Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I view any college as a 2 or 3 yr stop (only slackers need 4 yrs for a silly undergrad degree) to acquire job-relevant skills and a degree/high GPA to compete for a $100K+/yr job upon graduation
Only Ivies that really matter are Wharton Finance and Harvard ?Econ/Applied Math
Would rather be an alum of Berkeley CompSci or IL CompSci than any of the lesser Ivies (Berkeley more so as one can conveniently work part-time/Summer at one of the SiliconValley cos.)
Suspect an English or History or Asian/Ebonics Studies or Biology or PoliSci major from Berkeley or Harvard or Stanford will be equally un/underemployed unless Daddy can find him/her a socially prestigious job
What world are you living in that nets you $100k right out of college?
Disclosure: I also attended the University of Illinois (as a graduate student). I found the professors arrogant (beyond typical professorial arrogance), the students overwhelmingly Chicago-centric, and Urbana severely lacking in atmosphere relative to most Big 10 cities. I got my degree and got the hell out of Dodge. I wish I could have had a do-over on that, even though the UI degree has helped me land a job more than once over the years.
Anyway, back then (20+ years ago), Illinois was considered the equal of Michigan, and superior to Wisconsin. I don't know if Illinois has slipped or the other 2 have risen, but Frank the Tank's listings are pretty much spot-on.
I wouldn't consider Iowa, Indiana or Penn State "public Ivies". Just in the Big 10, Minnesota and Ohio State have better overall programs, and no one will confuse them with Cornell or UPenn. Same goes for Florida and some others on the list.
Honestly, Frank the Tank's Top 3 are the only ones that scream "Public Ivy". The second group, maybe. If I heard someone got admitted to the third group or the others listed, I'd think, "Well, that's a good choice", not "Wow! You must be really smart to be able to get in to THAT school!"
I guess I should answer the question. Well, if you're just looking at the school - Berkeley. If you're just looking at the town - Madison.
If you're looking at both - well, I'll still go with Wisconsin.
Both of my husbands went to the U of I, one as an undergrad, the other as a grad student. I went there when I married #1 (he was a senior and I had just graduated from nursing school). I agree with your assessment about C-U being overly Chicago-centric, to the point that I always felt like someone was going to say "Christ came down from heaven and walked across Lake Michigan to Chicago". My husband the grad student said it wasn't as bad in grad school, especially in physics where people came from all over. However, very few people (to say the least) planned to stay there after graduation; there was always this assumption that you'd finish up and leave town. That is apparently not the case everywhere. Certainly it's not the case in Boulder, CO. BTW, though the U of CO is a good school, especially for Colorado, I do not consider it a public Ivy.
My brother went to Penn State and always talked about it being "mediocre". I really don't get how it gets such a stellar reputation. It's hard to get in to the main campus, but even if you get admitted to a commonwealth campus, you can transfer to the main campus at pretty much any time. When this topic came up before, I did a little research on PSU and found that no faculty member of Penn State has ever won a Nobel Prize, no faculty member of PSU has ever won a NP after leaving PSU for somewhere else, and no one with an advanced degree from PSU has ever won a NP. So it's hard for me to see how a school with such a well, average reputation academically could be considered on a par with the Ivy League. U of I has had several NP winners (I was there when Bardeen got one of his), and even the U of CO has had three.
Fair enough, but hsw said he "views college as a stop to compete for a $100k/yr job after graduation," as if this is commonplace.
I believe that he views college as a place to major in a hard science in an elite university so you can compete for those $100K jobs...as opposed to a place to binge drink for 4 years.
I believe that he views college as a place to major in a hard science in an elite university so you can compete for those $100K jobs...as opposed to a place to binge drink for 4 years.
I understand that, but I am saying that the example you provided is probably one of a handful of programs that could MAYBE net you $100k right out of school. Even from the Ivy Leagues you're not going to be getting that much off the bat for the most part.
I know California-Berkeley, Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina, and Texas are considered as Public Ivies more than others.
Although Illinois, Indiana, and Penn State are considered as runner-ups to the Public Ivies, I wouldn't consider attending any of them because of their location. Location happens to be important to me.
I have no clues why Iowa, Arizona, and Colorado are also considered as runner-ups to the Public Ivies. Wikipedia said they are. LOL!
By the way, my favorite happens to be the University of Wisconsin/Madison, WI. Also, Madison is a gorgeous, medium-sized city. I will be attending there for Graduate School soon. It is one of the Public Ivies with top-notch education in the Big 10 Conference after only Michigan and Illinois.
I know California-Berkeley, Virginia, Michigan, North Carolina, and Texas are considered as Public Ivies more than others.
Although Illinois, Indiana, and Penn State are considered as runner-ups to the Public Ivies, I wouldn't consider attending any of them because of their location. Location happens to be important to me.
I have no clues why Iowa, Arizona, and Colorado are also considered as runner-ups to the Public Ivies. Wikipedia said they are. LOL!
By the way, my favorite happens to be the University of Wisconsin/Madison, WI. Also, Madison is a gorgeous, medium-sized city. I will be attending there for Graduate School soon. It is one of the Public Ivies with top-notch education in the Big 10 Conference after only Michigan and Illinois.
Illinois is, IMO, way more qualified to be a public Ivy than either Indiana or Penn State. Illinois' engineering and physics departments are superb. See my previous post about Penn State.
I don't know if I'd call Colorado a public Ivy, but it's a better school academically than Penn State, IMO. CU has several Nobel Prize winners on its faculty.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
