Can someone explain what makes Williams and Amherst more elite than Swarthmore and Pomona, to the point of being several tiers over? I am looking at several rankings (including national ones) and I see them all clustered in the same general area with no clear consensus on the best. Swarthmore and Pomona have the lowest acceptance rates, and are the most diverse LACs as well.

My DD and her 5 friends that she made this year in college are all National Merit scholars coming from different parts of the United States. Their group also includes three additional students from other countries. This isn’t a special “honors dorm.” It’s the students on her dorm floor. And it’s not Harvard. The school is University of Florida.

It’s recently moved up in the rankings to a Top 5 Public. These kids are smart, intelligent, well-rounded and they are loving their college experience.

Lots of these posters are basing their opinion on schools reputations from 30 years ago. It’s much more difficult for a school to move up in the ranks compared to a school that was ranked high 30 years ago and is living off of alumni children and prior rep.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Elites:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Yale
4. MIT
5. Princeton
6. Columbia
7. Caltech
8. UPenn
9. UChicago
10. Northwestern
11. Hopkins
12. Duke
13. Brown
14. Cornell
15. Dartmouth
16. Berkeley
17. Williams
18. Amherst

These are the only schools that have a credible claim for being elite. UCLA gets an honorary mention for its sheer mass appeal, and Georgetown and NYU get a footnote because they're popular brands internationally.

No. The Service Academies, Rice, Pomona, Strike Berkeley, etc. Many would differ in their assessment. Once you open this up to more than a few schools, that is inevitable because it is subjective.

Yes to Navy and West Point, no to Rice and Pomona. Yes to Berkeley.

The Elites:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Yale
4. MIT
5. Princeton
6. Columbia
7. Caltech
8. UPenn
9. UChicago
10. Northwestern
11. Duke
12. Hopkins
13. Dartmouth
14. Brown
15. Cornell
16. Berkeley
17. Williams
18. Amherst
19. Navy
20. West Point

All 20 are clearly Elite Institutions.

Can agree with this.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Elites:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Yale
4. MIT
5. Princeton
6. Columbia
7. Caltech
8. UPenn
9. UChicago
10. Northwestern
11. Hopkins
12. Duke
13. Brown
14. Cornell
15. Dartmouth
16. Berkeley
17. Williams
18. Amherst

These are the only schools that have a credible claim for being elite. UCLA gets an honorary mention for its sheer mass appeal, and Georgetown and NYU get a footnote because they're popular brands internationally.

No. The Service Academies, Rice, Pomona, Strike Berkeley, etc. Many would differ in their assessment. Once you open this up to more than a few schools, that is inevitable because it is subjective.

Yes to Navy and West Point, no to Rice and Pomona. Yes to Berkeley.

The Elites:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Yale
4. MIT
5. Princeton
6. Columbia
7. Caltech
8. UPenn
9. UChicago
10. Northwestern
11. Duke
12. Hopkins
13. Dartmouth
14. Brown
15. Cornell
16. Berkeley
17. Williams
18. Amherst
19. Navy
20. West Point

All 20 are clearly Elite Institutions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The Elites:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Yale
4. MIT
5. Princeton
6. Columbia
7. Caltech
8. UPenn
9. UChicago
10. Northwestern
11. Hopkins
12. Duke
13. Brown
14. Cornell
15. Dartmouth
16. Berkeley
17. Williams
18. Amherst

These are the only schools that have a credible claim for being elite. UCLA gets an honorary mention for its sheer mass appeal, and Georgetown and NYU get a footnote because they're popular brands internationally.

No. The Service Academies, Rice, Pomona, Strike Berkeley, etc. Many would differ in their assessment. Once you open this up to more than a few schools, that is inevitable because it is subjective.

Yes to Navy and West Point, no to Rice and Pomona. Yes to Berkeley.

Anonymous wrote:The Elites:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Yale
4. MIT
5. Princeton
6. Columbia
7. Caltech
8. UPenn
9. UChicago
10. Northwestern
11. Hopkins
12. Duke
13. Brown
14. Cornell
15. Dartmouth
16. Berkeley
17. Williams
18. Amherst

These are the only schools that have a credible claim for being elite. UCLA gets an honorary mention for its sheer mass appeal, and Georgetown and NYU get a footnote because they're popular brands internationally.

No. The Service Academies, Rice, Pomona, Strike Berkeley, etc. Many would differ in their assessment. Once you open this up to more than a few schools, that is inevitable because it is subjective.

The Elites:
1. Harvard
2. Stanford
3. Yale
4. MIT
5. Princeton
6. Columbia
7. Caltech
8. UPenn
9. UChicago
10. Northwestern
11. Hopkins
12. Duke
13. Brown
14. Cornell
15. Dartmouth
16. Berkeley
17. Williams
18. Amherst

These are the only schools that have a credible claim for being elite. UCLA gets an honorary mention for its sheer mass appeal, and Georgetown and NYU get a footnote because they're popular brands internationally.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where's USC?
also UVA McIntire is elite, but not other schools/colleges.

Neither are elite.

1.Harvard, Stanford
3.MIT, Princeton
5.Columbia, Yale
7. U Chicago, Caltech, Upenn
10. Duke, Northwestern, Brown, Dartmouth, John's Hopkins
15. Cornell, Vanderbilt, Williams, Amherst
19. Emory, WashU, Rice, Notre Dame, Georgetown, CMU
25. UCLA, UCB, Michigan, Pomona
28. Gatech, UVA, Tufts, Bowdoin, Wellesley

Forgot to quote this list someone came up.

USC belongs to the list of 25. CMU needs to step down to 25.

as well as Georgetown to 25

1.Harvard, Stanford, MIT
4.Princeton, Yale
7. Columbia, Caltech, Upenn
10. UChicago, Duke, Northwestern, Brown, Dartmouth, Hopkins
16. Cornell, Vanderbilt, Williams, Amherst
20. Emory, WashU, Rice, Notre Dame
24. UCLA, UCB, Michigan, Pomona, Swarthmore, Georgetown, CMU
31. Gatech, UVA, Tufts, USC