Most Stuck-up schools

jkterrapin · 06-26-2008, 12:57 PM

Which schools are the most pretentious and have the most stuck-up students?

I've heard Harvard, Princeton, Penn, Williams, Duke, Dartmouth, but I don't really know.

What are your thoughts?

siglio21 · 06-26-2008, 01:13 PM

UCB (Cal)
UCLA
Harvard
U of C
Dartmouth
Caltech

we_tard_it · 06-26-2008, 01:16 PM

MIT has a lot of stuck-up students. All of the students are extremely intelligent and because of that, they all feel that they are superior to their classmates.

jessiehl · 06-26-2008, 01:34 PM

Quote:

MIT has a lot of stuck-up students. All of the students are extremely intelligent and because of that, they all feel that they are superior to their classmates.

Actually, as an alum, I found the opposite. Some of the students came in arrogant, but they were quickly humbled by the fact that their classmates were as smart as they were, and chilled out.

Beyond the intellectual arrogance aspect, most were very much not stuck up. There were a lot of kids who had been social pariahs all their lives, and those don't tend to be snotty to others. And it's a very middle-class school, not a lot of rich-snob types even among the people from wealthy backgrounds.

Phead128 · 06-26-2008, 01:55 PM

Actually, I have a billion MIT friends and they are not like that at all. Intellectual arrogance is one thing, I can imagining that existing at one point of their college careers but once your in, you realize how seriously dumb you are relative to the other peers, you shutup. Thats how it goes.

Boston College
DUKE
Harvard
UChicago

stevehwan · 06-26-2008, 02:34 PM

USC i heard although i dont know for sure

missypie · 06-26-2008, 02:37 PM

When JK Rowling recently spoke at the Harvard graduation, some of the students loved it and some thought she was way beneath them. They interviewed one grad who said something to the effect of, "We are the premier institution in the United States. We deserve the best speakers in the world and this year we got the B list." He sounded like an actor playing a stuck up Harvard student!

little_galaxie · 06-26-2008, 02:54 PM

I agree, MIT isn't stuck up at ALL. If I had any talent or interest in the math or sciences whatsoever, it would probably be my top choice.

Harvard. I live about ten minutes away from the campus. There are plenty of nice, normal students, of course, but the arrogant ones stick out like a sore thumb compared to other schools.

slipper1234 · 06-26-2008, 03:56 PM

Dartmouth kids are actually really laid-back and friendly, more so than almost every top ten school. Emory is stuck up.

Phead128 · 06-26-2008, 04:04 PM

Quote:

When JK Rowling recently spoke at the Harvard graduation, some of the students loved it and some thought she was way beneath them. They interviewed one grad who said something to the effect of, "We are the premier institution in the United States. We deserve the best speakers in the world and this year we got the B list." He sounded like an actor playing a stuck up Harvard student

I don't go to Harvard but I WAS THERE for the graduation speech by JK Rowling.

That Harvard student was one in a million. JK Rowling gave a terrific speech, she was a great speech deliverer. One person doesn't represent the entire school population.

She gave a great speech and everyone applauded and gave a standing ovation to her. Maybe because JK Rowling's topic was about being homeless and failing that it didn't appeal to some ppl's tastes. I can see that.

lfecollegeguy · 06-26-2008, 05:33 PM

I'm going to second USC. Someone did a thorough explanation of why that I'm too lazy to go dig up.

kwu · 06-26-2008, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Maybe because JK Rowling's topic was about being homeless and failing that it didn't appeal to some ppl's socioeconomic status.

Fixed for accuracy.

From what I've heard from critics on this board, BC. But, that's probably fueled by its super-competitive athletic culture. And, of course, Harvard. I can see why Harvard students are arrogant, though. They were offered admission to the most selective college in the United States.

Corbett · 06-26-2008, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Which schools are the most pretentious and have the most stuck-up students?

People who like to impress others by dropping the name of their school are naturally attracted to the schools with the biggest names. In general, this means the Ivies, other well-known private universities, and flagship state universities.

This is not to imply that everyone at such schools is stuck-up. They obviously aren't. However, those people who do happen to be stuck-up are attracted to big-name schools like moths to a flame.

Liberal arts colleges, even the top-rated ones, rank much lower in terms of general name recognition, and are less attractive to name-droppers for that reason.

In general, schools with well-developed Greek systems (or other selective student social clubs) attract the stuck-up, as they provide additional opportunities for social climbing and snobbery (again, this does not mean that all members of such organizations are stuck-up or snobs). Schools where selective clubs are banned or deemphasized, and where everyone has more or less the same social opportunities, have less appeal.

IBclass06 · 06-26-2008, 07:03 PM

Quote:

This is not to imply that everyone at such schools is stuck-up.

Exactly, which is why I find these threads puzzling (it's been much discussed). Good grief, Harvard and USC have 6700 and 16500 undergraduates, respectively. I highly doubt that stuck-up students are present in such vast quantities that grounded people are difficult to find.

sw_haldar01 · 06-26-2008, 08:14 PM

I think that most of the skills listed so far are way too large and diverse to be stereotyped so neatly.

Anyway, the first thing I thought of when I read this heading was this list at Gawker (the New York humor blog):

Rankings: Vote For America's Most Annoying Liberal Arts College

Don't read if you're easily offended and go to a prestigious LAC.

I should add that I applied to many of the schools on the list and love them.