How will you rank the big name Pennsylvania Universities (Pittsburgh: 2014, top schools)

[bluecarebear]

I don't associate the word prestige with college. The phrase 'Useless Money Pit' fits.

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

How will you rank the big name Pennsylvania University? In terms of prestige that is.

Penn State

UPenn

Lehigh

Carnegie Mellon

Pitt

Duquesne

Robert Morris

Villanova

Temple

Drexel

Am I missing any big ones?

I don't think it's fair to straight number rank them. I think tiers are more in order, so IMO,

1) Upenn- Ivy, one of the top schools in the country
2) CMU, Villanova, Lehigh (CMU has a great engineering and a decent business school national reputation, while Nova and Lehigh are small liberal arts schools that have a different target student compared to PSU and Pitt)
3) PSU, Pitt (both are nationally known, have very good sub-specialties)
4) Drexel, Temple
5) Robert Morris...

[North Beach Person]

Originally Posted by blazerj

I don't think it's fair to straight number rank them. I think tiers are more in order, so IMO,

1) Upenn- Ivy, one of the top schools in the country
2) CMU, Villanova, Lehigh (CMU has a great engineering and a decent business school national reputation, while Nova and Lehigh are small liberal arts schools that have a different target student compared to PSU and Pitt)
3) PSU, Pitt (both are nationally known, have very good sub-specialties)
4) Drexel, Temple
5) Robert Morris...

And this is the way it should be done. I would put Penn State and Drexel higher than Pitt. That may be because every single person I know who went to Pitt, including those who flunked out, are insufferable asses.

[toobusytoday]

Originally Posted by blazerj

I don't think it's fair to straight number rank them. I think tiers are more in order, so IMO,

1) Upenn- Ivy, one of the top schools in the country
2) CMU, Villanova, Lehigh (CMU has a great engineering and a decent business school national reputation, while Nova and Lehigh are small liberal arts schools that have a different target student compared to PSU and Pitt)
3) PSU, Pitt (both are nationally known, have very good sub-specialties)
4) Drexel, Temple
5) Robert Morris...

Excellent suggestion!

I do really like Drexels co-op program though so that gives them a good edge in my book.

[SteelCityRising]

Originally Posted by speagles84

Penn
CMU
..
..
Pitt
Penn State
..
Nova
Lehigh
..
Drexel
.. All others

I like this for the most part, but I'd personally reverse Pitt and PSU.

[CHIP72]

Originally Posted by NJ Brazen_3133

How will you rank the big name Pennsylvania University? In terms of prestige that is.

Penn State

UPenn

Lehigh

Carnegie Mellon

Pitt

Duquesne

Robert Morris

Villanova

Temple

Drexel

Am I missing any big ones?

You're missing A LOT of big and little ones. Hell, just among the schools that have Division I sports, you're missing Lafayette (excellent school), Bucknell (really excellent school), St. Joseph's (good school), La Salle (good school), and St. Francis (good school). Then you didn't include the 14 state-owned universities (which include the likes of Indiana, Bloomsburg, and West Chester, among others), most of which aren't necessarily great academically but many of which are quite good. (The state-owned schools generally started out as teachers' colleges and still tend to focus more on teaching than research.) You also skipped a few other schools that play Division II sports with those state-owned schools (like Gannon, Mercyhurst, and Seton Hill). THEN you didn't include the many small, mostly liberal arts schools throughout the state; there are way too many to mention but they include Moravian, Muhlenberg, DeSales, Cedar Crest, Widener, Delaware Valley, Swarthmore, Franklin & Marshall, Lebanon Valley, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Susquehanna, Juniata, Wilkes, King's, Scranton, Alvernia, Albright, Ursinus, Bryn Mawr, Arcadia, Haverford, Philadelphia University, the College of the Sciences, etc, etc, etc. (and all the small colleges I listed in this sentence are only in the eastern part of the state!).

The best school in the state is probably the University of Pennsylvania. Penn State has long been considered a top level research institution for graduate work. (In PSU's case, it is considered a leading school in THREE of the fields I either have degrees in or have work interest in - psychology, geography, and supply chain management.) Lehigh, Bucknell, Villanova, and Lafayette are all considered excellent academic institutions. Pitt and Temple are both very solid research institutions, not at the level of Penn State but very good. Drexel has a top notch engineering program. Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne are both very good schools, probably comparable to Lehigh, Lafayette, Bucknell, and Villanova. Swarthmore may the top small, liberal arts school, though many such schools in the Keystone State are quite good.

Hopefully you get the idea.

[RightonWalnut]

US News and World Report does a fantastic job of ranking Universities and Colleges.

Best PA Universities
#8 - University of Pennsylvania
#25 - Carnegie Mellon University
#40 - Lehigh University
#48 - Pennsylvania State University
#62 - University of Pittsburgh
#95 - Drexel University
#116 - Duquesne University
#121 - Temple University
#181 - Immaculata University
#189 - Widener University


Best PA Liberal Arts Colleges
#3 - Swarthmore College
#8 - Haverford College
#27 - Bryn Mawr College
#32 - Bucknell University
#35 - Lafayette College
#37tie - Dickinson College
#37tie - Franklin and Marshall College
#50 - Gettysburg College
#64 - Muhlenberg College
#81 - Allegheny College
#96 - Washington and Jefferson College
#105 - Juniata College
#116tie - Susquehanna University
#116tie - Westminster College
#133 - Moravian College
#139 - Grove City College
#148 - Saint Vincent College
#159 - Lycoming College
#177 - Albright College

Best Colleges | College Rankings | US News Education - US News

[ElijahAstin]

Originally Posted by SteelCityRising

I like this for the most part, but I'd personally reverse Pitt and PSU.

They're basically equal (Pitt is stronger in some programs; PSU, others). I'd give PSU a very slight edge, but only because of its brand name. Pitt has actually been more selective for years.

[PhillyPhan95]

I'd put it like this, in tier's, in order.

Tier 1: UPenn, CMU, Swartmore. UPenn is an ivy league institution with a $10 billion endowment, and excels at a lot of this, particularly business and healthcare. CMU is one of the best schools for engineering in many fields. It's business school is also well know. Swarthmore may arguably be "more prestigious" than CMU, as I believe it has the highest endowment per undergrad of any university in the U.S. It excels in liberal arts, but is lacking in more "practical" fields.

Tier 2: Penn State, Lehigh, Pitt, Drexel, Temple: These are all large research institutions that have many offerings, and excel in at least a few things. Penn State and Pitt are recognized for their sports (and academics of course), and both Drexel and Temple are involved in a lot.

Tier 3: Haverford, St. Joseph's, Villanova, Bucknell... a few others.

The rest.

[blazerj]

Originally Posted by toobusytoday

Excellent suggestion!

I do really like Drexels co-op program though so that gives them a good edge in my book.

Good point. Drexel isn't a great school, but their co-op program is fantastic, from what I've heard.