<p>Many parameters are factored into college ratings and not everyone is going to be satisfied with his/her school/alma mater’s ratings. While I never, personally, placed much stock in ratings and would not let them guide my choice of a school for myself or my children, they can be helpful as a starting point but should not be used as a key decision maker. If not interpreted wisely, they will not convey an accurate image of an academic institution!</p>
<p>Is there really a difference between Yale(3), Harvard (2), Princeton (1), Columbia (9), Cornell (12), Brown (14) etc…? Certainly, not, yet there are 14 spots that separate the number 1 Ivy from number 14. The same high caliber student goes to all of these schools. </p>
<p>However, is there a difference between the Brown Student (14) and the Notre Dame Student (19) and the Carnegie Mellon Student (22)? Probably a bigger difference than you would find in the first group, although there are only 5 and 8 rankings that separate them. </p>
<p>The ND student probably has more in common with a BC (35), NYU (34), and Fordham student (67).</p>
<p>Is there really a difference between a NYU, BC, and Fordham student intellectually? NO! in what they’re looking for in terms of a college experience? YES!</p>
<p>Parents and potential students should group together schools using their own criteria, you’ll end up with better fits. </p>
<p>There is nothing scientific about this but I checked acceptance rates on review.com for all schools on US News from NYU (34) to Fordham (67) . Except for a handful of schools, Fordham is tougher to get into than most of the “better rated” schools. While I realize that there are a variety of variables that get factored into this concoted rating, I have long thought (and perhaps wrongly) that the tougher the school was to get into, the better the caliber of the student (due to greater selectivity) and the better the intellectual experience at a given school. After all the primary resource of any school is its grey matter, i.e. the intelligence of its students and professors.
Apparently, the state schools (the majority of schools separating Fordham from NYU and BC) get ranked better because of size and tax-dollar filled endowments. I don’t mean to disparage any of these schools, but it is clear that Fordham is underrated. Proportionally, today’s student body at Fordham clearly ranks well into the top 50. Although acceptance ratings don’t reflect everything, it’s one of the biggest factors that parents and prospective students check to determine the quality of the school and one’s chance for acceptance. But then again what do I know, I was Jesuit educated in the Bronx. </p>
<p>Here are the results of my unscientific check. (Acceptance rates are apparently from 2006.)</p>
<p>Source: <a href=“http://www.review.com%5B/url%5D”>www.review.com</a></p>
<li>NYU 36%</li>
<li>George Institute of Technology 69%</li>
<li>BC - 29%
38 University of Wisconsin Madison 58%
38 University of Illinois Urbana Champaign 65%</li>
<li>Case Western 67%</li>
<li>University of Washington 68%</li>
<li>University of California Davis 68%</li>
<li>RPI 67%</li>
<li>University of Texas Austin 57%</li>
<li>University of CA Santa Barbara 53%</li>
<li>University of CA Irvine 60%</li>
<li>Penn State University University Park 58%</li>
<li>University of Florida - 48%</li>
<li>Syracuse University 51%</li>
<li>Tulane Universtiy - Percentage not posted selectivty rating 88 (lower than FU)</li>
<li>Yeshiva University - 78%</li>
<li>University of Miami (FL) 42%</li>
<li>Pepperdine University (CA) 28%</li>
<li>George Washington University (DC)- 38%</li>
<li>University of Maryland College Park 44%</li>
<li>Ohio State University Columbus 68%</li>
<li>Boston Universtiy 58%</li>
<li>Rutgers New Brunswick 58%</li>
<li>University of Pittsburgh 56%</li>
<li>University of Georgia 58%</li>
<li>Texas A&M College Station 77%</li>
<li>Worcester Polytechnic 67%</li>
<li>Uconn 51%</li>
<li>Purdue West Lafayette 85%</li>
<li>University of Iowa 83%</li>
<li>Fordham University 47% (listed) reported by school for Class of 2011 42%</li>
</ol>