<p>@paul2752, NYU is a private university and has never been considered “elite” for its undergraduate programs either. A lot of folks–both here in the US and overseas—seem to conflate “New York” and “elite.” Columbia, yes; NYU, no. NYU is good school (with a handful of exceptional programs) in a great (and very expensive) location. </p>
<p>Stereotypes usually exist for a reason, but an educated person looks beyond stereotypes and makes an informed decision for himself. IMHO anyone who bases as an important a decision as where you’ll spend four years to get an undergraduate degree on nebulous things like “prestige” and “what the neighbors think” probably isn’t exceptional in any way either.</p>