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<p>Such an assumption. No, HYPS are not, by definition, amazing, in this case linguistics. Princeton does not even have a ling department. I would be hesitant to place Harvard in the top 15 or 20. Yale is okay, but not “amazing.”</p>
<p>The best privates, as judged by the NRC and Gourman, are MIT, Stanford, Chicago, Penn, and Cornell. My personal favorites are Penn and Stanford. MIT is mainly theoretical and has a weak applied program; Chicago’s course offerings are limited; Cornell is somewhat in between, as many of their courses may or may not be offered for a while. Stanford also seems to be better at the grad level, though exceptional undergrads can take grad courses.</p>
<p>The best publics are Berkeley, UCLA, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, Ohio State, and UMass-Amherst. I’d give the tip to Berkeley and UCLA.</p>
<p>Between publics and privates, I’d say Berkeley and UCLA are the most well-rounded.</p>