Large metro areas without a "top school" (namely Dallas and Miami)

[elchevere]

Originally Posted by Mr BLT

While not one of the top schools ranked by the US News Report, iThe University of Minnesota is a member of the prestigious AAU

AAU certainly lists a number of prestigious and top ranked universities; however, it also lists a number of universities that most would not categorize as a "top" university--Michigan State, Penn State, SUNY Stony Brook, University at Buffalo, Iowa, University of Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, UC Riverside among others. Good, maybe, certainly not top tier academically.

Short of a full scholarship (financial, not academic criteria) not sure many people looking at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke, MIT, Hopkins, U of Chicago and others would have U of Minnesota in the same conversation.

[CamThomas]

Originally Posted by elchevere

AAU certainly lists a number of prestigious and top ranked universities; however, it also lists a number of universities that most would not categorize as a "top" university--Michigan State, Penn State, SUNY Stony Brook, University at Buffalo, Iowa, University of Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, UC Riverside among others. Good, maybe, certainly not top tier academically.

Short of a full scholarship (financial, not academic criteria) not sure many people looking at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke, MIT, Hopkins, U of Chicago and others would have U of Minnesota in the same conversation.

I have a friend who turned Duke down for Uga. I still give him crap for it.

Staying on topic, I'd nominate San Antonio and KC as well.

[elchevere]

Originally Posted by CamThomas

I have a friend who turned Duke down for Uga. I still give him crap for it.

Staying on topic, I'd nominate San Antonio and KC as well.

Yeah…even with a full scholarship ride at Georgia, barring actual family financial needs, I’d still have to consider Duke for its greater national reputation that opens more doors nationwide unless I planned on staying close to home in GA following graduation and beyond.

[Landolakes90]

Originally Posted by elchevere

AAU certainly lists a number of prestigious and top ranked universities; however, it also lists a number of universities that most would not categorize as a "top" university--Michigan State, Penn State, SUNY Stony Brook, University at Buffalo, Iowa, University of Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, UC Riverside among others. Good, maybe, certainly not top tier academically.

Short of a full scholarship (financial, not academic criteria) not sure many people looking at Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Duke, MIT, Hopkins, U of Chicago and others would have U of Minnesota in the same conversation.

What is the cut off for "top-ranked"? I assume it's going to vary by individual interpretation. For the select few pursuing elite brands like ivy league schools the list is very small. I'd imagine for the vast majority of students looking at any number of the 1000's of colleges and universities across the country, any school ranked in the top 100 would be "top-ranked". I'd also wager there's not that big of a separation in education quality say from the #30 school, to the 99th ranked institution. At that point it would vary wildly by program. In my opinion using the 80/20 rule most of the AAU schools would be considered top ranked.

[elchevere]

Originally Posted by Landolakes90

What is the cut off for "top-ranked"? I assume it's going to vary by individual interpretation. For the select few pursuing elite brands like ivy league schools the list is very small. I'd imagine for the vast majority of students looking at any number of the 1000's of colleges and universities across the country, any school ranked in the top 100 would be "top-ranked". I'd also wager there's not that big of a separation in education quality say from the #30 school, to the 99th ranked institution. At that point it would vary wildly by program. In my opinion using the 80/20 rule most of the AAU schools would be considered top ranked.

My definition of top ranked would be elite—Ivy’s, Select top tier public (UC Berkeley, UCLA, Michigan, Virginia, etc), and Stanford, MIT, CIT, Duke, U of Chicago, Hopkins, Vanderbilt, Rice—basically a top 25, not 100, school. Why are these elite?—stronger national alumni and job placement (such as well known feeder schools to Silicon Valley, Wall Street and “top” graduate schools), Nobel laureates, research, etc. By all accounts Boston U is a fine school but is anyone putting it in the same class as Harvard or MIT?

By this measurement there are quite a few other cities besides Dallas and Miami without “top” schools as mentioned. Wasn’t this the presumed point from the OP, citing his criteria—Ivy criteria or close to it??

Of course, not only people who live in City or State X went to school there, either. Clearly Dallas and Miami attract transplants, including some who attended out of state “top” schools.

Then again, I’m not the one (nor are you) who resurrected a 10 year old dormant thread yesterday, just replying to it.