History Main / EliteSchoolMeansEliteBrain

* ''Series/{{House}}'': Dr. House went to Johns Hopkins, but did not graduate there due to being expelled for cheating on an exam, a medical university so prestigious it formed the basis of all medical education in the United States, and he is frequently portrayed as unrealistically skilled at medicine.

* ''Series/{{House}}'': Dr. House went to Johns Hopkins, a medical university so prestigious it formed the basis of all medical education in the United States, and he is frequently portrayed as unrealistically skilled at medicine.

This extends to fictional schools. Creators will often invent a school known for their academics or focus in a particular area, and credentials from it serve to tell the audience a character excels at whatever the school is known for. It also extends to lower-level schools, if they're prestigious enough, but high schools with a reputation to wield are vanishingly rare, and if an adult went to one but not a correspondingly elite university, it may raise even more questions than it answers.

* Played with in ''Manga/GreatTeacherOnizuka'': Teshigawara ''thinks'' being a Tokyo University graduate makes him smarter and better than everyone else, but if that's the case what is he doing as a high school math teacher? He may be academically gifted but has NoSocialSkills (not least because he sees almost everyone else as beneath him).

Compare IvyLeagueForEveryone. If they have [[GeniusesHaveMultiplePhDs multiple PhDs]] from elite schools, then they're definitely some sort of whiz. Other tropes to compare include BookSmart, ImprobablyHighIQ, EncyclopaedicKnowledge, GradeSkipper, AwesomenessByAnalysis, and SherlockScan. This trait is also common in the GuileHero, ScienceHero, and GentlemanAndAScholar.

If the character went to school in America, the well-renown schools for this trope are typically the UsefulNotes/IvyLeague, or perhaps MIT, Caltech, or Stanford. In Britain, it's most likely to be UsefulNotes/{{Oxbridge}}. In Japanese works, the likely targets are UsefulNotes/TokyoUniversity or Waseda. However, any well-known and well-respected school counts and every country has their own aspirational schools.

** Moran's attendance at Oxford is used not only to reveal his wealthy background but show that he's more than William's DumbMuscle.

* ''Manga/VermeilInGold'': In general the students of Alto's school, Ortigia, are to begin with a cut above other mages their age in skill and ability thanks to the high standards the school demands. It's noted in most magic schools in their world only around 10% of students manage to pass even the Bronze level mage exam, but in Ortigia it is 50%. They're also the only school that makes passing the Bronze exam a requirement for becoming a senior. Thus the best students there are correspondingly even more capable and powerful than most adult mages. As such there are even seven Gold Square mages among the students, and one who is close to being recognized as a Platinum (the highest rank of mage possible).

* ''Film/DontLookUp'': Inverted. The POTUS' Chief of Staff and son Jason Orlean, an incompetent ninny, makes fun of Randall and Kate for being associated with a "lowly" state university (Michigan State, to be specific), though as he's an incompetent ninny this view is portrayed as totally wrong. Later, after he has scientists from "the prestigious schools of Harvard, Princeton, etcetera" confirm their data about the comet that's about to destroy Earth, he is more willing to accept their science just in time for his mother to utilize it to boost her midterm ratings.

* In ''Film/HighSchoolMusical3SeniorYear'', Gabriella, the "freaky genius girl", has conflicts with her attendance at Stanford to study law and also trying to finish up her last bit of high school. Similarly Gabriella's best friend Taylor, the captain of the Academic Decathalon team (and aspiring future president of the United States), is accepted into Yale for political science.

* In ''Literature/TheMagicians'', Brakebills is considered the best WizardingSchool in North America -- and also the most exclusive. Because working magic requires incredible intelligence and a level of focus bordering on insanity, you need to be an intellectual prodigy just to be considered for enrollment, and out of an entire class of potential students, only a handful ever pass the [[IncomprehensibleEntranceExam notoriously-difficult entrance exam]] -- the rest having their memories of magic erased, no excuses, no second chances. For this reason, Brakebills students are considered the best and brightest of all magicians in the settings. By contrast, [[BlueCollarWarlock hedge magicians]] who learned their skills from non-official sources are treated as dunces who earned their skills at a 7-11.

** [[AntiVillain Lady Cecelia Tyburn-Thames]], the goddess of the River Tyburn and Mother Thames eldest daughter, is a cunning strategist with big plans to modernise the supernatural community and has been subtly working for decades to do so. Her intelligence is emphasised by the fact that she graduated from Oxford University with a double first, something she proudly boasts to Peter Grant upon their first meeting.

* ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'' : Because all but one of the main cast is a top scientist in their field (the main four guys work for Caltech), their education generally reflects this:

** ZigZagged with Howard Wolowitz, who went to MIT, but because he "only has a masters" his doctorate-holding friends often tease him.

** Played for laughs in "The Bat Jar Conjecture'' when Sheldon asks a Caltech janitor to join his Physics Bowl team, assuming that the janitor is uneducated and thus Sheldon could answer all the questions himself. Dimitri then guesses the correct answer on the final brain-stumper question and reveals that in the former Soviet Union he studied physics at Leningrad Polytechnic University (now St. Petersburg Polytechnic University).

* Subverted on ''Series/GilmoreGirls,'' despite the plot revolving around IvyLeagueForEveryone. Created by Yale alumni, the show revolves much more around the politics of Ivy League admissions than it does about their elitism. The plot is put into motion by Rory's acceptance to an elite prep school, which will give her an edge in applying to Harvard. Rory is smart, but not a prodigy, and struggles with the increased expectations. Paris, Chilton's AcademicAlphaBitch, skews closer to this trope, but knows her grades aren't enough and spends the first couple of seasons chasing all of the extracurricular activities that will make her application stand out. Rory ends up at Yale, where she's a legacy admission, but is also accepted at Harvard after making connections with an alum. At Yale, Rory again struggles with the increased expectations and ends up dropping out for a period after buckling under the pressure. The show also makes it clear that Logan attends Yale solely because of his father's money and influence, as he spends his days partying and graduates late. Jess, meanwhile, is intellectually on-par with Rory and Paris, but drops out of high school and becomes a SelfMadeMan later in the series.

* ''Series/HouseOfAnubis'': Piper's status as the more musically-talented and cultured of the Williamson twins is exemplified by her going to a special academy for musical prodigies, which Patricia bitterly refers to as for "musical geniuses" and compares her school negatively to. It's shown that while Piper's under a lot of stress at that school, she's also still a brilliant, knowledgeable, and skilled student who was also clever enough to trick everyone into not looking for her when she ran away to see her sister.

* Major Charles Emerson Winchester III, on ''Series/{{MASH}}'', is extremely proud of being a Harvard man. He's acknowledged even by the other doctors as being very erudite and well-educated and is probably the most intelligent person in the 4077th. The only downside is that he knows it, and it colors his perception of the others sometimes.

* The academical nerds of ''Series/NeverHaveIEver'' eventually go to prestigious universities: Fabiola goes to Howard (after turning down early admission to Princeton), Ben to Columbia, and Devi to Princeton.

* ''Theatre/DoctorFaustus'': Faustus is an intellectual who has mastered every subject he's ever studied and holds a Doctorate from Wittenberg University, which was an internationally household name at the time the play was written.

** In the finale "Is it College Yet", various students end up going to various colleges of varying reputations, clearly based on their intellectual level. Jane, with prompting from family and friends, gets into a highly regarded arts school. Daria gets into her second choice school, which is still highly regarded. The Cheerleaders (not the brightest bulbs in the bunch) are all elated they got into the same party school. "That's really nice of them, especially after everyone else said 'no'." And [[DumbJock Kevin]]? Well, he'll be attending Lawndale High again.

* In ''Film/HighSchoolMusical3SeniorYear'', Gabriella, the "freaky genius girl", has conflicts with her attendance at Stanford to study law and also trying to finish up her last bit of high school.

* Averted on ''Series/GilmoreGirls,'' despite the plot revolving around IvyLeagueForEveryone. Created by Yale alumni, the show revolves much more around the politics of Ivy League admissions than it does about their elitism. The plot is put into motion by Rory's acceptance to an elite prep school, which will give her an edge in applying to Harvard. Rory is smart, but not a prodigy, and struggles with the increased expectations. Paris, Chilton's AcademicAlphaBitch, skews closer to this trope, but knows her grades aren't enough and spends the first couple of seasons chasing all of the extracurricular activities that will make her application stand out. Rory ends up at Yale, where she's a legacy admission, but it also accepted at Harvard after making connections with an alum. At Yale, Rory again struggles with the increased expectations and ends up dropping out for a period after buckling under the pressure. The show also makes it clear that Logan attends Yale solely because of his father's money and influence, as he spends his days partying and graduates late. Jess, meanwhile, is intellectually on-par with Rory and Paris, but drops out of high school and becomes a SelfMadeMan later in the series.

