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Which school is more prestigious both domestically and internationally? Thank you.

By Reidmc (Reidmc) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 12:34 am: Edit

It would warm my heart to see no responses to this pointless question.

By Sarasote (Sarasote) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 01:01 am: Edit

ummm 1) why does it matter?

i would say yale just because it has ivy league status Stanford has more athletic recruitments so it lowers the "wow" value but its still very prestigious

By Bunmushroom (Bunmushroom) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 01:36 am: Edit

Id say they are equal or maybe a slight edge to yale in the northeast. Everywhere else they are equal or Stanford is a little bit more prestigious and well known because of its excellent athletics and top-notch graduate schools

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 01:56 am: Edit

HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD

By Tufts08 (Tufts08) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 02:11 am: Edit

I gotta agree with Annakat. No offense, but Stanford and Yale are second tier schools meant for students that just couldn't do better. Harvard and Oxford are schools you should look at for prestige. Yale is a school for Harvard rejects. And Stanford! OMG, do they even have good academics? I mean I know they have some good sports teams, but come on, that isn't everything.

Anyway, if you want to get decent job opportunities and you don't want to have to be embarrassed when you tell people where you're going to school, think Harvard or Oxford.

By Bellevueteen (Bellevueteen) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 02:22 am: Edit

hehehehhehehe

1st tier = one school.

That's one damn fine tier.

By Sarasote (Sarasote) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 02:33 am: Edit

ummmm....Tufts what are you smoking?

"Yale is a school for Harvard rejects."

That statement is definitely not true. First of all, a number of people every year choose Yale over Harvard. Harvard is not everyone's first choice. Yale is definitely NOT a school for Harvard rejects. More like Tufts. Tufts is a school for people who dont get into ivies. Yale has many statistics better than harvard. in US News, Yale was tied with Harvard at number 2 for a number of years. Stanford close by at 4.

"And Stanford! OMG, do they even have good academics? I mean I know they have some good sports teams, but come on, that isn't everything.

Are you kidding me? Stanford is one of the most prestigious schools in the country for academics. Stanford is well known both domestically and internationally. You have to be joking to think that Stanford doesnt have good academics.

only morons think that yale and stanford are second tier schools

**Personally, i think Yale is better than Oxford. Even Stanford could be better on some levels**

By 08pride (08pride) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 02:57 am: Edit

I vote to ban Tufts08 from this message board because of the utter stupidity of the following comment:

"And Stanford! OMG, do they even have good academics?"

By Bluestar86 (Bluestar86) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:07 am: Edit

you people have no sense of humor. do you know what s a r c a s m is?

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:34 am: Edit

yeah, i'm finding that a lot of people on here have no sense of humor. geezoweez, people. can't you hear the irony in his typing?!?! lighten up, folks, it's just college admissions! (insert irony here). and once again . . .

HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD . . . and YALE . . . and STANFORD . . . and DISNEY . . . and COKE . . . and PEPSI . . . and SONY . . . and HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD HARVARD

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:36 am: Edit

did i mention HARVARD?

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:36 am: Edit

what? did you say HARVARD?

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:38 am: Edit

HAR-

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:38 am: Edit

VARD

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:41 am: Edit

Are you a Swattie, Annakat?

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:49 am: Edit

technically, maybe, but in the windmills of my mind, i go to HARVARD. probably because for the last 15-45 years, it's been ranked number 1 by usnews and world report, tiger beat, us weekly, and car and driver. so it's gospel, really. i believe yale was ranked 56th last year, falling from number 43. stanford, well, i know i'm a west coaster, so i'm biased, but it was ranked 32nd in martha stewart living, was it not? harvard, of course, produces the best carrot cake and cabbage leaves painted with melted chocolate, which, while edible, double nicely as wall decorations. no wonder we'd all give up our first-born to attend. it's supercalifragilisticexpealidocious.

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:51 am: Edit

while YALE is, well . . . YALE. monosyllabic and all.

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:51 am: Edit

I posted the topic because I saw it on another board, and I considered Yale and Stanford to be a pretty even match and wanted to get CC's opinion. I agree that Harvard is #1, but Yale and Stanford are hard to distinguish between. I agree that Yale takes the cake in the Northeast, but it seems as though Stanford rules the South, West, and Midwest. Yale seems to be preferred in the UK, but I think Stanford is more recognized in Asia. Just curious what people on CC thought.

