| Hotasice did go on a bit of a rant, but he/she is right. OP, the problem with your question is that it demonstrates a very superficial way of thinking, that the only thing that matters is what is going to look the best to others, which sticker on the back of the car window will be more impressive down at the club. Is this how you will make all the important decisions in your life? Then you will never be happy with anything because there will always be a newer, shinier, flashier, more prestigious model. Choose based on more tangible, personal factors, whether they are location, cost, campus environment, relative quality of programs, or just personal fit.
Even if you can't see or understand that, prestige isn't something that can be specifically measured. While you can generalize about prestige, above a certain level there is not a definitive discernible difference. All you will get are opinions that are biased by unknown factors. As Hotasice said, the guy from the West Coast will say Stanford and the guy from the East will say Columbia (and the guy from Boston will say Harvard and the graduate of Cornell or Brown or Emory or Duke will say . . . well, you can guess.)
Be a little more questioning and don't automatically accept the labels someone else puts on things. How would you rank a school if you didn't already know how someone else had ranked it? |