<p>In a list that is bound to raise hackles and stir controversy, here are the latest rankings of schools based on the number of National Merit Finalists and Scholars enrolled in the 2004 freshman class.</p>
<li>Harvard University – 312</li>
<li>University of Florida – 259</li>
<li>University of Texas – 242</li>
<li>Yale University – 224</li>
<li>Stanford University – 217</li>
<li>University of Chicago – 198</li>
<li>Washington University at St. Louis – 197</li>
<li>Princeton University – 192</li>
<li>University of Southern California – 183</li>
<li>University of Oklahoma – 170</li>
</ol>
<p>Where did you get this info? Because this is what I recieved from Arizona State the other day:</p>
<p>"In 2003, approx. 170 Nat. Merit Finalists enrolled at ASU, ranking us 7th among ALL universities and colleges, ahead of Rice, Princeton, Duke, Notre Dame, and UCLA to name a few. This year, 2004, will look similar and once again ASU will be in the top 10."</p>
<p>I think, personally, that the list is much more interesting on a percentage basis. It's great if there are 242 at UT, but that's out of 8,000 freshman!</p>
<p>I like this list better: (carelton college website)
Percentage of Freshman Class Who Are National Merit Scholars (Fall 2002)</p>
<p>1 Harvey Mudd College 26.74%
2 Harvard 24.37%
3 Rice 24.14%
4 Cal Tech 22.22%
5 U. of Chicago 17.01%
6 Carleton College 16.53%
7 M.I.T 14.21%
8 Yale 13.85%
9 Stanford 13.63%
10 Princeton 12.80%
11 Washington U. 9.91%
12 U. of Tulsa 9.20%
13 Oberlin 9.12%
14 Vanderbilt 8.17%
15 Case Western Reserve U. 6.00%
16 Duke 5.99%
17 U. of Southern Calif. 5.89%
18 Bringham Young U. 5.10%
19 Northwestern 4.94%
20 Columbia University 4.82%
21 Dartmouth College 4.69%
11 Johns Hopkins 4.61%
12 Tufts University 4.50%
13 Brown 4.46%
14 Georgia Tech 4.38%
15 U. of Oklahoma 4.23%
16 UNC--Chapel Hill 4.13%
17 U. of Pennsylvania 3.59%
18 Tulane 3.38%
19 U.T--Austin 3.35%
20 U. of Florida 2.85%
21 U. of Notre Dame 2.60%
22 New York U. 2.46%
23 U. of Kansas 2.45%
24 Texas A&M 2.24%
25 UC--Los Angeles 2.16%
26 Iowa State 1.90%
27 Ohio State 1.84%
28 UC--Berkeley 1.80%
29 Arizona State 1.66%
30 University of Kentucky 1.44%
31 Purdue 1.40%
32 U. of Maryland College Park 1.33%
33 UC--San Diego 1.20%
34 U. of Arizona 1.00%</p>
<p>Of course, there's that other interesting statistical point if I understand this correctly. At a school like Texas or several of the others on the list, every NMSC Finalist that is accepted automatically gets a scholarship and is a national merit "scholar". Other schools that don't offer scholarships may have as many or more Finalists, but can only count the small percentage of Finalists who got one fo the national scholarships. Of couse, we'll never know from this list.</p>
<p>I'd be curious how many Finalists are attending each school, or failing that, how many national scholarship winners attending them. Otherwise I can't help but feel this list just shows which schools were more generous with their scholarships to Finalists.</p>
<p>I see someone's answered my question with a link to the Laissez Faire Guide to Colleges in the Parent's Forum. Oldish data, but interesting none the less.</p>
<p>Yes, I think you are correct that ASU made the top ten in 2003, but they fell off of it this year.</p>
<p>Regarding percentages....yes, looking at the % of Finalists & Scholars is a way of quantifying things, but so is looking at the absolute numbers. The state universities on the list, obviously, fall down when looking at percentages. On the other hand, if you are trying to recruit the nation's "best and brightest", you better not overlook them!</p>