<br>
<blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <blockquote> <p>California, you make one critical mistake. Grad programs have nothing to do with the excellence of an undergraduate college experience. Having committed and well regarded professors invite you to their house for dinner and teaching discussion sections is an amazing thing.>>>>>>>></p> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote> </blockquote>
<br>
<p>That is very very cool. A universities prestige takes into account both undergraduate and graduate. Otherwise UCSF would be much better known if it had an undergraduate as well. So would a lot of good colleges, if they had graduate programs. </p>
<p>I agree with you that eating with your professors is a good thing. However, this should be the allure of a school, such as being close to a city you love, intimate talks with professors, proximity to ski resorts, etc... These should be factors when picking schools (maybe a student blossoms in small schools, some students blossom in big schools because they went to a small private high school and want a change of pace, this preference should not already be predetermined in a ranking to favor smaller private schools), not in actual rankings where we are trying to isolate academic excellence.</p>