<p>michaelburt,
I certainly can’t settle the dispute, but I can provide my opinion. </p>
<p>The man in the street will have heard of Harvard and Yale - yet he may equate attendance at one of these institutions more with family wealth than brilliance. The reflected glory you would garner from your institution of higher learning would be greater if if you attended a football powerhouse.
Is your choice of a school going to be influenced by this type of person? </p>
<p>The respect of family and friends - depends on who they are. On average … go with the football powerhouse. Chicago and the Ivies both lose. Much of my family is or has been involved in academics. Princeton, Chicago, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Caltech, Berkeley, UCLA (to name a few) - these would all be accorded great honor - and among these people, ranking these schools would be a meaningless exercise. </p>
<p>The respect of an employer … again, it depends. Ivies have more name recognition - but maybe the CEO from the state U with the football doesn’t like ivies. Lets give the ivies an edge on this on. </p>
<p>The respect of a graduate or professional school - depends on the department, at least in part. A draw or close to it. Chicago or ivies win - football loses.</p>
<p>Academic and related awards - again, I would think, a draw. Chicago tends to win the Fullbright stakes, has lots of Nobels, regular Marshels, NSF’s, Churchills, MacArthurs and so on. </p>
<p>Now look in the mirror. This is the person whose respect is, ultimately, most important to you. Whether you pick an Ivy or Chicago or a fine public institution - it should be based on what is important to you at the deepest level, not the opinion of the uninformed.</p>