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:54 am: Edit

okay, now i'm being serious. they are all WONDERFUL schools. some of the BEST in the world. they're all prestigious and provide stellar educations.

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:55 am: Edit

Anna, what year are you at Swat? Do you like it? I turned them down, but I had a good time at Ride the Tide.

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:55 am: Edit

SWAR

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:56 am: Edit

TH

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:56 am: Edit

MORE

By Annakat (Annakat) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 03:57 am: Edit

i love most of it, howdy, but like any place, it has issues/problems. where are you going?

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 04:07 am: Edit

You've mentioned the name plenty of times in this thread. ;)

By Travisd (Travisd) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 12:04 pm: Edit

I've heard that Stanford accepts a lot of legacies/athletes, and the academics are less stressful/easier and not as strong as some of its rivals. **Shrug**

By Collegeparent (Collegeparent) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 12:26 pm: Edit

Actually, it's Yale and Harvard who accept lots of legacies. Given little if any difference in stats, recs, ECs, etc., the one getting in will be the legacy at most Ivies. BTW, know of a student who had the choice among HYand S and chose S because it wasn't pretentious. Again, college choice is personal choice, so it becomes an apples & oranges thing since HYPSM are each so different.

By Foreignboy (Foreignboy) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 01:05 pm: Edit

Harvard has something around 12% legacies. Yale has 17%. That's quite a lot. I'm not sure about Stanford though.

About prestige... honestly, it's Yale on the East Coast and in some preppy parts of the UK, Stanford anywhere else in the world. Btw, Stanford and Yale have endowments which are 3x as large as Oxford's.

By Masterchris (Masterchris) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 02:19 pm: Edit

I am living in Japan, but am quite familiar with the US schools and am hopeful I will attend one. My first choice is Stanford. Then mit and harvard. In Japan, Stanford is one of the most prestigious places. Not many people who are not familiar with the us know yale, but almost every educated person knows Stanford, mit, and harvard. So I conclude that in asia, Stanford is a lot more famous and prestigious than yale.

By Noodleman (Noodleman) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 04:23 pm: Edit

Bit late, but that is the funniest post I have ever read on these boards, Annakat.

L
M
A
O

By Chocoman (Chocoman) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 04:25 pm: Edit

I'm on the east coast and harvard is more prestigious than both here.

By Tufts08 (Tufts08) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 06:32 pm: Edit

OMG, some of you need to chill. The funny thing is, that as I was responding, I thought to myself: at least one person here is actually gonna take this seriously and argue about it. Unfortunatly, I was right.

By English_Girl (English_Girl) on Friday, June 04, 2004 - 06:37 pm: Edit

"if you want to get decent job opportunities and you don't want to have to be embarrassed when you tell people where you're going to school, think Harvard or Oxford"

God you talk rubbish. Firstly, Cambridge is better than Oxford anyway. Secondly, Yale and Stanford are both brilliant, internationally respected unis, and getting into either is an achievement to be proud of, not embarrassed!

By Kevin720 (Kevin720) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 12:42 am: Edit

lol Some of you guys are pretty ridiculous...You're comparing Harvard, Yale, Stanford, etc. like any of them are deficient in some way. It's like comparing Ferraris and Lamborghinis and Porsches and saying that Porsches are not truly fast compared to the other two and who in the world would want a Porsche?

Come on, guys, although the schools aren't exactly the same academically, we all know that they're all supreme schools.

By Sauronone (Sauronone) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 12:58 am: Edit

I don't understand how anyone can just leave it at "well, they're all good." Yes, most conversations and debates on this board are trite. But is is very, very appropriate to gauge each school's aptitutude in teaching and providing for students in specific fields (i.e. fields such as economics, philosophy, law; tracks such as pre-law, pre-med). Without a doubt, school is what you make it. But the facilities DO vary. The professors DO vary. And, regionally, reputation DOES vary.

So why not have an educated discussion as to the merits of each school in particular fields? They ARE different, and simply stating this fact is, yes, like stating that Lamborghini and Ferrari ARE different. But they're not the same car, and therefore the merits of both can be presented, discussed and even compared!

By Annakat (Annakat) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 01:48 am: Edit

okay, considering the OP's initial post, let me gather all that scientific prestige data and get back to all of you.

be right back.

