Physics GRE Discussion Forums

My friend is interested in HEP experimental analysis (not hardware... mostly for searches for new physics), how would one rank the following schools?

Cornell, Johns Hopkins, Boston U, Rochester, Columbia, Rutgers, U Mich

I think Cornell, U Mich and Johns Hopkins are the better ones but I have no idea about the others...
Cornell seems to be the most prestigious according to US news (and also an ivy) and has a load of HEP faculties, though how much does that really factor in?

Furthermore, are there any big name advisors in any of the school that one should be aware of? I'm mostly theory and can't really help my friend...

My friend would like to kill the obvious ones.. and decline em so more spots might open up for other people...
Thank you very much for the help!

I'd say Cornell, it seems that there is also a strong interaction between experimentalists and phenomenologists
there, so it could be the ideal place for new physics searches...
but I am a theorist, so take my opinion with a grain of salt. I hope someone in hep-ex can help your friend on this issue.

All are good schools, but I would say that Cornell, UMich, and Columbia are in a higher class than the others. Among those three, don't worry about reputation (they're all the same, and will vary by person anyway), just pick the program that makes you happiest. But that's just in terms of reputation -- you should visit as many as possible and take personal criteria into account also.