<p>Dude, yes there IS a huge prestige gap between, say, Harvard and your basic state school or community college. Yes, Harvard may be the most famous university in the world, AMONG LAY-PERSONS. I never denied it. But when it comes to getting great jobs in the real world, the persons who do the hiring do not say “HYP are the best, we will not hire anyone from anywhere else because all other schools are lower.” That is ridiculous and shows how little you know about hiring and network-building in the upper echelons of educational and professional achievement. </p>
<p>Do you really want a mathematical parsing of the prestige gap – as it functions in the worlds where Ivy graduates actually live and work – between the number 2 USNWR school (Harvard) and the number 4 USNWR school (Columbia)? What is the point? Degrees from schools at this level get you to the same places, no matter what Joe Public thinks. Or what you think. It is simply a FACT! Are these schools different from each other? Yes. Do they have their own strengths and weaknesses? Yes. Is Harvard perhaps the world’s most famous school? Yes. But in the real world where Ivy grads live and work, the differences between Harvard and Columbia fade into irrelevance, as compared with differences in perception between Harvard and state U. Except among snobs and fools who have nothing going for them – neither achievement or excellence – beyond that initial college acceptance letter. When you have nothing else going for you, by all means coast on a high profile brand name. But within Ivy circles, as has been said by others, these distinctions are meaningless because the other Ivies are not failed Harvards or Harvard wannabes. They are unique schools with histories and traditions and reputations that make them all among the jewels in the crown of American higher education. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses and personalities. Not THE jewels, mind you. Among the jewels. If you are fortunate enough to be accepted by any of these schools, you will get over your silly, misconceived snobbery about a hierarchy that has no meaning in the REAL world of successful post-graduate experience. But first you must be accepted. Good luck.</p>