What are the top 10 most elite universities in the world?

Depends on what criteria you use. Globally, the most prestigious and established rankings are the Times Higher Education (THE) and the Shanghai Ranking. But these are mostly based on research production rather than teaching.

Real men don’t go to college. You can learn anything you want to know from the internet.

MIT

Stanford

Harvard

Yale

University of Chicago

Princeton

Caltech

Columbia

Brown

UPenn

Those are definitely where the highest brows in the US are. Which probably means the world too.

Joe the Plumber wrote:

Real men don’t go to college. You can learn anything you want to know from the internet.

You're right... I'll never have to go to college

Zante wrote:

MIT

lmao MIT hasn't won the International Collegiate Programming Championships since 1978, their only win ever. And that's not for lack of trying! They try every year, this year they even managed a rare gold-level second place, behind Moscow State's repeat victory. The 21st century has been dominated by schools in Russia, Poland and China. St. Pete Tech has 7 wins, and MSU has been top 2 four years in a row.

If you thought all those foreigners enrolling in top-tier US schools were the top-tier foreigners, think again. MIT's admissions page contains the shocking admission that

Once your application is complete, it will first be read by a senior admissions officer who will consider your application in a holistic manner, within its proper context.

i.e. anybody can get into MIT, particularly people who don't know how to program a computer, as if that weren't one of the most fundamental forms of tech competence. If you're gonna claim to the the world's elite tech school, every single one of your 2,000 undergrads better be a computer wiz right off the bat, and a wiz at a whole lot of other things too.

Brown? Ha ha. For the record my brother went to Brown though...and it was a heck of a lot harder to get into than Cornell... But there are so many variables....in "overall rankings" Rankings usually combine undergrad and grad programs, research etc. Maybe they could go by acceptance rate (esp considering how many apply and school size)? But prestige and "elite ranking" should really be categorized on specific fields of study within each school: For example, engineering of course: MIT, CalTech, etc. Grad business:: HBS, Wharton, Booth, Stanford etc. Cambridge? Oxford? And the great schools in Asia....liberal arts? (okay maybe Brown is up there now!).

Zante wrote:

MIT

Stanford

Harvard

Yale

University of Chicago

Princeton

Caltech

Columbia

Brown

UPenn

Those are definitely where the highest brows in the US are. Which probably means the world too.

Take your pick...

http://www.shanghairanking.com/

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/2019/world-ranking#!/page/0/length/25/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats

https://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/world-university-rankings/2019

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges

Zante wrote:

MIT

Stanford

Harvard

Yale

University of Chicago

Princeton

Caltech

Columbia

Brown

UPenn

Those are definitely where the highest brows in the US are. Which probably means the world too.

Brown does not belong on any top 10 list but Cambridge and Oxford certainly do.

asdasdfassfffasdfasdfasdfasdfs said: What are the top 10 most elite universities in the world?

I guess they would, on the whole, be schools where they realise that "elite" doesn't take a modifier.

cheers.

Cornell!

Zante wrote:

MIT

Stanford

Harvard

Yale

University of Chicago

Princeton

Caltech

Columbia

Brown

UPenn

Those are definitely where the highest brows in the US are. Which probably means the world too.

That your list excludes Oxford and Cambridge makes it invalid.

well...... wrote:

Zante wrote:

MIT

Stanford

Harvard

Yale

University of Chicago

Princeton

Caltech

Columbia

Brown

UPenn

Those are definitely where the highest brows in the US are. Which probably means the world too.

That your list excludes Oxford and Cambridge makes it invalid.

+1

Same for Arizona State.

Stanford for running and Alabama for football. Maybe Duke for basketball. If going by selectivity, Vanderbilt is number 8. If going by critical thinking, Hillsdale.

Bad Wigins wrote:

MIT's admissions page contains the shocking admission that

Once your application is complete, it will first be read by a senior admissions officer who will consider your application in a holistic manner, within its proper context.

i.e. anybody can get into MIT . . . .

Yeah, that's exactly how I interpret that statement. A truly shocking admission.

Obviously Stanford at #1. When you have Chinese willing to pay(off) 6.2 million for a single admission, that pretty much cements the Cardinals at the top.

kmaclam wrote:

Obviously Stanford at #1. When you have Chinese willing to pay(off) 6.2 million for a single admission, that pretty much cements the Cardinals at the top.

That just shows that, among some of the more respectable schools, Stanford is a relatively pleasant place to spend a few indolent years. For a real education, go to some place where you will feel overwhelmed and miserable much of the time.

Totally depends on what you are going to study.

For example: if you're going to study economics or business, then Penn is going to be up towards the top, as would Chicago as their business schools are top tier. But they would both be well behind London School of Economics.

If you're going to study medicine, then Stanford, Hopkins, or even a place like UVA would be up there.

Same can be said for just about any other course of study.

But in my totally unbiased opinion: Princeton University is the greatest university in the world.

kmaclam wrote:

Obviously Stanford at #1. When you have Chinese willing to pay(off) 6.2 million for a single admission, that pretty much cements the Cardinals at the top.

It's 'Cardinal' without the "s. " Not a bird. Not a Catholic. Not a fundamental. It's a color. A noun. With a capital "C". Most people would call it The Red. But red is out of favor these days, especially in retail. Cinnabar, Sanguine and Cardinal sound erudite, which is another word that proves you went to Stanford. See how that works? Their mascot is A Tree. Ask them why, they will, in a soft and patronizing voice, explain to you that "Palo Alto" means "Tall Tree" in Spanish. Don't attempt to interject reason in this discussion -- you're outmatched -- they went to Stanford, you didn't. So when you say "No sh!t. But Stanford isn't in Palo Alto is it? It's in Stanford." When confronted with the facts, they'll just roll their eyes, since obviously you didn't go to Stanford.. That's when you tell them "Va a fare in culo," Tell them it means "Tall tree in your mouth."