The 25 Most Desirable Large Schools

Just in case Harvard University hasn't earned enough distinctions since its founding as the first institution of higher learning in the United States in the mid-1600s, Newsweek adds a few more to America's preeminent university, chief among them the school's rank as the number one most desirable school in the country.   
 
The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based university also earns top billing as the most desirable urban school and the most desirable large school.  With eight presidents, 24 senators, and 43 billionaires among its alumni, it's no wonder the school lands squarely on the No. 1 spot for future power brokers.  It comes in at No. 2 for brainiacs with 17 Nobel Prize winners and 24 students going on to become Rhodes Scholars over the last decade or so.  And of course graduates were no slouches when they arrived on the prestigious campus either, averaging 35 on the ACT and 1580 on the SATs.    Lending credence to the theory that strong bodies go with strong minds, the school earns the 25th spot for jocks.   
 
It's no surprise that the school only accepts about 8 percent of applicants. Of the school's more than 26,000 students, about 10,000 are undergrads, and the school boasts a 7:1 student-to-faculty ratio.  
 
Tuition and fees for the 2009-2010 academic year were roughly $37,000, which is an increase of about 2 percent from the previous year.  Sixty-two percent of students received financial aid. The school's student body is more than half female, 15 percent Asian, 7 percent black and 6 percent Hispanic.