<p>see, I’m not sure you can compare national unis and LACs… they are so different by nature. those rankings for each are on a relative basis. for example, take alumni giving rate. most of the top 15 LACs beat every single uni but princeton (approximately)… resources will vary as well (HYP endowment/student vs. Amherst/Midd/Wes endowment/student)… so you cant use US News rankings as a basis for combining the two. selectivity is this way as well. the ivies are much more “visible” than the top LACs, despite being comparable for an undergrad education.</p>
<p>If you want to compare apples to oranges, dont let the banana (US News) decide. you would have to be careful which attributes to include if doing a numbers comparison. you’re almost better off going by reputation alone…</p>