I’m not sure if I’m comparing apples to oranges when looking at Regional Schools vs. National schools, etc when it comes to the “overall” scores . Is the “overall score” something that should be used to compare schools only in the same category or can it be a good tool to evaluate overall quality in general?
Neither.
No, I’d say you really can only compare within a list. For example, on the main list Princeton is #1 with 100, and Cornell is #15 with 85. On the NE regional, Providence is #1 with 100 and Manhattan is #15 with 75.
This certainly doesn’t mean Providence is considered better than Cornell. It does mean that USNews thinks the gap between Providence and Manhattan is bigger than the gap between Princeton and Cornell. And maybe that means that they think the drop-off is a little steeper for regionals than for national universities as you go down the list. (I didn’t look at other numbers to check this, but this could be possible,) This might be relevant information, to the extent any of this is that relevant.
@TomSrOfBoston Thanks for the reply. Any recommendations?
@Wilson98 Thank you! That helps!
USN&WR uses slightly different methodologies for “national” vs “regional” rankings. For example, if you look at one of their “national” rankings", it will include a “high school counselor assessment score”. In their “regional rankings”, this factor is absent, because (for whatever reason) they don’t poll high school counselors for regional schools.
So comparing national scores between national and regional rankings is not meaningful.
Comparing overall scores between college and university rankings would not be meaningful either, because the peer evaluations are derived from different groups.
Finally, comparing overall scores within a given college and university ranking isn’t really meaningful either, because the measured factors and weights that USN&WR uses are completely arbitrary.
@Corbett Thank you! Also, very helpful!
Strongly agree with TomSrOfBoston!
Rankings are, at best, very rough approximations. They can actually be harmful to the college selection process if they are taken too seriously. They are a valid starting point, but an invalid selector.
Reducing the process to a ranking is like ranking the books on a best sellers list without accounting for your personal interests. Try ranking options at a school mixer without engaging in a conversation. No matter what the “ranking” the participant must still do some exploration.
It is difficult to make suggestions without knowing something about you.
@retiredfarmer Not trying to make any huge decisions based on ratings but have found it difficult to compare national and regional schools.
You might find it interesting to consider an actual example. The University of Richmond at one time had been ranked first in the Regional Universities (South) category and therefore was assigned an overall score of 100. In UR’s current U.S. News standing as a National Liberal Arts College, the school places in a tie for 27th (so top 30) with a score of 80.
@merc81 Very interesting example! Thank you!
A similar recent example is Villanova. They traditionally held the #1 spot in the Regional Universities (North) Category, with an overall score of 100. They moved into the National Universities category just a couple years ago, where they are currently tied at 50th with an overall score of 62.
@Corbett Also very helpful, thank you!
Some years ago WPI was moved from number one in a regional rankling to a much lower numerical ranking in the “national research university” rankings. This was due to the Carnegie Classification of colleges and universities as they were defined at that point in time. In that year WPI awarded more PhD’s than previous years and the increase triggered a reclassification. It did not, necessarily reflect any change in the quality of the schools undergraduate education, but only a change in one of Carnegie’s selected descriptors.
You might be interested in http://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/ for more information.
:bz
I would caution against over-reliance on any ranking system. Otherwise, college selection can turn into a horse race. A few years ago, a rankings-conscious friend of my daughter’s was pleased that her LAC was ranked in the top three. The following year, my daughter’s LAC, which had previously been ranked #6 or so, jumped up in the rankings and ahead of the friend’s school. This girl congratulated my daughter! What changed about either school? Nothing.
The terns “regional university” and “national university”, as used by USN&WR, aren’t very helpful. In California, for example, Santa Clara is classified a “regional” university – but it has 44% out-of-state or international enrollment. UC Merced, in contrast, is classified a “national” university – but 99+% of UC Merced students come from California.
USN&WR actually groups schools based on their Carnegie Classification (as noted above), and this in turn is based on the amount of doctoral-level research that the school sponsors. UC Merced has a significant number of PhD programs, and this makes it “national” in the eyes of USN&WR. Santa Clara doesn’t, so it is “regional”.
The Carnegie Classification is updated every 5 years. If a school (like Villanova) adds enough PhD programs, its Carnegie Classification can change, and then it will also switch categories in the USN&WR rankings. Santa Clara has recently started some PhD programs, possibly for this reason. But the change from “regional” to “national” doesn’t necessarily mean that the undergraduate program is any different – it just means that the school has added PhD programs.
Ugh, through out that dang US News magazine. Look at each school’s retention rates, graduation rates, and explore their programs. Look at other stats on College Results dot com and read student reviews on Niche. Put together your own ranking! 
Do National Universities and LACs use the same scoring guidelines?
High school counselors’ ratings are hilarious as a tool as well, for many public high school counselors struggle to keep their public state college requirements straight, and the private school counselors fall in love with the colleges that love their school (along with the standard love-from-afar worship of famous schools). This is crass over-generalization, but I base it on having met and spoken with at least 30 counselors myself and hearing anecdotes about at least another 50 from other parents. Really good high school college counselors are diamonds in the rough. Ranking 300 national colleges based on surveying the profession is lunacy.
And I should add my wife was a college admissions officer for many years, which also has influenced my opinions.