For example, I desire to pursue Engineering. Would a #97 NU but #70 Engineering outweigh a #26 NU but #137 Engineering? And how would the scholarships policies be different in such schools? (The higher-ranked school may have more rigorous policies, or the school with a low rank of your major doesn’t intend to focus on such field so they would be less likely to give money to better Engineering students, for ex?)
A few things to consider:
- How sure are you that your major/area will not change? Consider accordingly, and give some wiggle room.
- Scholarship offers / major admit ranges by school - there is no generalization there.
- Rankings should be used as soft guides, not hard numbers. There isn't much of a difference between 90 vs 70 - your second example is much more considerable.
- If one had to make a generalization, assuming you were 100000% confident in your major, then major would be the better general guide, if ranking matters in said field. But as you alluded to, there are advantages to going to a school with better academics beyond the major. It's all a balance you should look for. There's also plenty of schools that offer the best of both, so you don't have to decide in this binary.