"NU is considered more prestigious by many adults (most of whom aren’t in academia). "
Sure PurpleTitan…and there are many adults who consider Michigan more prestigious than NU. By and large, the two are equally prestigious. But the opinion of those adults hardly matters. Most adults who are ignorant enough to differentiate between those two amazing universities are not really in a position to admit students into graduate programs or to hire candidates into major companies.
“Look, UMich offers terrific opportunities and the cream of the crop there are as good as anywhere, but its also a giant school with more variation in the student body than most elite privates. People understand that.”
I don’t. Perhaps you can explain how the “variations” in the student body at Michigan influences the prestige of the school. Most universities earn their reputation through the strength of their faculties, quality of their facilities, accomplishments of their alumni etc… In this regard, Michigan is clearly among the top universities in the nation. And how large a variation are we talking about? Last year’s Freshman class at Michigan had mid 50% ACT/SAT ranges not unlike those at Brown, Cornell, Northwestern and Penn.
Mid 50% ACT:
Brown 30-34
Cornell 29-33
Michigan 30-34
Northwestern 31-34
Penn 31-34
Mid 50% SAT:
Brown 1330-1550
Cornell 1330-1510
Michigan 1280-1480
Northwestern 1390-1560
Penn 1360-1550
So, is the variation significant enough to make Michigan’s student body inferior? And if so, does it impact prestige sufficiently to make Michigan significantly less prestigious?
http://dpb.cornell.edu/documents/1000563.pdf
http://obp.umich.edu/wp-content/uploads/pubdata/cds/cds_2014-2015_umaa.pdf
http://enrollment.northwestern.edu/pdf/common-data/2014-15.pdf
http://www.upenn.edu/ir/Common%20Data%20Set/UPenn%20Common%20Data%20Set%202014-15.pdf