harvard, Yale, and Princeton. All of the other top schools outside of HYP are peer institutions and generally equal in prestige. As others have noted, Stanford and MIT easily match HYP.

THANK YOU!! Cornell or Brown are not more prestigious than say Georgetown. It's HYPSM then the other top 25 schools. Then the rest.

Georgetown is a questionable choice to make your point. I don't view Georgetown as that prestigious and its prestige (even if not equal to Cornell or Brown) outstrips its current quality given tremendous budget issues and an endowment that is dwarfed by most schools it likes to consider as peers.

That doesn’t mean it can’t be the best choice for some kids.

I got into Georgetown SFS early and, even though I was competitive for Ivies, did not apply to any. Why? Because I wanted a career in the USG. No school is better for that than SFS. I went there, graduated in the top 9% of my class, and developed connections that got me my dream job, which I still have and love.

My point is that schools you might not consider prestigious can provide the perfect path for certain people.

And no one disputes that, but that's also really a separate question.

In terms of your motives, you probably were also somewhat hedging your bets. A ton of people are "competitive for Ivies," but it is very much a crapshoot. The odds may very well have been against you for the top-tier of the Ivies that are more clearly more prestigious than Georgetown.

So, under the circumstances, it would be completely rational for you (or anyone else) to choose a school like Georgetown early in an effort to increase your chance at admission.

Nah, I went to a top prep school and graduated with honors. I absolutely was competitive for Ivies. I knew what I wanted.

[Anonymous]

Is it really so inconceivable to people that someone might choose to not apply to any Ivy League schools?

I know kids who transferred from Harvard to other schools because they hated it.