The university I go to, for example, has the unfortunate reputation of a “party school.” The people who are in most of my classes, though, are a bunch of workaholic over-achievers who obsess about getting things in on time, registering early, maintaining a 4.0 (present company included – remember that line in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off about his friend being so uptight?)

We all want to teach high-school math, so we almost all fit the math-geek stereotype and don’t partake of the party-all-the-time atmosphere. Our professors within the College of Science are very serious-minded.

Now, I’m also an English minor, so I’ve worked with the prof’s there, too, and they are a very laid-back crowd.

Don’t worry about the uni’s rep – just do what you are there to do.

Coke or Pepsi

Most people consider Harvard and UCLA to have good reps, except the US New college survey which put them way down in the ranks, especailly in Law and Business.

Eveyrone “raves” about the Harvard and UCLA Business Programs but Purdue beat them out.

University of Chicago turns out a lot of doctors and surgeons and it didn’t even make the list.

Johns Hopkins didn’t even place well.

So something is obviously wrong with the REP of a college or that US News college list.

Maybe Reps are based on football teams not education or straw polls.

But I was astonished to see Harvard knocked out of the top 10 in some catagories and only making 3rd place in others.

The ONLY place Harvard did great was Research Medicine.

One Lawyer who creates TV shows went to both Harvard and Yale and his only comments about the merits of the two schools centered around class sizes, not education.