What are the elite colleges?

College Search & Lists
1

<p>I constantly see people say “the first tier of elite colleges are HPYSM”. So, what is the second tier? The third tier? Just how many tiers are there?</p>

2

<p>Just add Columbia (#1 for journalists and just across the board great at the highest level), Cal Tech, Wharton, Julliard(#1 for for performing artists) and Georgetown SFS(#1 for diplomats, spies and politicos) to the acronym above and I think you have the pinnacle. (IMHO, of course).</p>

3

<p>that didn’t really answer my question. And I am referring to best overall, not best in a specific program.</p>

4

<p>There’s no such thing. It depends on what you want to major in, what your interests are, and what type of school fits your learning style the best.</p>

5

<p>Like beauty, it’s in the eye of the beholder. What criteria do you apply? If it’s sheer exclusivity you’re after, the most selective school in the country is tiny Deep Springs College ([Deep</a> Springs College - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deep_Springs_College]Deep”>Deep Springs College - Wikipedia)). There are lists that track the schools whose graduates have the highest average starting pay, or mid-career pay ([Best</a> Colleges, Best College Majors, Best College Degrees](<a href=“http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges]Best”>2023 College Rankings by Salary Potential | Payscale)). There are other lists that track the colleges that train the most students who go on to earn Ph.D.s ([REED</a> COLLEGE PHD PRODUCTIVITY](<a href=“http://www.reed.edu/ir/phd.html]REED”>Doctoral Degree Productivity - Institutional Research - Reed College)), or the ones that place the most graduates in top professional schools ([The</a> Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition](<a href=“WSJ in Higher Education | Trusted News & Real-World Insights”>WSJ in Higher Education | Trusted News & Real-World Insights)). There is disagreement about whether these lists are based on numbers that are properly counted, if they really measure what they purport to measure, or if they matter at all.</p>

<p>There is no committee of Grand Poobahs at NIST to define the number of university “tiers”. This is a rather arbitrary division used by USNWR magazine to cluster the schools they rank. It does not even appear to be very clear (not to me anyway) what separates one tier from another.</p>

<p>Personally, if I had to pick one convenient, objective standard to define the pecking order of “elite” colleges, I’d say it’s as simple as average SAT scores. That’s as handy as any measure we have to indicate which schools manage to attract the brightest students.
([Top</a> 500 Ranked Universities for Highest SAT 75th Percentile Scores](<a href=“USA University College Directory - U.S. University Directory - State Universities and College Rankings”>Top 500 Ranked Colleges - Highest SAT 75th Percentile Scores))</p>

<p>Note #20: Paul Quinn College, an historically black college in Texas with fewer than 1000 students.</p>

6

<p>Why is the OP worrying about this? Just look at USNWR. Jeez. Another prestige ■■■■■…</p>

<p>NEXT!!!</p>

7

<p>Are you asking where the Second Tier stops?</p>

<p>That’s hard to say: do you have a particular school in question?</p>

8

<p>That’s a lie. Top Tier according to US News means anyone that is on page 1 of their national rankings. I think that includes the top 40. To me, top tier would realistically mean top 25.</p>

<p>Tik</p>

9

<p>“according to US News” is actually according to some magazine editors picking one size that fits none. Choose something at least somewhat meaningful for rating schools. Few than half the schools now participate in the US News nonsense.</p>

10

<p>Note to self: Never open another thread with the word “elite” or “prestige” in the title.</p>

11

<p>After HYPSM are the following schools:</p>

<p>-Super Elite Group
90.55 Duke
90.50 Penn
90.10 Columbia
89.65 Caltech
89.65 Dartmouth
89.65 Berkeley
89.45 Chicago
88.05 Brown
88.05 Cornell</p>

<p>-Very Elite Group
86.25 JHU
85.55 Northwestern
84.70 Michigan
83.95 WUSL
83.80 Notre Dame
83.10 UCLA
82.75 Rice
81.45 Georgetown
81.10 UVA</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/780850-best-us-colleges-7.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/780850-best-us-colleges-7.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

12

<p>William & Mary is the elite of public schools. The state U of Virginia, California, and Michigan close behind.</p>

13

<p>^^^LOL. If you mean small with little course selection, than I guess the term elite would suffice.</p>

14

<p>USNWR has a college rankings FAQ ([Frequently</a> Asked Questions: Rankings - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2009/08/19/frequently-asked-questions-rankings.html]Frequently”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2009/08/19/frequently-asked-questions-rankings.html)).
Item #10 of this FAQ addresses USNWR’s use of the term “tiers”.
[Frequently</a> Asked Questions: Rankings - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2009/08/19/frequently-asked-questions-rankings.html#13]Frequently”>http://www.usnews.com/articles/education/best-colleges/2009/08/19/frequently-asked-questions-rankings.html#13)</p>

<p>The schools USNWR considers the top 50% get numbered ranks (1-128 for national universities, 1-122 for LACs). The next 25% of schools in each category are assigned to “tier 3”; the bottom 25% of ranked schools are assigned to “tier 4” (with no numeric ranking assigned to tier 3 or tier 4 schools). USNWR no longer distinguishes a “tier 2” from “tier 1”.</p>

15

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<p>I’ve never heard of this school. Where is it at?</p>

16

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<p>I think it might be a community college in Virginia; not sure though.</p>

17

<p>William and Mary is in Virginia.</p>

<p>It’s the second-oldest college in America (after Harvard). Thomas Jefferson went there. So did lots of other important dead white guys (like, 16 signers of the Declaration of Independence and a couple other US presidents besides TJ.) Forbes, for what it’s worth, ranks it the top non-military public university in the country.</p>

18

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<p>LOL. that’s a mistake. paul quinn’s act/sat scores are inconceivably bad, and the school actually lost its accreditation for a period of time last summer. but nice job utilizing bs statistics. </p>

<p>[College</a> Search - Paul Quinn College - SAT®, AP®, CLEP®](<a href=“College Search - BigFuture | College Board”>College Search - BigFuture | College Board)</p>

19

<p>^ O.K., then I stand corrected about Paul Quinn College. I had never heard of it before and yes, I suppose I’d trust the College Board’s numbers more than stateuniversity.com’s.</p>

20

<p>

It’s in Maryland.</p>