By Chasgoose (Chasgoose) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 01:49 am: Edit

I mostly agree with Sauronone that even among prestige-equals there are differences. Academically, you are going to find that they are just about equal in any field. In an esoteric sense there are differences in percieved quality, but practically, if you were given successive classes in any subject by a run-of-the-mill professor from any elite school (my definition of elite goes beyond the USNEWS top 50) in some neutral room you wouldn't be able to tell which professor was from which college. The real differences are in how each college feels. The environment at Yale is a different environment from Harvard or Stanford. The environment at Amherst is different from Williams or Swarthmore. The environment at MIT is different from the environment at Caltech. And so on and so forth. Just like how the Lamborghini and the Ferrari, both have equal cachet and will both get you from Point A to Point B just as fast and leaving you just as exhilarated, and at the same time, they are different cars and they will have different appearances inside and out, not to mention one car dealer might give you a better deal than the other.

By Annakat (Annakat) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 04:16 am: Edit

fascinating.

of course there are differences.

but howdy asked about prestige . . . in which case HARVARD takes the cake, the cream pie, the apple pie, and all the donuts served at the prestige college picnic.

i heard VARUCA SALT went to HARVARD, several years after they fished her out of that "bad egg" chute at willy wonka's, now run by charlie bucket, who's never even heard of stanford.

I WANT THE WORLD . . . I WANT THE WHOLE WORLD . . . TAKE IT AND WRAP IT ALL UP IN MY POCKET IT'S MY BAR OF CHOCOLATE . . . GIVE IT TO ME . . . NOW! DON'T CARE HOW . . . I WANT IT NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWwwwwwwwwwwwww

By Annakat (Annakat) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 04:35 am: Edit

if you spell stanford backwards it's DROFNATS. yale becomes ELAY. clearly, HARVARD is more prestigious, despite differences in the type of gnats indigenous to each campus, according to us news and world report, THIS YEAR. that might change next year depending on the number of alignments of pluto and mercury in the next 7.5 months.

i just grilled a portobello mushroom. i'll probably have it apply to harvard, yale, princeton, and stanford next year. harvard (ea).

By Tlaktan (Tlaktan) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 10:09 am: Edit

Domestically, I would say Yale.

Internationally, I would say Stanford.

And in related news, everyone always wonders how G.W. Bush passed with National Guard credit. I'm surprised he passed with Yale credit and GRADUATED.

By Chasgoose (Chasgoose) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 11:06 am: Edit

That's because once you get to most of the good schools (with the exception of places like Swarthmore and the University of Chicago) there is a magical thing known as grade inflation that makes it remarkably hard to flunk out. I love grade inflation with all my <3!

By Foreignboy (Foreignboy) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 11:40 am: Edit

GW Bush probably isn't as retarded as people think he is. I don't think you can be a total dumbass and be elected President of the United States, no matter how many billionaires throw their money behind you.

Btw, here is a poem made entirely of GW Bush quotes:
(ask if you're interested in references)

========================================
I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the internet
become more few?

How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.

I know that the human being
and the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope,
where our wings take dream.
Put food on your family!

Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize Society!
Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!
==============================================

By Pdoran (Pdoran) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 11:51 am: Edit

I would say Yale, since it has been better for longer, Stanford has only really comes to its genesis in the second half of this century.

Also, its the best lasw scholl in the country

By Stanfordman99 (Stanfordman99) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 02:02 pm: Edit

Yale and Stanford are equally prestigious, and Harvard is only slightly more prestigious than both of them.

By Kevin720 (Kevin720) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 02:27 pm: Edit

Sauronone--Harvard, Yale, Stanford are all supreme schools. Obviously, they have their differences academically, as I said before that "they aren't exactly the same," and the differences in the respective programs can be effectively analyzed and compared.

But most of the dialogue on this post can hardly be qualified as "educated discussion." It sounds more an argument between NY Yankee and Boston Red Sox fans over which team is better.

In my earlier post I was commenting on the lack of merit behind the claims of a certain school's clear-cut superiority. I wasn't saying that all the schools are simply equal. Most of you have some legitimate backing to your claims, but others seems to speak blindly.

By Tropicanabanana (Tropicanabanana) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 02:57 pm: Edit

Yale is more prestigious in its area (Northeast), Stanford is more prestigious in its area (West, Midwest). I have no idea about the South and Stanford is more prestigious internationally.

By Sauronone (Sauronone) on Saturday, June 05, 2004 - 04:36 pm: Edit

"Most of you have some legitimate backing to your claims, but others seems to speak blindly. "

Kevin, you're giving the folks on this board too much credit.

