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<p>Sure, it’s an elitist comment. I don’t think anyone is going to argue against that. This is an elitist country that gives much more favor to Ivies and top 20 schools than those ranked #148. Favor, meaning promising employment opportunities, networking, connections, open doors, high graduate school acceptance rates, not to mention social status. Part of the reason is because of private vs. public universities and their endowments, but that’s another story.</p>
<p>No one says elitism is fair, but that’s just how the world runs. I would venture an argument that “those that know” Rice have favorable associations of top notch, rigorous academics rather than conjuring an image of a state school party image (I’ll go easy on the stereotypes, though).</p>
<p>Just by being on CC, one can feel the palpable atmosphere of anxious and insecure students yearning for prestige and social status granted by admission to a top school.</p>
<p>As for “who knows and matters” – it’s all relative. If you want to impress that girl on the street, being an all-star quarterback for the USC Trojans will make you look much more impressive than if you tell her that you just got your sociology research from Brown University published in a big-name journal. It all depends on your goals, and your audience. What do you want in life? Where do you want to go? </p>
<p>Being the smart guy that you are, you probably know what OldCard was referring to when he said those who “know” and “matter.” If not, let me clarify it for you: those “in the know” recognize universities for their superb academic quality and rigor, not because of their basketball team. Those “in the know” and who “matter” wield admission to Harvard Law, internship opportunities to Goldman Sachs, McKinsey, and so forth. Those “in the know” and “who matter” don’t give a damn about your school’s sports accomplishments (should I give you this job or be impressed by your 2.8 GPA just because your school won the Rose Bowl?), but rather come away impressed by the school’s ability to publish research and advance progress in science and engineering.</p>
<p>This is based on my presumption that OldCard meant graduate schools (including professional schools) and future employers–those that instantly recognize the Rice name and know its esteemed worth. </p>
<p>And Rice’s situation is not entirely unique–the same can be said for Brown University, Dartmouth College, and all LAC’s, for that matter.</p>
<p>The common layman doesn’t “know” Dartmouth or Brown, nor Williams and Amherst – but your statement of the justification being graduates of those schools, as well as Rice, Emory, and WashU (insert other “not well known” schools here) haven’t done anything “worthwhile” is simply ludicrous and absurd.</p>
<p>There is the common layman who cares more about OSU football than breakthrough research in nanotechnology or alternative and renewable energy (things that might actually affect them in their daily lives), and then there is the future employer and Harvard Business School who doesn’t give a damn about school sports, and actually pays attention to academics.</p>
<p>If you go to Podunk State College, in tier four or something, and nobody knows about it, then sure, there probably is a very legitimate reason for that.</p>
<p>But if you go to Rice, ranked #17 in a country with more than 3,000 colleges, thus making it in the top 1%, people “not knowing” Rice does not automatically undermine its standing as a top-notch university. </p>
<p>Rice rakes in millions of dollars in research grants, so I wouldn’t be so hasty to say that Rice and its graduates aren’t “accomplishing much worthwhile” things. Science and engineering, as well as research in those areas, are not as easy fodder for the press and public as winning basketball championships or making it to the Final Four in March Madness. </p>
<p>I would even venture to say that the public thinks science and engineering are pretty boring (read: difficult to understand) topics, and rah-rah sports are much more exciting and entertaining than quantum physics. </p>
<p>That is poor logic to say that because a school is more “well known” for its sport accomplishments is accomplishing much more “worthwhile” activities than another university with emphasis on science and research. This doesn’t just go for Duke, but also to OSU, USC, Penn State–which are great universities as well, but not top 20 school quality. Barring Harvard/Yale/Princeton, most schools are “well known” because of sports, and the only top schools that combine those very well that are in the top 20 are Duke and Stanford. What’s MIT? And Cal Tech - is that like ITT Tech for vocational students or something?</p>