Tulane University is a private research university in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Washington University in St. Louis (WashU, or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus (Danforth) mostly split between St. Louis County and Clayton, Missouri

Yale University is a private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, founded in 1701.

The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, founded in 1883.

The University of California, Irvine (UCI or UC Irvine) is a public land-grant research university in Irvine, California.

Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, founded in 1900.