<p>I think a few really selective academic schools probably fall into the “well-kept secret” category, as you like to describe it. I’m not sure the reason. School branding or the apparent lack thereof, is hard to define. Sometimes a school brand only covers one sport. I can understand how a Liberal Arts College can fly under the radar, but not a National University. Admittedly, I was not familiar with the WashU until my D went through the college search process a few years back. </p>
<p>Another top-flight school, imo, that also doesn’t get as much exposure, is Rice. There are probably more people who think of Rice as a perennial Big 12 loser in football than they know that it is an academic heavyweight. (It is nothing short of amazing that they can even compete in the Big 12 conference with 3,000 students, and even more amazing that they seem to be always be nationally ranked in baseball.) </p>
<p>You would think that both WashU and Rice would become household names after getting the high rankings/ratings from USNWR, Princeton Review, Kiplinger, Forbes, etc. etc. To me, one of the most important categories in selecting a school is “quality of life”. and WashU and Rice top this list over the past several years.</p>