Anonymous wrote:Chicago and JHU have about 10% students from top 1% net worth families.

Ivies have ~20% students from top 1% NW families.

The quality of peers and the network you got from ivies far exceeds those from Chicago and JHU.

WashU has 22% of students from top 1% Net Worth families, highest among the T20 schools
Based on this (flawed?) criteria, WashU must have higher quality of peer and network, exceeding any other T20 schools, including all 8 Ivy League schools.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/college-mobility/washington-university-in-st-louis

Granted data from 2017 is old and there have been some changes that WashU admins are pushing (i.e. increase % Pell Grant recipients, for USNWR ranking purpose), but overall WashU is still considered to have the richest student body, although very few on campus flaunt it. Certainly there are no 'eating clubs' or 'final clubs' at WashU that separate along SES lines. Folks on campus are 'midwest' friendly, collaborative and inclusive in all aspects.

Further, look at the NYT list. There are at least a dozen of non Ivy League T65 schools which have at least 20% of students from top 1% Net Worth families, outranking all 8 Ivy League schools. I would seriously doubt that this parameter is a good metric in measuring brand quality of schools.

Unlike Apple, Ivy League schools are run as non-profit, so for those who can not afford it, there is a sliding scale of need aid. But Ivy League institutions made clear the differentiating line between merit aid and need aid.

Since OP asked for BRANDING quality difference, Apple's branding strategy as an analogy came to mind. Apple officially never put their merchandise on promotional sale. When newer models come out, they may lower the price or retire the older models. But current models are never on sale, not even on Black Friday. Like its competitors, Apple also play the price discount game, but keeps the sale promotions at an arm's length. Although the big box stores (which are authorized Apple sellers) periodically have promotional sales for current Apple models, Apple kept its store and online prices the same. This supports Apple's signaling strategy in branding its products as premium, properly priced, and providing full value commensurate with its high price to its customers. Ivy League adopts a similar branding strategy. There is no merit scholarship, no athletic scholarship, and for those who can afford it must pay the full sticker price. This is backed up by a long wait list, full with eager students willing to pay full price for an open spot. In both the Apple and Ivy League cases, the customers are 'trained' to believe that the products offered are of the highest premium quality and as such will never be discounted for those who can afford it.

Anonymous wrote:We know tons of kids who did ED and do not know any who regretted it. They were grateful to be done early.

Sorry, wrong thread!

We know tons of kids who did ED and do not know any who regretted it. They were grateful to be done early.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Should Columbia be considered a T10 school? Or not sure?

of course not. columbia was never T10 they were inflated from lies rigging the rankings

Although acceptance rate doesn’t lie….
And they don’t use ED0.