Ranking aside, Harvard name reigns supreme

Which is the best college in America?

Old Nassau may be number one in the hearts of Princetonians and in the U.S. News & World Report annual college rankings, but Harvard still stands first in the minds of the general population.

"It is a matter of empirical fact: Harvard has a tremendous draw, a greater draw than any college in the U.S." said Wilson School professor Stanley Katz, himself a Harvard alumnus.

Harvard's appeal rests not only on centuries of academic excellence but also on a seemingly indestructible reputation. Students respond to more than just freshmen retention rates and alumni giving statistics.

Though Princeton has consistently ranked equal to or above Harvard for the last seven years, only 25 percent of students admitted to both universities choose Princeton, according to a survey reported in the New York Times. Yale fares best among its peers, attracting 35 percent, while Brown only draws 11.

"Harvard has been so well-known for so long, and has always been identified with elite high quality education," Katz said, noting that the university's "brand name" is as strong as it was 50 years ago, when he was a senior in high school.

"It's the Rolls Royce of American higher education. Rolls may or may not be the best automobile, but people think it's the best."

College-bound high school students may experience this phenomenon in their college search. Steven Wickson, director of guidance at Santa Monica High School in California, said that most of his students consider Harvard the number one university, despite Princeton's higher ranking.

"When [students] are thinking of the most prestigious and very selective schools, they think of Harvard first," he said. "We have to remind them there's Harvard and the other Ivy Leagues."

But after researching and visiting other universities, many students gravitate toward schools they think best fit them.

"I think when kids really start looking, some of the other schools become more attractive to them," said Melinda Mangham, a college advisor at Lafayette High School in Louisiana. "The students that I work with really look at what they want in a school."

Mangham added that students need to receive adequate guidance to make an informed decision. Those students not from the Northeast or unfamiliar with elite universities may not realize what other schools can offer.

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For example, students from northeast boarding schools show a slight preference for Harvard, though they end up attending other Ivies in nearly equal proportions. In other parts of the country, however, students often don't even consider Harvard and Princeton, much less the difference between them.

Gaylynn Becker, a career counselor at New Salem High School, a small public high school in North Dakota, said his students don't discuss Ivy League schools at all, largely because of their distance and cost. Becker said his son, who had wanted to attend Harvard since sixth grade, applied to east coast schools because of a previous trip to Washington, D.C.

"I think he could picture in his mind that, hey, the east coast isn't big and scary," he said.

For students less familiar with college admissions, holding Harvard up as the pinnacle of higher education is a way to simplify the process, said Dean Jacoby, a college counselor at Choate Rosemary Hall, a prep school in Connecticut.

"When I was a very young boy, I used to ask my dad what was the best of everything; it was the only way I could understand something that's very complicated," Jacoby said. "It strikes me that that's people's approach to college, when they're trying to understand that complex process."

The Harvard brand name is especially strong internationally. Many of those living in foreign countries are familiar with Harvard but unaware of other prestigious universities such as Princeton or Yale.

"That happened to me when I was applying and when I got in [to Princeton] — people were like, 'Where's that?' " said Veneka Chagwedera '09, who attended high school in Zimbabwe.

CK Ying '08, president of the International Students Association at Princeton, said that Australians are similarly unfamiliar with Princeton, "unless they have seen 'A Beautiful Mind.' "

Harvard's international recognition is largely due to its size and prominent professional schools. Most international students enter some sort of graduate school immediately after high school, making it easier for them to attend Harvard than Princeton. In this way, Harvard becomes more popular and well-known abroad, Ying explained.

Chagwedera, who is involved with PALS, a University organization that sends student representatives to high schools, said the organization is "really putting in an effort for international awareness" to boost Princeton's reputation abroad.

But even with an improved international reputation and continued number one rankings, it is unlikely that Princeton will eclipse Harvard in terms of name recognition any time soon.

"I think there is something about the Harvard name in Massachusetts," Deerfield Academy college advisor Nick Albertson said. "I had a student tell me he's been dreaming since he was five years old to go to Harvard. That's a little scary."