# What do you think is an elite school? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 12, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035 "2019-03-12T23:58:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/61 "2019-03-14T19:06:52Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It doesn’t have to be but it is. In terms of history, lore, social cachet, and just plain famousness, Harvard- Yale is a one-two punch that exists as a duo on its own. The people who run this country are known generally as a group for their associations with Harvard and Yale as the twin poles of the elite. It’s not Harvard-Yale-Princeton. It just isn’t. I agree. Harvard and Yale, in terms of social cachet, are well above Princeton. And while MIT gives you credentials in the scientific and tech world, it won’t give you the social standing of having gone to Harvard or Yale. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/62 "2019-03-14T20:08:40Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > I’ve always thought of AU as a diploma factory, it’s where rich parents send kids who can’t get in to elite schools. Really? I consider a diploma factory to be a place like the University of Miami: a playground for rich kids with a C average from the East Coast. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/63 "2019-03-14T20:23:26Z")
For the record I did not attend college so this is going skewer my view on what is “elite”. I agree with Harvard and Yale being perceived as the two best colleges in the country. I think MIT and Cal Tech would be ranked above them in among certain segments of the population(the “nerd/geek” subculture for example). Me ,personally, I am really not impressed by where a person went to college because a lot of the people I know with college degrees don’t seem to be as smart as you think they would be. I don’t think a lot of people hold the U.S. military academies in high regard. Though my view is somewhat skewed because everyone I know who was in the military were enlisted personnel and they mostly had a pretty negative view of the commissioned officers. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/64 "2019-03-14T21:01:41Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > I don’t think a lot of people hold the U.S. military academies in high regard. Though my view is somewhat skewed because everyone I know who was in the military were enlisted personnel and they mostly had a pretty negative view of the commissioned officers. The military academies offer a limited set of Bachelor degrees, no advanced degrees. They generally don’t rank very high (if at all) on lists of the best universities, not because their graduates don’t have any competencies, but the main competencies are specialized (military) and aren’t easy to compare to other degrees. Though my personal experience is that the Air Force Academy is (comparatively among the academies) quite good at STEM and even has a little bit of research that passes muster for inclusion in scientific conferences. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/65 "2019-03-14T21:09:28Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > Too late to edit, but USC would never make my list. Surprised by how much it turned up in the cheating scandal. Curious, why not? ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/66 "2019-03-14T21:19:34Z")
Vanderbilt and Rice, both trying to claim the moniker Harvard of the South ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/67 "2019-03-14T21:20:52Z")
Another definition of an elite school is one that mysteriously works its way into the first three minutes of conversation with an alumnus. Weather? We used to have weather like that at Harvard! ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/68 "2019-03-14T21:26:00Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > The military academies offer a limited set of Bachelor degrees, no advanced degrees. They generally don’t rank very high (if at all) on lists of the best universities, not because their graduates don’t have any competencies, but the main competencies are specialized (military) and aren’t easy to compare to other degrees. > > Though my personal experience is that the Air Force Academy is (comparatively among the academies) quite good at STEM and even has a little bit of research that passes muster for inclusion in scientific conferences. Indeed, the military academies are very tough to get into, and while they do have some prestige, it seems that this prestige doesn’t necessarily come from the education itself, and I don’t think of them in terms of being “elite colleges.” ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/69 "2019-03-14T21:32:01Z")
> [@xizor](#): > > Vanderbilt and Rice, both trying to claim the moniker Harvard of the South Anything that is the “something of the something” isn’t really the anything of the anything. ---
**Author:** ![phreesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@phreesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phreesh)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/70 "2019-03-14T21:50:39Z")
I’m from Canada and there’s been a bunch of navel gazing about ‘elite’ schools since the cheating scandal came out down south. Basically, Canadians are FAR more likely to say, “WHAT did you study?” over “WHERE did you study?” than Americans. I think I like this about us. I guess that can be partway credited to the fact that we only have 15-20 universities that really matter. Really, McGill in the only real ‘elite’ school up here. Everything else is basically varying levels of pretty good, so it’s no big deal to go to UBC over the U of A or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/71 "2019-03-14T22:05:25Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Really, McGill in the only real ‘elite’ school up here. Everything else is basically varying levels of pretty good, so it’s no big deal to go to UBC over the U of A or whatever. Of the universities I pay attention to globally, McGill isn’t on my radar. I’d put University of Toronto and even UBC ahead of McGill. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/72 "2019-03-14T22:08:30Z")
If you’re talking engineering, the only school that I would put anywhere near the proximity of MIT, is the School of Mines, in Golden CO. ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Gay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/3ab097/32.png) [@Enola\_Gay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Gay)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/73 "2019-03-14T22:13:32Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > Curious, why not? Probably because _I_ got into USC, but didn’t get into Stanford or Berkeley. And I didn’t apply to any ivy leagues ,but highly doubt any of them would have accepted me. Makes sense to me why a rich parent would bribe someone so they’d have the prestige of bragging that their kid went to Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Berkeley, etc…but bribing someone so your kid can get into USC or San Diego State or Cal State Fullerton is much harder to understand. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/74 "2019-03-14T22:55:43Z")
> [@peccavi](#): > > The military academies offer a limited set of Bachelor degrees, no advanced degrees. They generally don’t rank very high (if at all) on lists of the best universities, not because their graduates don’t have any competencies, but the main competencies are specialized (military) and aren’t easy to compare to other degrees. > > Though my personal experience is that the Air Force Academy is (comparatively among the academies) quite good at STEM and even has a little bit of research that passes muster for inclusion in scientific conferences. Yeah I’m going to say the academies are a completely different animal and hard to be even put into this conversation. They are elite in that you have to be appointed, enrollment is small, and competition is fierce. There are multiple degree programs and they are not military based. Of course they also received extensive military training. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/75 "2019-03-14T23:00:11Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Another definition of an elite school is one that mysteriously works its way into the first three minutes of conversation with an alumnus. > > Weather? We used to have weather like that at Harvard! It’s a well-known shibboleth that Harvard graduates never say the word ”Harvard” in situations like this. Instead they work in phrases like “I went to school _in Boston_.” ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/76 "2019-03-14T23:08:59Z")
> [@Enola\_Gay](#): > > Probably because _I_ got into USC… Fight On! I would say it is certainly elite for Business, Medicine and Film. Miles beyond San Diego or Fullerton or that place across town. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/77 "2019-03-15T00:00:30Z")
We Johns Hopkins grads are required to correct anyone who calls it _John_ Hopkins. Of course the only way to find out if they know how to pronounce it correctly is to tell them that we went to Hopkins, and hope they respond by saying _John_ Hopkins so we can correct them. Or saying _Johns_ so we can congratulate them. A burdensome duty, really. But it is required. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/78 "2019-03-15T00:26:48Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Another definition of an elite school is one that mysteriously works its way into the first three minutes of conversation with an alumnus. Lord help then if they’re a vegan or do Crossfit. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/79 "2019-03-15T00:33:55Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > It’s a well-known shibboleth that Harvard graduates never say the word ”Harvard” in situations like this. Instead they work in phrases like “I went to school _in Boston_.” I always say that I went to the good school in Cambridge. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035/80 "2019-03-15T00:37:53Z")
When I was in high school, we heard that our math teacher had gone to Yale, so someone asked him. He only said that he went to a “small liberal arts school in New Haven”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-an-elite-school/831035.md?page=5)