<p>How much does ranking matter when looking at engineering schools? Right now I'm most interested in Wash U and Stanford. (I also have interest in business) Does the ranking really matter, especially in terms of persuing graduate degrees? How important is it? Any advice on selecting schools with good programs in engineering, business, and the liberal arts would be much appreciated. Thanks.</p>
<p>It isn't so much the ranking itself that is most important, but the basis for the ranking. Rankings are attempts to quantify educational quality. It is the educational quality underlying the ranking that matters most. The rankings themselves, however, do have a way of influencing perceptions and might actually affect educational quality a little bit in the long run...kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy.</p>
<p>The US News rankings of undergrad engineering programs is pretty helpful for identifying possibilities. Then do some detailed research to see which schools are appropriate for you.</p>
<p>Rankings don't really matter that much. They just give you a brief idea of the school's educational quality, etc. It doesn't really measure how good a school is because there are many factors in which schools can be ranked. By the way, MIT and CIT have the best engiineering programs.</p>
<p>According to U.S. News rankings, MIT, Stanford, UC-Berkeley, CIT, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign, Georgia Tech, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Carnegie Mellon University, Cornell, and Purdue have the ten best engineering programs.</p>
<p>These schools have the ten best undergraduate engineering programs: Rose-Hulman Institiute of Technology, Harvey Mudd College, Cooper Union, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo, United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Air Force Academy, Bucknell University, Kettering University, and Swarthmore College.</p>