By Yackityack (Yackityack) on Sunday, June 06, 2004 - 01:52 am: Edit

I don't think that we argue about prestige enough here. I mean we really could spend a lot more time on it and it would be very worthwhile.

I mean its just so exciting! arguing about prestige! over and over and over again!

I'm excited already thinking about all of the delightful debates we can all share in the future!

Who else is excited?!

By Admissionsrep (Admissionsrep) on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 12:38 am: Edit

I love this board, but my biggest problem with this board is all of the prestige hounds who show their fixation with prestige by their incessant posts about prestige.

I understand why some people are turned off the IVY league because it tends to attract people who are elitists.

The problem is that if you want to play the prestige game, you will get burned. At Penn you have to deal with people thinking you're at Penn St and having Princeton fans chant, "Safety school". At Cornell, you are considered to be at the basement of the IVY.

You play the prestige game, you get burned. I can see why students opt for schools like Swathmore, Pomona, Middlebury, Williams, Amherst, Carleton, Bowdoin, Haverford, Wesleyan and others; you get smaller classes, teaching professors, and you get to be surrounded by bright kids who rejected elitism for a quality education.

Anyway, to answer your question, I would say Yale over Stanford. It's like 99 to 98.5; it's that close, but look at how many Presidents have gone to Yale vs Stanford, but the point is it's irrelevant and we should use these boards to discuss more substantiave things.

By Tropicanabanana (Tropicanabanana) on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 01:05 am: Edit

I wouldn't say that people applying to Williams or Amherst necessarily rejected elitism. These schools are very prestigious and many people are also fixated on ranking LAC's and LAC prestige. Just from my own visits, the composition of Williams, Mid and Amherst's student body is very rich and preppy, and I doubt they didn't care about prestige.

By Kevin720 (Kevin720) on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 03:25 am: Edit

To me, there's an obvious inherent flaw with the theme of this subtopic (Stanford vs. Yale), but then again it's just my opinion.

Given that they're both such highly regarded institutions, how is anyone actually going to prove that one school is clearly more "prestigious" than the other? There's really no way anyone can really produce clear, conclusive results. Of course for each side there exists the certain positives (much of which is subjective) that can be presented as evidence for its case, but ultimately, how much of that evidence is truly conclusive? None.

So ultimately, you end up with an unruly exchange of quips resembling, like I said before, an argument between Yankee fans and Red Sox fans, that really get you no where as far as validated information. Sure, the dialogue can be interesting, and some of it even substantiated and interesting, but what does a seriously inquisitive mind get out if it? Not a lot.

By Noodleman (Noodleman) on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 09:49 am: Edit

Make it stop!!!!!

By Tropicanabanana (Tropicanabanana) on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 03:30 pm: Edit

God, people act like this is the only thread on this forum.

If you don't like it, don't you have the common sense to just skip over it?

Who spends so much time here that they have to read every single post?

By Kevin720 (Kevin720) on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 04:52 pm: Edit

Tropicanabanana--I didn't say that I don't like this debate-I merely characterized it as largely unsubstantiated, occasionally unruly and the topic inherently pointless.

But the fact is it is quite interesting, or even entertaining for me to see a bunch of individuals go at this discussion like there's ever going to be a victor at the end. The fact is I am genuinely excited about arguing over prestige and am interested in the various opinions voiced on this post. If not, I wouldn't have inscribed in collegeconfidential.com in the first place.

Those things aside, keep'em coming guys...I'm all ears. By the way, I can't say which is more "prestigious," but I'd pick Stanford over Yale any day.

By Tropicanabanana (Tropicanabanana) on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 04:58 pm: Edit

That wasn't addressed to you.

By Noodleman (Noodleman) on Monday, June 07, 2004 - 05:18 pm: Edit

idle curiosity. this post is ever so active, that i can't resist checking it. i'm sorry, angry bananaperson. i won't make fun anymore.

By Yackityack (Yackityack) on Tuesday, June 08, 2004 - 09:54 pm: Edit

Who wants to argue about the prestige of West Virginia Community Colleges?

By Viperlad (Viperlad) on Wednesday, June 09, 2004 - 11:59 pm: Edit

Wow, if you can't understand sarcasm, how can you expect to even get to Yale or Stanford?

By Televelis (Televelis) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 04:19 am: Edit

" Yale is more prestigious in its area (Northeast), Stanford is more prestigious in its area (West, Midwest). I have no idea about the South and Stanford is more prestigious internationally."

