Best Overall Colleges in America (Perception on USNWR)

College Confidential Community
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<p>Hello Everybody:</p>

<p>My name is Adam and this question is open to anybody interested. Since the 2010 US News and World Reports has come out with their new listing of the best colleges in America, I was curious to know what the members on College Confidential think the top 10 overall colleges (academics, reputation, career placement, etc.) should be. </p>

<p>I will start off with my own ranking, so feel free comment, to set up your own ranking, and to provide some input on what you think about new USNWR listing as a whole. Is it helpful? Is it influential? Is it necessary? </p>

<p>There is hardly any doubt that the economic recession has lead to a massive increase in the number of applications to attend the elite universities, but what does it all mean for our society? Are we going to these schools to help guarantee a high paying job or are we going to make ourselves 'educated', a concept which is becoming more misunderstood as time progresses? I am interested to read your responses. </p>

<p>Top 10 Schools:
1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Stanford
4. Princeton
5. MIT
6. University of Chicago
7. Columbia
8. Northwestern
9. University of Pennsylvania
10. Duke</p>

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<p>I believe that at the undergrad level, there is a negligible difference among the reputable colleges (say, the top 30 schools on the USNews rankings). A Bachelor’s is not worth a lot these days, and it’s not as if a BA from Harvard is suddenly going to open doors that a BA from, say, UNC wouldn’t. </p>

<p>I feel like the top UG colleges are becoming the new prep schools: they’re more for show and prestige, rather than functional advantages. It’s a social game for the privileged classes.</p>

<p>I think where you go for med, law, or business school is far more important. </p>

<p>So instead of some arbitrary ranking, think of things like the location and culture of a college. Do you like college sports? Are you a sunny weather kind of person? Do you like college towns or cities?</p>

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<p>That is an excellent point. I also see that to be very important and valuable, especially to young adults with little to no work experience. But to add an additional question to the issue, why is American society becoming more demanding of its’ students? How is a post-graduate degree becoming “the standard?” I look forward to more responses.</p>

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<p>All undergraduate institutions provide a less than stellar experience, so it’s best to choose the most reputable school to which one is admitted.</p>

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<p>A couple of decades ago, all you had to worry about was getting good grades, and doing okay on your sat, writing a good essay, and you’re in. In addition, people might have acutually gone to college to get an “education”, but for almost all of students now, the thing that makes the world go 'round, money is the main reason for basically risking their health to make themselves more attractive to colleges.(Trust Me, me and a couple of buddies of mine made our bodies cry out in pain due to our constant high stress, lack of sleep and drive to get ahead of the curve. I’m 17 and already have a lot of gray hair, and have constant migraines…thank god for summer vacation). Ok, enough of me ranting. American students now have to juggle a thousand things just to get into a decent college: Athletics, EC, Community Service, AP Classes, HW, HW and more HW. In my opinion, this stems from the massive increase in competition among American students, owing to the increasing diversity of the Ameican people. </p>

<p>For example, Asians. I’m going to try not to stereotype, as I am Chinese myself, and know many Asians who are not very bright. Chinese parents and culture put a lot of pressure on their kids to do well, and get into good schools, etc. Their children push themselves to try to please their parents and get a good future. This means an increase in extremely qualified applicants for the top schools without a proportional increase in admission rates. More competition = more pressure to do well. Not only that, but American students have to compete with international students, as well as Hispanic and African-American Students, who get a little boost in their applications due to their ethnicity. With all this competition and little room for error, there is enormous pressure on students to make themselves stand out from the pack, leading to most applicants having basically the same resume, making the admissions process sort of picking between Lebron and Kobe. </p>

<p>Nowadays, a bachelor’s degree is not good enough for many companies, they want graduate degrees, and good ones at that. With this backdrop, the competition to get into good med/law/business schools is even worse than the one to get into college, as the admissions are even more selective, and the applicants even more outstanding. If one can get into the top schools, however, you are almost automatically guaranteed a job offer out of grad school, or at least an internship, and a good one at that. </p>

<p>As for USNWR, I read them to get a general feeling about the academic quality of the school, a little bit about the prestige of the school, but the most important part of college is actually having fun and learning something from the experience, which only the person themselves can decide where that place is. </p>

<p>Just my (long) .02c</p>

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<p>One reason is that in an information economy, knowledge and analytical skills are at a premium. While being a farmer is neither easier nor less valuable than being a hedge fund manager, it has a much lower barrier of entry. A young kid could be a reasonably adequate (though probably not very good) farmer, whereas it would be impossible for him to be a reasonably adequate hedge fund manager due to the highly specialized training and accumulation of specific knowledge the job requires.</p>

<p>Also, on a more cynical note, let’s not forget that post-graduate degrees are great businesses for universities. Law schools and business schools are particularly big cash cows for universities, while graduate schools ensure a steady supply of cheap servants (in the form of grad students) for established faculty members.</p>