<p>In deciding between 2 universities for grad school, should I take US news college ranking into account? Eg. For engineering, Columbia and U Penn are ranked higher and are more prestigious in the overall college ranking however Illinois and Michigan are ranked higher in the engineering section. For undergrad, people would choose to go to Columbia or U Penn, however does it work like that for Grad school?</p>
<p>I feel grad school should be more in keeping with the 'fit' of the program you wish to pursue. Undergrad is more about an overall experience. Research forms the mainstay of any grad program in engineering, therefore, the profile of the grad school in terms of the available resources-namely faculty and labs, is of paramount significance. Further, different schools are strong in different programs, so overall prestige as determined by rankings may not be relevant to your career goals.</p>
<p>I agree with anxiousbear. When I was searching for grad schools in engineering, I used the US news grad school rankings as a guideline to research different colleges that I could potentially be interested in. When it came time to choose which one to attend, I picked the one that was actually less prestigious in engineering, but was a better fit for me because of the backgrounds of the professors in my particular concentration.</p>
<p>So definitely do research the professors (especially if you're pursuing phd), look into lab facilities if that applies to you, the courses that are typically offered, etc. You can't even go by the US news engineering rankings because those rank by overall departments, and not individual concentrations within each major, which is what matters to you as a grad student.</p>
<p>OP, your original question seems to be whether you should consider the program (engineering) rankings or the overall rankings. For grad school, program rankings are the only ones that matter. Overall rankings mean absolutely nothing.</p>
<p>Within this, of course, fit is very, very important. it's not a bad thing to take a look at the top programs in your field and research them for fit. You don't want to go to a program just because it's ranked #1, but if #s 2, 5, and 11 fit you well, go for it. You also want to consider, as ken285 points out, that concentrations within a major make a difference. The rankings are an OK place to start, but don't depend on them.</p>
<p>I agree with DespSeek with how the program rankings actually matter. Specially if you are not completely sure with what you want to study within the program. Rankings can be important becasue it takes consideration of student to professor ratios, amount of money going into the program, etc, etc. which are pretty important.</p>