<p>This is big news, as AU wasn’t even ranked last year. For comparison, Georgetown ranked 24% (almost totally on the strength of higher enteriing SAT scores; George Washington ranked 65%.</p>
<p>In the subscores, AU received in A+ in teach quality and an A in job placement; both are higher than NYU Stern or than Georgetown. Student surveys ranked AU as #10; and 27th in academic quality.</p>
<p>There is also an interesting chart on Return On Investment (ROI); starting salary v. tuition cost, in whch AU ranked 11th.</p>
<p>This now joins the ranks of the Foreign Policy magazine ranking of undergraduate international relations programs, in which AU now ties for 10th best in the country.</p>
<p>If I remember correctly, isn't your daughter in the business program at AU? My son applied to American/Kogod ED and was accepted last December--he can't wait to get on campus.</p>
<p>What can you tell about your daughter's classes/experiences etc?</p>
<p>Her experiences have been nothing short of fabulous, far beyond what we had expected. Shis in in Kogod, and an international business (accounting) major, minor in international service (economic development), with a full year of Arabic, and piano lessons with a former winner of the Queen Elisabeth competition in Belgium. Her work-study job has been great, and she has met so many people! Saturday she leaves for a one-credit spring break trip "Pathways Out of Poverty" in Mexico, with mostly graduate students.</p>
<p>I note that AU received only a B (rank 51-75) for facilities and services. Maybe the new facilities will change that. I also wonder how AU can rise from unranked to 28th in one year. The large swings in rankings throughout the list (Ohio State (up to 42 from 59), Richmond (up to 12 from 20), Fordham (down to 41 from 27) etc.) make the methodology seem somewhat suspect.</p>
<p>I too don't understand the leap from not ranked to number 28. My D got an e-mail about Kagod ranking. We visited AU last summer and weren't really that impressed. I wonder what happened in past less than 6 months.</p>
<p>The NR probably represented that there were not enough surveys in last year's ranking (that happened with about a dozen or so schools this year). So it may not have been a "leap" at all, but rather an inclusion.</p>