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The PNW always seems absent in the discussion of "top" universities. Quite interesting how Portland and Seattle are generally considered to be cities with educated populations despite the fact that the PNW really only has one university with much national reputation (UW). I wonder why that is? (UW is a jaw-droppingly beautiful campus for all those who are interested!)
In terms of recognition for top schools, here is what I think of for the TOP schools in the following metro areas:
NYC: Columbia
PHL: UPenn.
CHI: UChicago OR Northwestern
SFO: Stanford OR Berkeley
LA: UCLA OR USC
HOU: Rice University
STL: Washington University
ATL: Emory
RDU: Duke, UNC Chapel Hill, or Wake Forest
DC: Georgetown
BOS: MIT or Harvard (even though Harvard isn't that close to BOS.)
BWI: Johns Hopkins
PIT: Carnegie Mellon
And here are the secondary (still excellent, but not absolute top) schools in some of these metro areas. Some are more competitive than others:
NYC: NYU
PHL: Villanova
DC: George Washington OR American University
RDU: UNC Wilmington (not that close to RDU but still competitive)
ATL: Georgia Tech
LA: Occidental OR Pepperdine or LMU (I'm bias. LMU is my alma mater)
BOS: Boston College OR Boston University
SFO: SF State OR Santa Clara
AUS: UT at Austin
BWI: Loyola University
CHI: Depaul or Loyola Chicago
I feel that for some major cities like Dallas (SMU), Miami (U Miami), Seattle (UWash), Denver (UDen) there is one excellent school in town but not one of the top or borderline Ivy league schools. And some cities like Houston (Rice) or Nashville (Vanderbilt) has one borderline ivy league but no major secondary schools.
If Carnegie Mellon is a top school, so is Case Western in Cleveland.
I don't consider University of Washington or University of Minnesota to be top public schools on the level of UNC, Duke, Michigan, Wisconssin, Ohio State, LSU, UCLA, University of Texas, Penn State, University of Florida, Florida State, or University of Georgia.
"...A few of these things are not like the others..."
I certainly would not consider Ohio State, LSU or Florida St.-- by any means whatsoever-- to be "top public schools". BTW, both U of Washington and U of Minnesota are better than all three.
I don't consider University of Washington or University of Minnesota to be top public schools on the level of UNC, Duke, Michigan, Wisconssin, Ohio State, LSU, UCLA, University of Texas, Penn State, University of Florida, Florida State, or University of Georgia.
UW is bounds ahead of The Florida schools and Georgia. It's a public Ivy League school. It's not Stanford but a still a top 30 school by some publications and has a top medical program.
The PNW always seems absent in the discussion of "top" universities. Quite interesting how Portland and Seattle are generally considered to be cities with educated populations despite the fact that the PNW really only has one university with much national reputation (UW). I wonder why that is? (UW is a jaw-droppingly beautiful campus for all those who are interested!)
Basically it’s because historically the region didn't spend much state or private money on supporting public or private institutions. The old money in the region wasn't on the level of Leland Stanford or Cornelius Vanderbilt and the state government in Oregon(or really Washington either for that matter) was never flush with cash or that interested in developing prestigious colleges. Portland and Seattle only grew into medium sized cities by the early 1900s, but growth into more sizable metros was only recently.
These days though an engineering degree or computer science degree from a somewhat average regional state school is worth more than a soft sciences or English or liberal arts degree from an Ivy League college out here. I've met tons of kids who come out to the Northwest with a degree from prestigious colleges back east and no real marketable skills or technical aptitude who have trouble finding anything in terms of work(and they always expect they’re going to be the exception to the rule). In the end it’s more so personal connections that will land you a job interview in many cases. Hell, there's people who barely graduated high school who can write code or build databases that will have a better time finding work on average these days.
The PNW does not have a major private university, but it does have a spectacular college in Reed, which is in Portland. Reed is an academic powerhouse, produces a huge number PhDs per capita, and has faculty, students, and curricular rigor that are second to none. It is super rigorous and intellectual, although not widely known to the Average Joe.
Reed is similar to somewhere like Swarthmore--a very academically rigorous and very small liberal arts college that is basically a very intense preparation for grad school.
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