Not always. Most people here (Portland area of Oregon) dig Harvard.

By Howdydoody (Howdydoody) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 05:31 am: Edit

Televelis: Sure, Harvard is the country's #1, but wouldn't you say Stanford trumps Yale in rep in your area?

By Scubasteve (Scubasteve) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 08:41 am: Edit

If you want to associate prestige with how "well known" a school is, then Stanford wins hand down

Mainstream America does not care about academics, this board does, but it is a sore representation of the rest of the country and world for that matter.

Stanford is a dynamite sports program (something EVERYBODY cares about), and thus it is much more well known throughout

By Stanfordman99 (Stanfordman99) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 10:56 am: Edit

Stanford's sciences, engineering, and computer science programs are top of the line. Stanford has also produced some great writers (Steinbeck and Kesey to name a few). The academics are not below that of Yale's at all.

Also, Stanford has a good influence in politics as well, since so many Supreme Court Justices and high level officials are Stanford alums.

By Rtkysg (Rtkysg) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 12:08 pm: Edit

Yale has more prestige on liberal arts, but for science and engrg, Stanford beat Yale anytime !!
For tech people, Stanford is more prestigious

By Kevin720 (Kevin720) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 05:37 pm: Edit

viperlad: to whom are you directing your comment about not understanding sarcasm?

By Jcf007 (Jcf007) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 09:15 pm: Edit

Princeton's infinite superiority is proved in the fact that it hasn't been mentioned once in this thread. It's been number 1 in US News for the past five consecutive years, yet since it has no professional graduate schools you all seem content to argue the relative merits of some places called "harvard", "yale" or this "stanford" I've heard so much about. The fact that I am the only Princeton troll on this board, shows that most of us tigers ('08), know that rankings and numbers speak much louder than some poorly typed words on a web log. Just remember that prestige is all in the eye of the beholder, and when I am on campus next year no one will be able to convince me that the tigers will ever fail.

By Koopatroopa (Koopatroopa) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 09:27 pm: Edit

Angry Bananaperson...I like that.

By Tropicanabanana (Tropicanabanana) on Thursday, June 10, 2004 - 09:34 pm: Edit

>>Just remember that prestige is all in the eye of the beholder..

haha

By Kevin720 (Kevin720) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 06:19 am: Edit

lol jcf007: You're just looking for a fight, aren't you? Your arrogance is astounding, and your message is the textbook definition of arrogance. It sounds incredibly consistent to the gossip I've heard about the notorious pompuous disposition of Princeton. lol What a validation!

By Foreignboy (Foreignboy) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 11:15 am: Edit

Yup, violence is always the best answer.

By Jonw222 (Jonw222) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 11:59 am: Edit

The overriding question that doesn't seem to be answered is "prestigious to whom." If you want to impress your grandmother, or high school guidance counselor, either school would do that for you. Getting into a graduate school or getting a job is a different story.

From my personal experience in my musicology Ph.D. program (read no further if you don't want to) for every student who went to Harvard, Yale, and Standford, there are people who went to Houston Baptist University, Cal-State Northridge, and Hunter College, essentially meaning that they did well at their respective schools so it didn't matter much where they went to undergrad.

That being said, certain schools have certain departments that are better. A school can't be everything to everybody. For instance, Yale, and Princeton have more prestigious music departments (music is what I know forgive me) than Stanford. But Queens College in NYC and Brandeis also have very prestigious music departments as well. If I were interested in music, I would rule out prestigious schools like Dartmouth that while have other excellent departments, don't put the resources into maintaining a top notch music program in my opinion.

My opinion would be to look at the school that would give you personally the best opportunities to succeed in your chosen field.

By Nigist (Nigist) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 01:59 pm: Edit

Ok I don't know if you're still reading...got into Harvard and chose stanford. I'm a techie MIT was too un-well-rounded for me. I'm NOT NOT NOT NOT an athelete even though there are many of them and they're not like atheletes you think of. A lot of them are pretty damn good in academics and very very very very driven. Didn't apply to Yale cause I don't know an engineer who would want to go there.

Actually when I got into Stanford I didn't even know they were so well known in sprorts I didn't care about college sports that much. All I can say is most people here have gotten into Yale or Harvard or Princeton or somthing like that. I know many Harvard MIT Yale people who have gotten rejected from Stanford. This dude got into MIT and Harvard and got rejected from Stanford. You CANNOT base your decision on who other people think is more prestigous.

