What is the most pedigreed university combo in the world?
If someone wanted the most elite possible combination of universities on their resume in terms of fame, prestige, aura, and overall influence, what do you think the strongest pairing (or trio, etc.) would be?
Personally I think it’s Cambridge + MIT, but what do you all think?
Harvard / Stanford
What about Oxbridge?
Oxford yes, Cambridge no.
3 threads a day mentally jacking off to a bunch of uni names...
Cambridge and MIT are obviously right up there, but if you’re judging them individually, I’d say Oxford and Harvard really sit in a league of their own since they are nonpareil. Something like Oxford Classics or PPE followed by a Harvard MBA is probably the most prestigious combo you can get.
What about Harvard for Undergraduate and then Oxford for Graduate (Master’s degree perhaps)?
Also are you saying Cambridge University doesn’t have universal name recognition that Harvard and Oxford have?
I wouldn't go as far as saying that Cambridge lacks the same name recognition, I think it's comparable to the dynamic between Harvard and Stanford/Princeton/MIT. Are they equally renowned and prestigious? Absolutely, but Harvard still edges out the others. When comparing Oxford and Cambridge, Oxford is the predecessor to Cambridge and therefore the older institution which makes it slightly more iconic and nonpareil in my POV. I don't think Oxford has a postgraduate program as iconic as HBS MBA so I went with Oxford UG and then HBS.
.
How would you evaluate a Harvard BA + Oxford MPhil and DPhil path?
American University of Samoa
Harvard AB, Oxford BA
Harvard UG, Oxford MA
Why?
You don’t go to HYPSM or Oxbridge so give up
What about an Oxford DPhil?
BA >>> any DPhil programme at Oxford in terms of prestige.
Some combination of Harvard and Oxford imo
Harvard and Oxford are in their own league when it comes to universal name recognition. So a well-respected degree from both of those would be ideal. It seems everyone else on this thread agrees with me that Harvard and Oxford are at the top.
Harvard BA, Oxford MA
Pete Buttigieg:
Harvard AB —> Oxford BA
What country and what area of work? Your problem with finding a 'best overall' means your averaging a lot of different things which means you lose the value of dispersion. If you're just going for Mass market someone off the street thinks your impressive then I'd say Oxford PPE -> HBS MBA -> Yale JD + maybe a DPhil / PhD at Oxford/Cambridge (at this point it's 'dilutive' to the common person on the street, even the Yale JD is a bit more nichey).
But note - US still favors US undergrad even if it's Oxford (Harvard, Yale)
UK would favor UK undergrad (Oxford / Cambridge) as Masters in the UK (and most commonwealth countries) are generally looked down upon as being 'easier' unless its research or professionally oriented (like Law etc).
For mass global appeal, so accounting for a calculated weighted average of the entire global population. This means going to any place on Earth and having ubiquity. I assume you think Oxbridge surpass Harvard/Yale in terms of fame and name recognition globally based on your answer. In general. it seems from the perspectives of the commenters on these posts that having too many degrees/brands (in reference to your named combination) dilutes the pedigree as it begins to look like credential stacking/overkill and thus loses prestige and impressiveness.
By the way, why would an Oxbridge DPhil/PhD be valued over a Harvard PhD? I thought the US specializes at the postgraduate level whilst the UK specializes at the undergraduate level.
So accounting for a calculated weighted average of the entire global population - I don't understand what you mean by a weighted average if everyone's view counts as 'one' but basically your question then is what combo is most prestigious to Asia since that has the highest population and therefore weight.
I'd say Harvard and Oxford are on par on average as you defined it (which is to say equally half of people think Harvard, half Oxford, but those are the top two). Cambridge is niche to UK and certain other segments, as is MIT.
Ultimately again I am indulging this but it really is not a productive way to think about it - you cannot 'win' by being at one institution over another, that's not how brands work, they are 'fuzzy' cohorts of tiers that oscillate over time and depending on the audience. To force anything further than that is false precision.
Everybody here keeps saying Harvard and Oxford is the most pedigreed combination but I'm unsure why they're leaving out Cambridge!
I wonder how you think Cambridge and Oxford compare? I see that you've lived in Southeast Asia for some time so perhaps you can add some insight there.
Harvard/Oxford are the only unis that have ubiquitous brands in my home country
To the global general public all that matters is undergraduate pedigree. In terms of which unis have the most pure prestige and brand strength?
The answer is clear imo:
Harvard/Oxford >>> MIT/Cambridge > Stanford/LSE/ICL/Yale and so on…
I’m from England (attend Warwick though so no skin in this game) so of course I may be a bit biased for my country’s unis but I do believe from my experiences living abroad and traveling to quite a few places that the order goes like this. Granted I was mostly traveling through former British colonies so maybe in other parts of the world the American unis will have more favour.
Though to be fairs even here in England many people will think Harvard is equal to Oxbridge—literally everybody knows Harvard and it’s the one exceptional case where the vast majority of British cross admits choose it over Oxbridge. I’m not sure if the same reverence of Oxbridge exists in the US. I don’t think Cambridge is known that well in the States from my experiences.
It seems that, in the West, older people favour British unis more; in contrast, younger people (40 and under) favour American unis more. So in a few decades I don’t think Oxbridge will be able to compete with Harvard’s prestige (Cambridge already doesn’t).
Cambridge and MIT are incredible schools and right up there in the top tier of universities worldwide, but if you want to split hairs at this fine of a level then Harvard and Oxford are the preeminent universities in the US and UK higher education systems respectively, so I think Harvard and Oxford would be the most pedigreed combo possible.
Harvard and Oxford
Oxford and Harvard.
This combination only counts if both degrees are well respected ones. Harvard has plenty of respected postgraduate programmes (HMS, HLS, HBS, Economics PhD, etc.) while Oxford’s are all cash-cows besides the BCL. It would therefore be optimal to go to Oxford for undergrad and then Harvard for postgrad at one of the aforementioned programmes.
Though now that I think about it, Harvard postgraduate programmes don’t confer legacy status for their children to Harvard College—therefore, for maximal benefits and social prestige, it would be best to go to Harvard for your first bachelor’s degree and Oxford for your second bachelor’s degree to truly get the best of both worlds (must be in this order because Harvard doesn’t allow second BAs).
Harvard AB, Oxford MA
Harvard AB in Applied Mathematics/History + Oxford MA in PPE/Classics
The two most prestigious, recognizable universities in the world at the peak of their power.
Harvard AB and Oxford MA as everyone else is saying
Why is everyone bringing up Oxford. In the US nobody really cares about it
This is for maximizing international prestige and pedigree, not just pedigree in the US. There is a whole world outside of the US.
Harvard and Oxford are the only two universities in the world with universal name recognition and the leading institutions in their respective higher education systems. They're the only two universities that are individually referred to as the "most prestigious" or "most famous" university in the world. I've never heard someone claiming that Stanford or Cambridge was the most prestigious or well-known university in the world.
As a Cambridge undergrad and HSW MBA it’s probably Harvard AB + Oxford MA as everyone else is saying. Certainly the two most iconic and known universities in the world.
Harvard AB and Oxford MA
Harvard UG + Oxford UG
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