Williams College ranks as the No. 1 top college in America. It was founded in 1793 as a men’s college and women weren't admitted until This elite liberal arts school is part of the “Little Three,” along with Wesleyan University and rival Amherst College. The school follows a annual schedule, which includes a one-course winter study term in addition to two four-course semesters. There are 30 majors and no required courses at Williams, but all students must complete three arts and humanities, three social sciences and three science and math classes.

Over 150 student organizations are on campus and over 3/4 of students participate in at least one extracurricular activity. The Williams College Museum of Art is home to over 13,000 works by artists such as Edward Hopper and the Chapin Library’s collection includes first prints of the Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights and George Washington’s personal copy of the Federalist Papers. Prominent alumni include billionaire AOL cofounder Steve Case, billionaire investor Herb Allen Jr. and composer Stephen Sondheim, as well as former U.S. President James Garfield. The college’s athletic teams, nicknamed the Ephs, compete at the NCAA Division III level.

Stanford University is a private research university in Stanford, CA. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford. Its community of scholars includes 22 Nobel laureates, 27 MacArthur Fellows, five Pulitzer Prize winners, 158 National Academy of Sciences members and three Presidential Medal of Freedom winners. Approximately 97% of students live on Stanford’s campus, which consists of nearly 700 major buildings spread across 8,180 acres. There are over 600 student organizations at Stanford.

Students can take advantage of the university’s high research activity and prime location in the heart of Silicon Valley, the epicenter of the tech world. There are over 5,000 externally sponsored research projects at Stanford with a total budget of over $1.3 billion. Stanford’s endowment, valued at over $18 billion, is one of the largest in the world. The university has produced numerous luminaries, including one U.S. president, four U.S. Supreme Court justices and business leaders like Steve Ballmer, Sergey Brin, Larry Page and Marissa Mayer. Stanford has also been home to some of the world’s most successful athletes, including John McEnroe, John Elway, Tiger Woods, Michelle Wie and Andrew Luck. Student-athletes compete in the Pacific-12 Conference (NCAA Division I).

Granted its charter in 1701, Yale is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the country and one of the top institutions in the world. Located in New Haven, CT, Yale academics are divided into Yale College (the undergraduate school), the Yale Graduate School of Arts and Sciences and 13 professional schools. The university’s library is one of the largest in the country and houses more than 12 million volumes. Yale College offers over 2,000 courses in 75 major programs. Its central campus sits on more than 300 acres, has 260 buildings and is home to four museums, including the Peabody Museum of Natural History and the Collection of Musical Instruments.

The Yale-Harvard sports rivalry dates back to 1875; when the teams faced off, they wore Yale Blue and Harvard Crimson to identify the players, thus inventing the tradition of wearing school colors. The school’s bulldog mascot, named Handsome Dan, first walked across the football field in Yale alumni include five U.S. presidents: George H.W. Bush ('48), George W. Bush ('68), Clinton ('73, Law), Ford ('41, Law) and Taft (1878). Yale grad and Secretary of State John Kerry delivered the 2014 commencement address. George H.W. Bush Henry Ford

Founded in 1636, Harvard University was the first institution of higher learning in the U.S. Its history, influence and wealth hasn’t stopped it from experimenting with new educational platforms, such as the MOOC edX, co-founded with nearby MIT. Harvard’s faculty and alumni have won 47 Nobel Prizes and the school recently hired former executive editor of The New York Times, Jill Abramson, to teach undergraduate courses. The university’s list of notable attendees and alumni is extensive and includes Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, actress Natalie Portman, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, NBA star Jeremy Lin and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. The current president of the university is FORBES' No. 33 Power Woman Drew Gilpin Faust. Harvard University competes in NCAA Division I athletics and its teams are known as the Crimson. Harvard basketball has become notorious for upsets: In the past two NCAA tournaments, Harvard has upset No. 12 seed Cincinnati and No. 14 seed New Mexico.

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