<p>Ivy_grad, I disagree with your statement. </p>
<p>Ivies = prestige.
State U = does not.</p>
<p>Cal, Michigan and possibly UVA are as prestigious as most Ivies and those three fine institutions are state universities. As a person who comes from a family filled with Ivy alums and as an Ivy alum myself, I can say, without a shadow of a doubt, that some state schools are as prestigious as Ivies…and several other state schools, Wisconsin included, aren’t far behind.</p>
<p><em>takes aspirin for thread-induced headache</em></p>
<p>I think prestige is such an intangible factor that it’s somewhat useless as a measure of quality. Sure, Harvard gets a WOW! So do Yale and Princeton. Michigan and Berkeley do not, or at least not one as big. Don’t argue with me. However, move overseas and WOW! becomes EH? People overseas know Berkeley. They don’t know Brown, Dartmouth, and Penn (and possibly some of the others). So who really cares? Selectivity isn’t the same thing as prestige. Prestige isn’t the same thing as quality. US News isn’t the same thing as religion. I see a pattern. :D</p>
<p>Alexandre,</p>
<p>C’mon now let’s be real.</p>
<p>Wisconsin? It’s just no where near Ivy material. In any way shape or form.</p>
<p>Ivy_Grad, I did not say Wisconsin is as prestigious as the Ivies, but it is not far behind. It’s not like Wisconsin is not even one of the top 50 universities in the nation. Wisconsin is a legitimate top 30 university. And even the Ivies themselves have different levels of prestige. Harvard is more prestigious than Brown and Yale is more prestigious than Penn. But I have two main objections:</p>
<p>1) The concept that state universities cannot be as prestigious as the Ivies. Cal, Michigan and UVA have proven without a doubt that state schools can be as prestigious.</p>
<p>2) The notion that the Ivies are so prestigious. Sure they are prestigious, but to anybody who is truly educated or accomplished, they are merely “good universities”. Sure it intimidates the uneducated or poorly educated, but in my circle, the Ivies are no more prestigious than other good private schools (like Caltech, Chicago, Duke, Johns Hopkins, MIT, Northwestern and Stanford) and top state schools (like Cal, Michigan and UVA).</p>
<p>warblesrule,</p>
<p>Sure people overseas (i.e. non-US) will universally acknowledge Harvard and Yale. But then in certain regions (e.g. Asia) big “city” school will also get attention such as Boston University, NYU or UCLA merely because people “know” Boston, New York and LA.</p>
<p>I worked abroad and was surprised by how many people didn’t know Princeton but had heard of, say, UCLA.</p>
<p>Similarly, people in the US automatically believe that Oxford is most prestigious university in England, when most educated Brits believe that Cambridge is.</p>
<p>no way, that Wisconsin is as prestigious as CMU, is that an utter joke</p>
<p>lets compare entry stats</p>
<p>wisconsin average sat is like a 1200-1250, and CMU is like a 1390-1400</p>
<p>
That’s interesting to know. I was mostly basing my statement on England and Germany, which are really about the only other countries I’m familiar with.</p>
<p>So BBall, I guess Caltech is more prestigious than Stanford or Princeton because Caltech’s mean SAT score is 1530 while Princeton and Stanford have mean SAT scores of 1460. I also guess that Harvey Mudd and Pomona are more prestigious that Cornell or Chicago because Harvey Mudd and Pomona have mean SAT of scores are 1460 and Chicago and Cornell have mean SAT scores of 1400. And by that logic, Harvey Mudd is every bit as prestigious as Stanford.</p>
<p>Guys, my stats are 3.9 UW and 1520 SAT. Can I get into the Hospital of Pittsburgh?</p>
<p>I broke my arm and I really want to attend the best hospital I can. Can I get into the Boston Hospital or maybe my saferty can be Virginian hospital?</p>
<p>Did you get a likely letter? Your chances would improve if you’re a legacy- did either of your parents get treated at one of those hospitals? I suppose they’ll let you off on the essay requirement because of your broken arm, but they might require an interview.</p>
<p>OMG dang it I totally didn’t!!! </p>
<p>But I have really good E.C.'s. </p>
<p>I broke my arm like ten times before and I even broke my leg twice!!!</p>
<p>Do they care about this at all 'cause this happened sophmore year and I might have to retake it and aim for breaking my neck?</p>
<p>No, I wouldn’t redo it. Your many broken arms and legs show a genuine passion, which is what adcoms are looking for.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>1) Cal, Mich and UVA are THE absolute elite Public U’s in the US. </p>
<p>They are hardly the rule for State U’s. </p>
<p>2) There are also varying degrees of prestige even within those Big Three - i.e. Cal > Mich and UVa.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>They’re presitigious. You don’t have to go very far for verification - just take one small step back and look at which schools have their very OWN boards on CC. Surprise, surprise, it’s the Ivies. Why? Because overachieving HS students (and their parents) want to go to the Ivies and want to learn as much as they can about them.</p>
<p>It’s all about supply and demand.</p>
<p>Go to any bookstore, how many “Getting into the Ivy League” books are there vs. books like “Getting into Wisconsin: So You Wanna Be a Cheesehead”</p>
<p>Ivy_grad, you forget who you are talking to! LOL I am not easily fooled you know. I am constantly surrounded by great people. I repeat, the Ivies are 8 of the top 20 or so universities in the nation. Nothing less…nothing more. This forum caters to 16-18 year old students. I respect them or I would not be here. But let us be honest, those 16-18 year olds know more about high school than they do about universities…or, more importantly, about the real world.</p>
<p>actually, i got into chicago last year</p>
<p>Chicago’s sat scores are very high, it’s around</p>
<p>a 1440</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>There you go.</p>
<p>If that’s not prestige what is?</p>
<p>I think what some people take issue with is that you seem to forget there are 12 other universities in the top 20.</p>
<p>Just my $.02 - not meant as an insult, just an observation.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>No, I’m not forgetting.</p>
<p>But the assertion that the non-HYP Ivies (i.e. Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Penn) somehow “backdoor” into the Top 20 merely by their association in the Ivy League with no other merits to speak of is a completely ridiculous notion on par with saying Wisconsin = Harvard.</p>
<p>I understand the reasoning behind your posts. What gives people that impression is the fact that you <em>only</em> defend the Ivies. You’ve never defended other elite privates (or publics for that matter) in a similar fashion.</p>
<p>My issue has always been the HYPS glorification by the state-school lovers. Its not HYPS and then everything else in the top 25. For most students Duke, Dartmouth, Brown, Columbia, etc will offer the same powerful networks and graduate placement not too far behind at all. Lumping those schools with a place like Michigan is what I see is the issue.</p>