<p>...tied with harvard for #1 among "national universities." for princeton, it is a return to the top spot that it held for eight straight years, either by itself or together with harvard, before the slip to #2 in 2009. the usual grains of salt apply, of course, but despite all the criticisms, the influence of the rankings appears not to have diminished.</p>
<p>from USNWR's press release:</p>
<p>For the second year in a row, Harvard University tops the U.S.News & World Report rankings of America's Best Colleges, but this time it has company. By edging up slightly in the 15 indicators of academic excellence that U.S. News uses to compile the rankings, Princeton University tied Harvard for first place on the list of national universities....</p>
<p>For Princeton, the No. 1 ranking means a return to the top after slipping to second place last year. The New Jersey college is kicking off several new initiatives this school year. In the fall, 20 entering freshmen will spend their first year of college overseas doing community service work in Peru, Ghana, Serbia, or India. It's a test to see how "gap years" or "bridge years," in which high school graduates do a year of travel and work before starting their freshman year of college, should be integrated into the university's overall program of study. In years to come, as many as 100 first-year students each fall could enroll in the program. Princeton is also one of six universities participating in the test-drive of how Amazon's electronic book, the Kindle, can be used in college classrooms. Students and faculty in select courses will use the devices as textbooks.</p>
<p>This is interesting. There’s another article on the US News website that talks about rankings. It says that this year, there will be another category that ranks colleges based on their commitment to undergraduate education. Anyone know what that one looks like?</p>
<p>LOL I would laugh soo frickin hard if harvard barely made the top 20 on that list. My honest guess would be that top three for undergraduate education are:</p>
<p>the full rankings (or at least the free portion thereof) have now been posted on the USNWR site, and they do in fact include a ranking for undergraduate teaching, which is identical in substance to the version posted by ptongrad2000 above (1. dartmouth, 2. princeton, 3. yale, etc.).</p>
<p>Wow…just looking at their undergraduate program rankings, it has become clear that the US News rankings have gone off the deep end. Bowling Green State University??? where in the good Lord’s name is that?</p>
<p>Quote:
Well Harvard doesn’t give a s*** about you!</p>
<p>Let’s not forget that Princeton is still TIED for first. Harvard has held first for I don’t know how many years, but probably since the beginning of time, since it was the FIRST founded college in America.</p>
<p>Harvardlawviolin, no one is disputing the absolute enormity of a Harvard education. The school is outstanding, as are Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT, and countless others. However, I do want to point out a flaw in your previous statement. From 2001 through 2008, Princeton help the #1 position in the USNWR rankings. Some of those years, Princeton solely held the position. Other years, Harvard tied Princeton, just as the two schools tied this year. And last year (2009 rankings), Harvard was 1st and Princeton was 2nd. So even within the last decade, Harvard and Princeton have had their battles in terms of rankings. Neither school has continuously maintained the #1 spot for very long, and once they fall from the 1st position, they always seem to make it back eventually (seen this year with Princeton moving back into 1st along with Harvard). </p>
<p>But really, what makes the difference within the top 5 schools? HYPSM are definitely the top colleges in the nation. Whichever school someone chooses depends on his/her fit with the school. I, personally, see virtually no difference between HYPSM in terms of their academic quality. All of those schools are top-notch, and no one is going to dispute that.</p>