1/24    When people talk about 1st tier and 2nd tier schools, what exactly
        does that mean? Does first tier mean top 10, 2nd tier top 20, and
        so on so forth?
        \_ I will now offer a working definition:
           Tier one is the set of grad shools that do not have some
           significant difference between themselves and the best school(s)
           in the field.  Tier two schools have some significant way that
           they are not as strong as the tier ones , but are roughly on
           the same plane, and still good.  how big these sets are
           depends non how fine a distinction you look at.  I would say that
           in physics, there are about 6-10 first tier schools and mabye
           15 or so second tier schools, depending on who you ask.
        \_ I use 1st tier to mean top 20 and 2nd tier to mean #20-50.
           \_ you're claiming that there is no formal definition?
              \_ "formal" requires an authority. i'm sure someone out there
                 has declared themselves an authority and picked a definition.
                 _very_ probably, there're more than a few such someones, and
                 their definitions differ.
              \_ When using "tier" definitions, I would propose that there
                 is no exact number, otherwise people would USE that figure.
                 Tier is nebulous enough to mean top three to top 20.
        \_ some other people say top tier is top 10.  2nd tier is 10-20 or
           10-30 or so.  That's just another person's sense/opinion.
        \_ And who defines what # a school gets anyway?  It's all subjective.