<p>OPs ranking is as good as any, but I think I would put Appalachian State ahead of Michigan – just sayin’.</p>
<p>I think I’m going to go with this-- but don’t hold me to it tomorrow because the truth is there are schools I like Hamilton a lot more than what it looks like on this list. Lots of great schools there…</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon University
Macalaster College
NYU / University of Michigan
Tufts University/ Emory Univesity
WashU in St. Louis
Hamilton College
UCONN Honors</p>
<p>In general different schools can’t be compared without looking at the major.</p>
<p>But even within a particular major, each student’s best choice is determined by a blend of fit and finance.</p>
<p>Here’s my opinion of the ranking order:</p>
<p>Carnegie Mellon University tied with WashU in St. Louis (I hold both of these in such a high opinion I could not put one over the other)
University of Michigan (this was close but I’m <em>just</em> giving Michigan the edge over NYU)
NYU (About the only thing you can find wrong with this school is the financial aid)
Hamilton College (great school, really awful location)
UCONN Honors (Very underrated academically, the hoops gets all the attention)
Emory Univesity (overrated)
Macalaster College (Eh… nothing special)
Tufts University (most overrated school in the country)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thanks, soze, some of us in Clinton would take exception to that…:)</p>
<p>Looks to me like a great bunch of schools. </p>
<p>For the people that are giving UConn a low ranking … the UConn Honors program is an awesome way to take an <em>affordable</em> school and get an LAC experience. The Honors Program students get a great dorm in a super location … between the main campus and the village of Storrs. Which is bigger and better than it used to be. </p>
<p>For myself, I never felt it was too far from civilization. Plenty of places to eat and drink on and off campus. Plenty of stores to purchase necessities. Less than 20 miles from a seriously major shopping area if you need to <em>shop</em> and lots of cultural stuff comes right <em>to</em> campus. I attended UConn in the 70s when it transitioned from a suitcase school to a a school with weekend activities due to the gas lines of the fall of '73.</p>
<p>I don’t know much about UConn. But I do endorse the idea of exploring Honors programs at state schools and less-than-tippy-top private schools. It seems to be a good way to get academic challenge and good scholarship opportunities.</p>
<p>For pie, rhubarb is the Harvard of fruit.</p>
<p>Yes, yes and raspberry is the Princeton</p>
<p>I think what this thread shows is that no two people rank these schools exactly the same.
It’s all subjective.</p>
<p>I hope you and your friends have a wonderful four years, OP!</p>
<p>U Michigan will always be number one in so many areas!!! I am an East Coast transplant…and those Midwesterners really got it going on…Ann Arbor is by far the best college town on the planet…just saying…GO BLUE</p>
<p>Here’s how I’d rank these schools and how i see these schools excel (IMO).</p>
<p>Wash U: tops in sciences and engineering
U Mich: tops in alumni spirit (and other things of course)
Tufts: tops for being in Boston area, pre-med, and IR
Carnegie Mellon: tops in engineering and art
U Conn Honors: tops for being affordable (I’m in-state)
NYU: tops for drama and for the New York experience
Emory: tops for being in Atlanta, for pre-med
Macalester: great small school, esp. for sciences
Hamilton: tops for being in upstate NY, a hidden treasure</p>
<p>
Have you tried Jazz, Honey Crisp, Pink Lady and the like? Nothing common about them at all, IMO. They’re like a whole different fruit than boring old Red Delicious or Jonathan.</p>
<p>Macalaster is my top pick because of their happy, interesting graduates. </p>
<p>NYU gets the bottom ranking because of its nasty habit of graduating students in massive debt.</p>