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I highly doubt that, outside of people living in the Valley.

For all that the US News rankings methodology is basically crap, they often do reflect something close to conventional wisdom. Stanford is 5th, with four Ivy above and four below.

http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/...

I said it was the cloest thing to an Ivy League school, not that it was the "next best" thing.

Without debating quality, even if it was 10x better it would still remain "the closest thing to an Ivy League school".

Sigh...you said "the NEXT closest thing" referring to it's inferiority.

No, referring to its not actually being in the Ivy League.

Most people would agree that Stanford is better than many of the Ivy schools.

As a graduate of Dartmouth, I see your point. (Of course, opinions are...)