Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Its wannabe talk. No actual elite college alumni, faculty, or admin use the term HYPSM. The lingo originated from India, China and S. Korea, where books like Harvard Girl (how to raise a child to get in to Harvard) have sold tens of millions of copies. They have an abundance of really awful colleges and a few great ones that admit based solely on test scores, so they obsess over school "prestige" as if they were handbags.

HYPSM has been around since I applied to colleges in the 1990s and was used among my cohort of primarily affluent upper middle class white friends.

These are the colleges that do lead the pack. No matter what US News says, Penn or Chicago will never crack it. It’s the combination of resources, prestige, history and student body that gives them their particular distinction. That’s just the way it is.

You could go even further and say it’s H versus everyone else.

Now that the Harvard grads have weighed in, my opinion as a non-"HYPSM" peon is that MIT is the only one that gives you something you can't get anywhere else.

Anonymous wrote:Years ago a P grad worded it differently but it amounted to the idea that the practical advantage was that when you were at HYPSM, you don't have to wonder if someone at HYPSM was just totally outclassing you.

Looking at it from another perspective, I went to Stanford and one of the greatest benefits IME has been knowing there are plenty of folks who go to fancy-pants schools who aren't all that smart. But then, even if I hadn't gone to Stanford, as soon as I graduated and started working, I would have quickly learned this, as well as the converse: there are plenty of folks who go to non-fancy-pants schools who are really smart.

There is a practical advantage of being able to see what your biggest competition is doing.

Practical advantages? There aren't any.

What advantages are you searching for, OP? Are you a Republican?

Years ago a P grad worded it differently but it amounted to the idea that the practical advantage was that when you were at HYPSM, you don't have to wonder if someone at HYPSM was just totally outclassing you.

They are a bit more prestigious and well-known, but I don't know if that's a "practical" difference. I had amazing opportunities (research, extra curriculars, etc.) at a non-HYP Ivy, and I don't think my opportunities would have been better elsewhere. In fact, the school I attended was a very good fit for me, which I think is, by far, the most important factor if someone is lucky enough to get into any top school.

Anonymous wrote:Its wannabe talk. No actual elite college alumni, faculty, or admin use the term HYPSM. The lingo originated from India, China and S. Korea, where books like Harvard Girl (how to raise a child to get in to Harvard) have sold tens of millions of copies. They have an abundance of really awful colleges and a few great ones that admit based solely on test scores, so they obsess over school "prestige" as if they were handbags.

HYPSM has been around since I applied to colleges in the 1990s and was used among my cohort of primarily affluent upper middle class white friends.

These are the colleges that do lead the pack. No matter what US News says, Penn or Chicago will never crack it. It’s the combination of resources, prestige, history and student body that gives them their particular distinction. That’s just the way it is.

You could go even further and say it’s H versus everyone else.

Its wannabe talk. No actual elite college alumni, faculty, or admin use the term HYPSM. The lingo originated from India, China and S. Korea, where books like Harvard Girl (how to raise a child to get in to Harvard) have sold tens of millions of copies. They have an abundance of really awful colleges and a few great ones that admit based solely on test scores, so they obsess over school "prestige" as if they were handbags.

Anonymous wrote:What's the M? MIT?

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=HYPSM
https://www.quora.com/When-and-why-did-people-start-to-use-HYPSM-to-group-these-five-universities-Harvard-Yale-Princeton-Stanford-and-MIT

Name brand among the laymen and massive financial resources (all 5 are among the top 10 richest schools per capita). Also the greatest desirabilty as measured by yields. But they're not unequivocally better always. Top LACs can give a more personalized education, some departments may be better elsewhere (Yale not known for engineering or MIT for humanitirs), school spirit/social scene is more robust at larger sports dominated schools, etc. It's hard to claim HYPSM have a meaningfully smarter student body than other top Us- SAT averages and class ranks can be higher at other universities.

What's the M? MIT?

Anonymous wrote:Don’t be lazy. This question is asked endlessly. Do a google search.

I have searched online. Haven't found any decent answers on this. People just talk about the difference in prestige, not the actual practical advantages, if any.

Don’t be lazy. This question is asked endlessly. Do a google search.

What are the practical advantages of these schools over other ivies and top 10/15 schools? Sure they are more prestigious but does that translate into actual advantages over kids who enroll at other elites?