If you're a techie no question Stanford. Sillicon Valley is right here. If you're a fuzzy, you can't realy pick one over the other. It depends on your interests and what you want out of a college. I mean if you want to just look at rankings law and business Stanford usually better than Harvard..Law Yale usually better than Stanford. I don't know about other stuff.

But rankings, once you get to like the top 2 or 3 don't mean anything. You have to look into their programs to see which one you like. And you should always look at specialized rankings. Overall rankings are not very useful.

By Blueberrypie (Blueberrypie) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 03:08 pm: Edit

I'm an engineer who wanted to go to Yale over Princeton and MIT. I'm too lazy to join in a debate that's pointless anyway though.

By Yackityack (Yackityack) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 06:22 pm: Edit

I love prestige debates! They are sooo

By Viperlad (Viperlad) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 07:02 pm: Edit

Kevin, I was talking about the people responding to Tufts08 obvious joke about Stanford and Yale being second tier schools.

By Viperlad (Viperlad) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 07:03 pm: Edit

*cough cough*...English_Girl...*cough cough*

By Sbhopeful (Sbhopeful) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 07:37 pm: Edit

"I love this board, but my biggest problem with this board is all of the prestige hounds who show their fixation with prestige by their incessant posts about prestige.

I understand why some people are turned off the IVY league because it tends to attract people who are elitists.

The problem is that if you want to play the prestige game, you will get burned. At Penn you have to deal with people thinking you're at Penn St and having Princeton fans chant, "Safety school". At Cornell, you are considered to be at the basement of the IVY.

You play the prestige game, you get burned. I can see why students opt for schools like Swathmore, Pomona, Middlebury, Williams, Amherst, Carleton, Bowdoin, Haverford, Wesleyan and others; you get smaller classes, teaching professors, and you get to be surrounded by bright kids who rejected elitism for a quality education.

Anyway, to answer your question, I would say Yale over Stanford. It's like 99 to 98.5; it's that close, but look at how many Presidents have gone to Yale vs Stanford, but the point is it's irrelevant and we should use these boards to discuss more substantiave things."


LOL @ Admissionsrep....a VERY insightful post, marred by that last paragraph....you just COULDN'T resist could you!?

jk....seriously, I don't understand how this discussion continues to rage on...someone said it best: When you start getting into the top 5 schools in ANYTHING, it becomes pointless to start picking apart.

My 2 cents.

By Chasgoose (Chasgoose) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 08:52 pm: Edit

I wouldn't call applying to Swarthmore, Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Middlebury, etc. not playing the prestige game.

By Nigist (Nigist) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 09:32 pm: Edit

ummm its kind of not good to think about prestige before you specify what field you're talking about. If you're being interviewed for a job or something they're not going to count how many presidents went to your school. You'll get more credit for doing EE at MIT Stanford or CAL tech than Harvard or Yale and you'll get more credit for doing medicine at harvard than stanford and stuff like that.

Anyways, are you people applying to colleges or just talking about this for fun. Think you're thinking about college applications too much

By Jcf007 (Jcf007) on Friday, June 11, 2004 - 10:55 pm: Edit

Kevin + Tropicanabana,

Of course I played right into the haughty Princeton sterotype, (well I pretty much am the haughty Princeton sterotype), but my point was a simple one...We will all find ways to defend our future alma maters in irrelevant prestige debates like this one, prestige is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone will believe that their own ivy league or *gasp* non-ivy league institution is superior in some regard.

By Kevin720 (Kevin720) on Saturday, June 12, 2004 - 12:44 am: Edit

lol jcf007: speaking of irrelevancy, your point of "defending our future alma maters" is quite immaterial if you're directing it to me. I challenge you to find a single quote of mine on this post that suggests otherwise.

But you are right about one thing, though, the fact that this prestige debate is inherently pointless.

My advice to you Tiger is to relax and stop sounding so instigative.

By Chapter322 (Chapter322) on Monday, June 14, 2004 - 12:05 am: Edit

Prestige... the Etymology

From the French for "illusion."
From the Latin "praest*giae," which means "tricks." Probably an alteration of "praestr*giae," from "praestringere" or "blind."

Interesting...

By Nick1484 (Nick1484) on Tuesday, July 20, 2004 - 03:55 pm: Edit

http://ed.sjtu.edu.cn/rank/rank-2003.mht