* Averted on ''Series/GilmoreGirls,'' despite the plot revolving around IvyLeagueForEveryone. Created by Yale alumni, the show revolves much more around the politics of Ivy League admissions than it does about their elitism. The plot is put into motion by Rory's acceptance to an elite prep school, which will give her an edge in applying to Harvard. Rory is smart, but not a prodigy, and struggles with the increased expectations. Paris, Chilton's AcademicAlphaBitch, skews closer to this trope, but knows her grades aren't enough and spends the first couple of seasons chasing all of the extracurricular activities that will make her application stand out. Rory ends up at Yale, where she's a legacy admission, but it also accepted at Harvard after making connections with an alum. At Yale, Rory again struggles with the increased expectations and ends up dropping out for a period after buckling under the pressure. Meanwhile, the show makes it clear that Logan attends Yale solely because of his father's money and influence, as he spends his days partying and graduates late. Jess, meanwhile, is intellectually on-par with Rory and Paris, but drops out of high school and becomes a SelfMadeMan later in the series.

* In ''Literature/TheMagicians'', Brakebills is considered the best WizardingSchool in North America - and also the most exclusive. Because working magic requires incredible intelligence and a level of focus bordering on insanity, you need to be an intellectual prodigy just to be considered for enrollment, and out of an entire class of potential students, only a handful ever pass the [[IncomprehensibleEntranceExam notoriously-difficult entrance exam]] - the rest having their memories of magic erased, no excuses, no second chances. For this reason, Brakebills students are considered the best and brightest of all magicians in the settings. By contrast, [[BlueCollarWarlock hedge magicians]] who learned their skills from non-official sources are treated as dunces who earned their skills at a 7-11.

* ''Literature/MythAdventures'': Aahz, despite having lost his magic, was a student of the biggest, most prestigious magical university on Perv--a dimension known for its magical firepower. Despite dropping out (and later losing his magic for an entire century), he's still famous hundreds of years later as one of the best and brightest the school ''ever had'' and they granted special permissions to cover his ''entire tuition'' to keep him from dropping out. Later, he helps Skeeve get admission to the place himself. Since Aahz is never seen using his magic on the page, this serves to really cement how good he is with it.

* ''Literature/TanteiTeamKZJikenNote'': Kuroki, Uesugi, and Kozuka study in [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaisei_Academy Kaisei Academy]]--which has been the top feeder school to UsefulNotes/TokyoUniversity for ''decades''--and cemented their status as geniuses.

* ''Theatre/InTheHeights'' is set in a closely-knit, middle-to-lower-class Latino community in New York. Nina is their [[TheOneWhoMadeItOut pride and joy]]--a smart girl who not only made it to college but to ''Stanford University'' all the way across the country on partial scholarship. [[spoiler:It turns out that she cracked under the pressure of being TheOneWhoMadeItOut and the difficulties of being in college and dropped out, but is convinced to return]].

* ''VideoGame/TheSims3'': In ''Generations,'' parent Sim can send their teenager to a variety of boarding schools. The most expensive one, Smuggsworth Prep School, can increase the Charisma, Logic, and Writing skills and allow the teen Sim more credibility if joining high-profile careers like Business or Politics. It can even replace specific negative traits with the Ambitious, Charismatic, or Snob traits, implying that the school instills a sense of prestige in the young Sim.

If a character's education includes prestigious schools, it means they're [[TheSmartGuy the smartest person]] in the room--every room.

Compare IvyLeagueForEveryone. Other tropes to compare include BookSmart, ImprobablyHighIQ, EncyclopaedicKnowledge, GradeSkipper, AwesomenessByAnalysis, and SherlockScan. This trait is also common in the GuileHero, ScienceHero, and GentlemanAndAScholar.

* A variation in ''ComicBook/LuckyLuke'', where one convict (Oxford Bill) is forever bragging that he went to jail in England. Averell thinks shutting him up is the main reason the Daltons should head SouthOftheBorder.

* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': Shirogane and Kaguya are in constant competition for the top spot at their school, and the humor of the series revolves around them trying to overtake each other intellectually. [[spoiler:[[GradeSkipper Shirogane is eventually accepted for early admission to Stanford University]].]]

* ''Manga/KaguyaSamaLoveIsWar'': Shirogane and Kaguya are in constant competition for the top spot at their school, and the humor of the series revolves around them trying to overtake each other intellectually. Shirogane accepts admission early to Stanford University.

* ''LightNovel/TheCaseFilesOfJewelerRichard'': {{Omniglot}} Richard, who speaks over 17 languages fluently, seems to know something about ''everything'', and values learning and education above almost all else, got his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Cambridge.

* ''Film/GodzillaKingOfTheMonsters219'': Practically all of the Monarch geniuses attended a highly-ranked university, according to their profiles.