<p>Most are very similar academically, I don't see how you could really rank them, especially the bottom 7-8. Different schools are strong in certain departments, different schools have different environments. If you want a big city, OSU and Northwestern would be high on your list. Some schools party more than others, some are on lakes, some have nice campuses, some have smaller student bodies, some are Football schools, some are Basketball schools. Some will offer nice scholarships to OOS students, others have financial aid possibilities, others are in-state, or have tuition reciprocity agreements. It's more about just doing the research and finding the school for you than asking to rank them.</p>
<p>Great universities of the world are rated mostly on GRADUATE education and research. IMO this is where The University of Michigan has the edge on Northwestern University. Simply put, most of Michigan's graduate programs are rated higher than Northwestern's in comparable disciplines.</p>
<p>"I don't disagree with that assessment, but you are wrongly assuming that entering SAT scores are the primary measuring stick of academic quality."</p>
<p>Don't even bother trying to explain that whole concept him ... he specifically mentioned that being the reason (wanting a school with a higher SAT average) why he's wanted to transfer in the past (he's transfered 2 times in just as many years)</p>
<p>No way, is that bball again? HAHA</p>
<p>"but in an academic sense NU = Mich."</p>
<p>Slippery slope! Slippery slope!</p>
<p>NU = Mich = Cornell = Penn = Stanford = Columbia = Dartmouth = Princeton = Harvard = Yale.........</p>
<p>As far as I know that's not slipperly slope ... that type of argument, at least in every context I've ever seen it used, is comparing a current situation/event with a future situation/event (if X happens, Y and Z will happen).</p>
<p>Unfortunately, even used like this, most people get it wrong. You first have to prove that the situations are analogous, which most people don't do. </p>
<p>I'd still say that most schools in the top-25 deliever an equal quality of education ... there's just minor variations in the way they do it, how many students are in the classes, etc. A nobel prize winner can be a crappy teacher and nobody will learn diddly from him/her.</p>
<p>Ohio State is way better than Purdue or Michigan State. Columbus's weather isn't that terrible either. It's much better than Minnesota, Michigan, or Northwestern.</p>
<p>The comparison btwn NU and Mich is very much like the comparison btwn Stanford and UCBerk.</p>