<p>I am reposting this from the “Ranking the Ivies” thread where it is currently at the end of a long thread. It really is less about ranking, than it is about understanding the actual choices people make - so I thought it would be of more general interest. Thus, the repost.</p>
<p>In 2006, the NY Times published a survey-based analysis of choices made by students accepted to 2 or more of the Ivies (and some select others). The result was a grid that is very interesting. It doesn’t speak to the quality of the education, or to the prestige. It shows which schools people choose, given a choice. Many factors, including special programs, particular majors,cost, financial aid, etc. can play into this, and the data are getting a little old. However, it is really interesting information.</p>
<p>By studying the differences between the schools, it is possible to roughly “rank” the schools in terms of choice precedence. I am sure different people would have minor differences in interpretation, but this is the way I read the table. I have made some knife-edge cuts, and bracketed the groups of schools where the difference is very small. If you look at the actual data, Harvard really stands out at the top:</p>
<p>Harvard
Yale
[MIT
Stanford
Princeton]
Brown
Columbia
[Dartmouth
Penn]
Cornell
[Duke
Georgetown]
Virginia
Northwestern
Berkeley
[UCLA
Tufts]</p>
<p>Here is the grid: [The</a> New York Times > Week in Review > Image > Collegiate Matchups: Predicting Student Choices<a href=“may%20require%20free%20registration”>/url</a></p>
<p>and the article discussing the rankings: <a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/weekinreview/17leonhardt.htm[/url]”>http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/weekinreview/17leonhardt.htm](<a href=“http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2006/09/17/weekinreview/20060917_LEONHARDT_CHART.html]The”>The New York Times > Week in Review > Image > Collegiate Matchups: Predicting Student Choices)</a> (may require free registration)</p>