<p>IU is also highly ranked in english, classics, and philosophy</p>
<p>Why are you putting so much stock in peer assessment ratings? It's subjective, potentially uninformed (why should I be concerned what the president of University of Oregon thinks about the relative merits of BC vs Tufts) and discrete (whole number scale of 1-5). </p>
<p>Also, going by department rankings (except for very speacialized majors) also seems misguided to me. This is more of a consideration for grad school in specific fields.</p>
<p>Because it's the most accurate way of finding a school's true overall prestige. Someone who gets paid to know the competition and their strengths should have good knowledge of how good a school is. It's much more accurate than punching skewed numbers into weights and a formula and giving schools that aren't necessarily better boosts that they don't deserve.</p>
<p>Department strength is important because you want to get the best education in your field of study that you can. That's what prepares you for your job and your graduate school.</p>