Most Underrated Schools in the Country

HeavenWood · 03-26-2006, 12:07 PM

As a counterpart to the most overrated schools in the country thread.

I'd say that Michigan Tech, Northeastern, and American don't get the credit they deserve.

slipper1234 · 03-26-2006, 01:05 PM

Brown. Sounds crazy but this USNEWS ridiculousness has made people think less of it. Its a top 8 school in my book.

Ivy_Grad · 03-26-2006, 01:13 PM

totally agree.

Brown gets completely shafted for no valid reason by USNWR.

Take a look at selectivity and Brown is always in the Top 10 - even by USNWR. Atlantic Monthly also puts Brown squarely in its Top 10 most selective colleges.

The sheer volume of highly qualified applicants (year in and year out) tells you that its strong appeal, popularity and desire to attend surely hasn't dropped, yet, USNWR consistently ranks it in the 12-15+ (or worse range).

slipper1234 · 03-26-2006, 01:19 PM

I totally agree. The "make penn look good" strategy comes at the expense of Brown, change the weights and Brown becomes a top 10.

RichardCory · 03-26-2006, 01:19 PM

Brown isn't serious. Come on, you can take every class pass/fail. A place like that doesn't produce top people. Brown is "hot" right now, but it's always been the least serious Ivy League for academics.

KSolow · 03-26-2006, 01:28 PM

Most of the LACs (Williams, Amherst, Swat, Bowdoin, ect.)

Academically, they are as rigourous as the Ivies.

warblersrule · 03-26-2006, 01:28 PM

Give me a break; any college in the Ivy League isn't underrated.

Underrated schools are LACs- dynamic little schools like Wesleyan, Davidson, Kalamazoo, Bowdoin, Grinnell, etc.

There are also many underrated universities; Indiana is a prime example.

Ivy_Grad · 03-26-2006, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Brown is "hot" right now

You're right. Brown has been "hot" for the last 250 years...

slipper1234 · 03-26-2006, 01:41 PM

Yeah seriously, I think being "hot" forever means you actually are hot. Just because you can take a class pass/ fail doesn't mean a school isn't serious.

RichardCory · 03-26-2006, 01:47 PM

Not true. Of course it's a famous school, but until the implementation of the New Curriculum, Brown was considered by many the backwater Ivy. Now that it has the New Curriculum, it's extremely popular, but hardly more respectable academically. Brown is the OC Ivy.

Now, that said, it's an awesome school, and maybe it should be a little higher in US News, but it is definitely not the most underrated school. It's harder to get into that Cornell, Dartmouth, Chicago, Northwestern, but doesn't compare academically. It just isn't hard enough.

slipper1234 · 03-26-2006, 01:59 PM

Actually Dartmouth is just as hard to get into as Brown, and both are much harder than Cornell, Chicago, and Northwestern.

As for Brown, its been considered a "top ten" for over 25 years, it became "hot" in the eighties and it still is. Its overall reputation among educated people is totally top notch, its alumni network is outstanding, and its grad placement is one of the best in the country. At the undergrad level these things matter the most to 95% of students.

calimatt · 03-26-2006, 02:06 PM

Ohio University?

I haven't really read anything negative about it at all, but I don't think most people think highly of it. Obviously it's not on the same level as schools like Northwestern or Brown that have been mentioned here, but that doesn't mean it's not underrated.

RichardCory · 03-26-2006, 02:17 PM

I wouldn't say Brown and Dartmouth are much harder to get into than Cornell, which had a 21% acceptance rate this year and probably 16-17% in CAS, which is really impressive considering it's size. They are harder than NU and Chicago.

I don't even know why I started this little argument. Brown is awesome, so are all these schools, and even though Brown is ranked a little low on US News, it isn't underrated in general.

Dima343 · 03-26-2006, 02:55 PM

Schools in the South, specifically LAC's in the south (Davidson, Wash & Lee, Sewanee, Centre)

collegehelp · 03-26-2006, 02:59 PM

Rice is highly respected by people who are knowledgeable about colleges but underrated by the general public and by people who have not studied the college. Emory, Carnegie Mellon, U Rochester, and Case Western probably fall in this category too. They don't have Div I sports teams to give them publicity but are great academically.