Colleges: The Picking Order

The second most desirable colleges in the U.S. are Harvard and Radcliffe, says the top 8% of 1,500,000 high school entrants in the National Merit Scholarship competition. So who's on first — and so on down to tenth? The bright kids' picking order, according to a three-year survey:

BOYS

M.I.T.

Harvard

Stanford

Caltech

California (Berkeley)

Yale

Princeton

Cornell

Columbia

Michigan

GIRLS

Stanford

Radcliffe

Cornell

California (Berkeley)

Michigan

Wellesley

Duke

Northwestern

Columbia (Barnard)

Smith

...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!