<p>"I think at this point, people are assuming they’re being attacked and taking some of these posts out of context.'</p>
<p>…you misunderstood my post.</p>
<p>I was speaking to DD, using mensa’s half-baked car anology, to show DD how anti-Ivy some fanatics can get! My point to DD was that, if mensa-type people frolic unchecked on any discussion forum, it would be nightmare of mis-information.</p>
<p>Time to put paid to this thread.</p>
<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>
<p>But to be fair, college rankings do not represent universal ideals. The number one school for a film major is not necessarily going to be the number one school for a dance major, or an engineering major. The number one school may not represent number one to someone who’s looking for a tiny LAC or for a massive commuter environment. I agree with you, collegeperson12, but only insofar as college rankings can be representative of all tastes, and I don’t know that they can be. I will concede that there is only so much room at the top within each area of preference, but the areas of preference must border on uncountable. Some schools may top the list in more areas than others, and some in fewer, but as of yet, it can’t fairly be said that any school has a total monopoly on the tastes of all students.</p>
<p>“This is beyond insufferable”</p>
<p>DudeDiligence,</p>
<p>Your post seems reasonable if ascerbic. Perhaps there are many people defending their choice of what happens to be an ivy-league school because they are irrational, maybe I am. But it would be hard to support this proposition looking through the posts if even only posts by people on this thread. To mention only two of them:</p>
<p>Breeze:
“People have heard of the “Ivy League”, but they haven’t heard of any of the schools except Harvard, Princeton, and Yale.”</p>
<p>"The general public is filled with ignorance about the best colleges. That’s the only reason that everyone loves the “Ivy League”</p>
<p>“Every school but Harvard and Cornell in the Ivy League does not even try to give the impression they conduct serious research in much of anything.”</p>
<p>“Yale, Princeton, and especially the “lesser five” conduct little significant research or development of much anything… fairly insignificant schools in the greater scheme of things.”</p>
<p>Gutrade:
“Soon the Lesser Five will have the same fate as Army and Navy.”</p>
<p>“Ivy-League status is nothing but a prestige crutch for the Lesser Five.”</p>
<p>This is just a couple of such posts, which would occupy page after page with any cursory look over cc.</p>
<p>I have two children in schools that are in the ivy league.
One in the good Ivy league (according to the posts on this thread) and the other in a “lesser” Ivy that she will apparently use as a “crutch” for the rest of her life. She was a valedictorian and was easily the more academic of my two children. But she loved her “lesser” ivy and never even conscidered any others. I’m her father and probably too defensive. I went to Umich. I love the school. I would put it below no other in my heart (M<em>GO</em>BLUE!).
But, I think it takes some naivete to not recognize that teenagers who worked to get into an Ivy league school have a target on their back in cc.
You will not go to an Ivy forum and hear them running down any non-ivey schools. Certainly not like others run down Brown, Dart, Penn, Col, Cor.
You will never find a post in which I have ever said any school is a “lesser” school when compared to any Ivy League school!
So I do not know what you are accusing me of.
Go ahead and look, it’s easy enough. I have not even said anything like:</p>
<p>“the students at Chicago were far more engaged, far more interested in academics and learning, far more studious than the students at the other three.” (Harvard, Columbia, Cornell).
I don’t say things like that.</p>
<p>I also apoligize for the length of the post.</p>
<p>By the way,</p>
<p>I have nothing against either Breeze or Gutrade.
I even admire Breeze’s defense of Rice. I relate.</p>
<p>
I totally agree, it’s not better than Rice, but I feel it is better than Duke, Berkely and UVa, which are great regional powerhouses, but not national class like Penn.</p>
<p>underrated: Allegheny, Rose-Hulman</p>
<p>oh, one other question, how do you guys feel about west-point graduates. As far as post military career, if they were to come and apply for a job vs. an ivy league applicant, would you feel that they would hold their own?</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>mensa160, since when Rice is considered “national” powerhouse while Berkeley is considered “regional” one? While there may be room for debate on the quality of Berkeley’s undergrad education, there’s no question that it’s prestige is worldwide while Rice’s reputation is pretty much confined in the South. Berkeley’s reputation is even greater than Penn.</p>
<p>Quote:</p>
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<br>
<p>Thought that title would get your attention. </p>
<p>Harvard is a TTT. Why? Because, quite frankly, I am an idiot and a moron, missed 80%-90% of my classes, did very little reading, and got all As/A-s. And no, these were not seminar joke classes, but rather the ole bread and butter of large lecture, exam-based classes. </p>
<p>I am genuinely shocked. By the way, Harvard’s curve for As/A-s is NOT generous.</p>
<p>benndamen33,</p>
<p>All other things being equal, I would think so. It may even be a great advantage under the right circumstances.</p>
<p>I’m Dartmouth 09, but I used to live near Annapolis and the Naval Academy. I’d be impressed having been in and around the Naval Academy for years.</p>
<p>can i get a prize for starting this amazingly long thread?</p>
<p>haha yeah you should, this thread needs to die right now. it is not making any progress.</p>
<p>A prize for showing how CCers are rankings obsessed prestige whores</p>
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<p>Ok dude, you need to stop dissing HYPS all the time. If you hate those schools so much, why make your name Stanfordalum?</p>
<p>underrated: U CHICAGO, U WISCONSIN, JOHNS HOPKINS</p>
<p>I agree with richie - uchicago and john hopkins are underrated, but dartmouth, IMHO, is the overrated ivy.</p>
<p>How is John Hopkins underrated??? Other than BME, what else is it known for at the undergrad level? Don’t tell me pre-med which is NOT a major and its med school doesn’t count.</p>
<p>Sometime I am just amazed how immature people here are. Who are you to say who is overrated/underrated anyway? It’s just laughable to see those who haven’t even gone to ANY college claim to be experts. I hate to see CC board becoming more like a ESPN board.</p>