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

[Anonymous]

Georgetown at 20? Low Ivies Brown and Cornell at 14 and 15?

National Universities
1. Princeton University (NJ)
2. Harvard University (MA)
3. University of Chicago (IL) (tie)
3. Yale University (CT) (tie)
5. Columbia University (NY) (tie)
5. Stanford University (CA) (tie)
7. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
8. Duke University (NC) (tie)
8. University of Pennsylvania (tie)
10. Johns Hopkins University (MD)
11. Dartmouth College (NH)
12. California Institute of Technology (CA)
12. Northwestern University (IL)
14. Brown University (RI)
15. Cornell University (NY)
15. Rice University (TX)
15. University of Notre Dame (IN)
15. Vanderbilt University (TN)
19. Washington University in St. Louis (MO)
20. Georgetown University (DC)
20. Emory University (GA)
20. University of California--Berkeley (CA)

National Liberal Arts Colleges
Williams College (MA)
Amherst College (MA)
Wellesley College (MA)
Middlebury College (VT) (tie)
Swarthmore College (PA) (tie)
Bowdoin College (ME)
Carleton College (MN) (tie)
Pomona College (CA) (tie)
Claremont McKenna College (CA) (tie)
Davidson College (NC) (tie)

[Anonymous]

I would definitely say Notre Dame. I would also question Duke being at #8, but have an admitted bias. I wouldn't consider any of the SLAC list, although very fine colleges which I'd be fine with my DC's attending, to be "elite".

[Anonymous]

Why do you care?

[Anonymous]

HYPSM, caltech, chicago, Columbia, Williams.

That's my list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would definitely say Notre Dame. I would also question Duke being at #8, but have an admitted bias. I wouldn't consider any of the SLAC list, although very fine colleges which I'd be fine with my DC's attending, to be "elite".

Nd is not elite - I've worked with way too many average nd grads.

Honestly I think UMD grads are smarter - I wouldn't be surprised if umd had a higher median sat

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would definitely say Notre Dame. I would also question Duke being at #8, but have an admitted bias. I wouldn't consider any of the SLAC list, although very fine colleges which I'd be fine with my DC's attending, to be "elite".

Nd is not elite - I've worked with way too many average nd grads.

Honestly I think UMD grads are smarter - I wouldn't be surprised if umd had a higher median sat

My post. Actually, we're in agreement as I meant to say that I consider ND in no way elite.

[Anonymous]

How do you define "elite"? Enough to impress other parents?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How do you define "elite"? Enough to impress other parents?

If that's the case, nobody around here is impressed with GU.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would definitely say Notre Dame. I would also question Duke being at #8, but have an admitted bias. I wouldn't consider any of the SLAC list, although very fine colleges which I'd be fine with my DC's attending, to be "elite".

Nd is not elite - I've worked with way too many average nd grads.

Honestly I think UMD grads are smarter - I wouldn't be surprised if umd had a higher median sat

That's such a dumb remark about UMD that I have to question your entire post.

Schools like ND reject many very high SAT scores - and probably 50% of all valedictorians that apply. If their sole goal was high SAT scores, they could blow out UMD.

Major state universities don't have those restrictions.

[Anonymous]

Can't say I've ever thought about it, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HYPSM, caltech, chicago, Columbia, Williams.

That's my list.

+1 as defined by the academic cohort at the top 10% (arbitrary) of their respective classes

[Anonymous]

Cornell makes the cut because it's an Ivy. Everything else below it (and those that tied with it) most definitely does not.

I also would not have put Northwestern that high, it's climbed the ranks only in recent years.

For liberal arts colleges, only Williams and Amherst are really considered elite, IMO. The others are still great schools for sure, but not really elite.

[Anonymous]

Ivy is a sports league. The lower Ivies certainly benefit domestically from the brand recognition of HYP but they don't play in the same academic circle with the exception of Columbia.
To be truly elite, a school should have the rep to pull in the crème of the international students.

[Anonymous]

I have a pretty loose definition of elite. If it accepts less than 30% of its applicants, it is elite to me. I'd even give schools with 35% acceptance rate elite status.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Cornell makes the cut because it's an Ivy. Everything else below it (and those that tied with it) most definitely does not.

I also would not have put Northwestern that high, it's climbed the ranks only in recent years.

For liberal arts colleges, only Williams and Amherst are really considered elite, IMO. The others are still great schools for sure, but not really elite.

Fake news, Northwestern '88-'98:

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