<p>Let me just say this. Prestige is a zero-sum game. In order for a school to be the “best” there has to be a school that is the “worst.” Even if all schools in the future continue to offer better and better educations, the only way any one of them can be considered the “best,” is if they drag down one of the HYPSM schools from their pedestal. Although the Lesser Five might provide excellent educations, the only way a UPenn or Columbia can ever improve is if it drags down an MIT, a Harvard, a Stanford, or a Yale and then take its place. You can’t have 1000 schools be ranked number 1 any more than you can have every person in the world be rich. It’s a zero-sum game, and there are limited spaces at the top. </p>
<p>For this reason, I can see why people affiliated with the Lesser 5 are so quick to try to label Stanford and MIT as near ivies. By attempting to drag down an HYPSMC school, they have a chance of improving their own prestige. </p>
<p>By the same token, I can see why schools like Berkeley, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, and Duke try to drag down the Lesser 5.</p>