<p>UM is more prestigious than UNC (UM is generally placed in the trifecta with UCB and UVA).</p>
<p>I’d even say that UM is slightly more prestigious than UVA (more highly ranked depts. all around); but UVA is the more desirable place to go, particularly for students from the NE.</p>
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<p>That’s a great way of summing it up. UM may have better departments, but there’s an intangible UVA experience – spirit of Thomas Jefferson and all that jazz – that’s pretty appealing too.</p>
<p>^ Yeah, but a big part of that is just the whole EC thing.</p>
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Sure, why not? If you define prestige in terms of who attracts the best students, there’s a pretty good argument that Caltech is tops. Clearly, just using SATs is too simplistic, but I think it’s notable that Pomona has students with very high SATs–that means Pomona is able to attract highly able students, many of whom would be able to gain admission to prestigious large universities. This is also true of Amherst, Williams, and other top LACs. They have no trouble filling their ranks with top students. What greater proof of prestige do you need?
It’s like this–if you want to find out what kind of car is prestigious, you look at what kind of car really rich people actually buy. For colleges, I say you should look at where the top students actually go.</p>
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<p>Oh, well, now you’ve gone and done it, Hunt. </p>
<p>RML, you really don’t get that prestige is not watching what the masses tend to like and then following them lemming-like over a cliff. Part of prestige is in the quiet confidence that you have chosen quality you can be proud of and feel good about – even if no one else recognizes it. You are so tied up in what other people recognize.</p>
<p>Real prestige is being part of the “in group” that the masses don’t even know about.</p>
<p>“Real prestige is being part of the “in group” that the masses don’t even know about.”</p>
<p>Prestige, by definition, is actually the complete opposite. It’s the worthy thing that EVERYONE knows about. There’s no other way to define it so people should really stop making up definitions. Now prestige varies by region, country, and continent, but saying something like, “If you define prestige in terms of who attracts the best students” is stupid. Try a better phrase, lke academic quality.
CalTech is prestigious to those on this website, but to the masses, saying you went to CalTech is gonna earn you a response of, 'Oh cool, in California right? It must be nice out there." Whereas saying you went to Harvard will get you a response of, “Damn you’re smart.” </p>
<p>And yes, in the US, when you say you went somewhere, everyone assumes undergrad.</p>
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So Pomona is more prestigious than Harvard too?</p>
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<p>Most Asians have higher SAT scores on average, so in your argument, this makes them better students?</p>
<p>“That’s a great way of summing it up. UM may have better departments, but there’s an intangible UVA experience – spirit of Thomas Jefferson and all that jazz – that’s pretty appealing too.”</p>
<p>If only UVA weren’t so relatively weak in the natural sciences and engineering…</p>
<p>Oh well. Irrelevant to those who aren’t in the natural sciences and engineering. I hear Juilliard is pretty weak in biology and Caltech in ancient Greek.</p>
<p>What IS it with the colleges on cc that graduate people who are so defensive about even the slightest perceived slight and insert them in any conversation? Inferiority complexes aren’t very prestigious.</p>
<p>People who go to Michigan have much better nationwide networking and this means more post graduation success than UNC grads. UNC grads seem to stay in NC much more than Michigan grads who often flee their wasteland for Chicago and the coasts.</p>
<p>As far as sports go, UNC does have the upper hand. They don’t pay their players to win championships, and they haven’t made up fake majors to keep their semi-literate athletes enrolled.</p>
<p>“As far as sports go, UNC does have the upper hand. They don’t pay their players to win championships, and they haven’t made up fake majors to keep their semi-literate athletes enrolled.”</p>
<p>Michigan never paid it’s players. That was a scam by an outside of the program booster. Also, the bachelors of general studies degree is not a “fake major” but rather a degree like a B.S. or B.A. Furthermore, I wouldn’t call the state of Michigan a “wasteland.” This is a beautiful state whether you want to accept it or not.</p>
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<p>Not necessarily.</p>
<p>Most people “ooh and ah” at Bose products w/ respect to home audio equipment (due to the eponymous Bose marketing), but audiophiles think Bose is complete garbage.</p>
<p>“Most people “ooh and ah” at Bose products w/ respect to home audio equipment (due to the eponymous Bose marketing), but audiophiles think Bose is complete garbage.”</p>
<p>Likewise, Schmaltz was the most noble stallion at Boston College in the 70’s, but that tidbit of information was apparently kept secret from the entire female population of New England.</p>
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Michigan is the only state I’ve ever seen advertise on TV for tourism. They don’t really show much except lighthouses, but the pictures look nice. (Then again, they’re supposed to, so I guess that’s not saying much.)</p>
<p>Michigan is amazing. I’ve lived all over the country and in 5 foreign countries, and I wouldn’t want to live anywhere else. Our biggest fear is that other people will discover how great it is here and will clutter up the state.</p>
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<p>It’s not only that; UM is often ranked higher than UVA in areas like Sociology, Poly Sci, History, Psych, Art History, Comp Lit, Classics, Anthroplogy, etc. as well.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl,</p>
<p>for me, for an academic institution to be prestigious, it has to be:
<p>That is why, generally speaking, research extensive schools that are very selective and have alumni occupying high seats of well-established organizations or government (HYPSM, for example) are more prestigious than small schools that purely concentrate on undergraduate education (Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Mudd, Swarthmore, for example). And, using the same criteria, in general, Michigan is more prestigious than UNC, and Berkeley is more prestigious than Brown. Yield Rates are a good indication of prestige, but not a conclusive indication. School Desirability is a different story altogether.</p>
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<p>Julliard is prestigious only to those who care, because prestige is a relative thing.</p>