<p>I like the ranking system (no idea how they calculate) it has for each college and for its majors , but some of it is locked and requires 30 bucks to see.</p>
<p>Worth it?</p>
<p>For ex. I want to see which colleges in the Ivy League level have a good compsci program, and --if doesn't-- what another good reputable major I should apply for when I apply for that school.</p>
<p>The Ivy League schools’ CS degree programs are plenty good, although there are many other schools (including state schools) which have CS degree programs which are regarded as equal or better.</p>
<p>What would your plans be for after graduation?</p>
<p>Investment banking or management consulting -> Ivy League
Working in CS -> some other school good in CS
Graduate school in CS -> any school good in CS</p>
<p>If you have $30 to spare, the extra information from U.S. News may be worth it. If money is an issue, you can find most of the blocked data on other sites. In any case, unless I’m missing something, U.S. News isn’t going to be too helpful in terms of evaluating one computer science program over another. For instance, if you do a search for “best computer science programs us news” you’ll find a page that lists the top 10 computer engineering UG programs. If you pay extra, you get to see the top 15. Big whoop. If you want information about the reputation of a given program at any school, you are better off poking around College Confidential, finding other evaluative information guidebooks and websites, looking at school websites, etc. If computer science programs are what you’re looking for, you will have no trouble finding good computer science programs at a range of schools, from those you would consider safeties (your state flagship, for example) to those you would consider reaches.</p>
<p>USNews doesn’t have an undergraduate ranking for computer science but they do rank comp sci grad schools. Generally, if the graduate program is strong, so is the undergraduate program.</p>
<p>If you want to see the strengths of a specific college, you click on the college and it has a rankings tab and you can see what it’s rankings are in different fields.</p>
<p>Whether it’s worth it or not…like people have already said, this info is available in other places. But I personally like being able to see which colleges are strong in the major(s) I am interested in pursuing.</p>
<p>When both my kids were imagining which colleges would go on their starting list, it was a great set of data to have to do searches and dump data into spreadsheets. For $30, or whatever the cost was, I feel like we had access to tons of data that allowed me to compare basic things about various colleges side-by-side. Considering that college coaches charge $150/hour for their services, it is well worth the investment if you are not exactly sure what your major will be or where you want to study. </p>
<p>Once you get down to that 20, then you (the student) can explore each college’s website to learn more about that college and their programs. We definitely learned about some colleges that we wouldn’t have found on my own web searches or through hardcopy books, and we also picked up data about things we didn’t realize were important to us (how serious in the Greek life on campus, is the campus religious, etc.).</p>
<p>Good point about the graduate CS rankings, mathgirl21. But that info is available without paying the $30. I’m with SnowflakeVT that the side-by-side comparison is a nifty feature if the cost is bearable.</p>
<p>Mhm that’s true, you can find it elsewhere and I did agree with you on that point. What I like about the USNews rankings is that they not only rank the best Comp Sci programs, but they also rank different subfields within that major. So if you are most interested in say Artificial Intelligence, they have a separate ranking list for that.</p>
<p>Rankings don’t mean a thing. It’s what you put into it. I’m sure if you’re considering an Ivy League school, you won’t be disappointed.</p>
<p>Well rankings can be a starting point and they do tell you who has the best/strongest reputation in the field(s) you are considering. This can be nice to know if you plan to do research or take graduate classes. </p>
<p>I want to clarify what I said above. I said that “I personally like being able to see which colleges are strong in the major(s) I am interested in pursuing.” I meant all in one place. I can see who is strong in both Chemistry and Math without having to do a ton of searches. It’s just easier for me.</p>
<p>Yuppie, I asked pretty much the same question about 18 months ago. The feedback I got about subscribing to USNWR online in order to get their protected information was middling to positive. Nobody thought it was a terrible use of $30, but most people didn’t seem to think it was a resource of incredible value, either.</p>
<p>In the end, I didn’t pay the $30, so I won’t pretend to have an informed opinion about its value.</p>
<p>I will say that I felt I had plenty of resources with CC, universities’ web sites and a Fiske guide. (Of course, a Fiske guide also costs: $15 on Amazon. But you might be able to get it at the library.)</p>
<p>I thought paid $15 when D2 was a freshman for US news online. It was easier fro me to dump the data and such to Excell. it takes too long to search everywhere else.</p>
<p>Thanks for all the responses guys, appreciate the time you each put in helping me out 
. I do have 3 questions though:</p>
<p>I’m not sure how USNews does rankings, but I assume its accurate in how good the programs are. You guys say that there are other places to see full unblocked rankings, but perhaps because of my crappy google skills I can’t seem to find it. Is it one of those hidden torrent ones that ripped all the data from the site?</p>
<p>On the same note, if I do prod around CC for respective program merit in each college, where do the knowledgeable posters that know this stuff get their information from? Do they know inside information as they are alumni/graduates of the colleges?</p>
<p>I looked at college sites (ex. Brown) to see if they talk about how good each of their programs are but like in Brown–where I was curious what they are most known for (in USNews it isn’t in the Top 10 for any program)-- all they did was just list their programs. Specific departments seems to just list the course requirements. Where do college sites show their rankings?</p>
<p>Excuse the ignorance, just a curious Junior.</p>
<p>I think US News is fairly accurate. On CC you will get a lot of biased opinions that are just that, opinions. Once you have narrowed your list down to a few colleges, you can go on their websites to learn more about specific departments. Going on college websites will tell you nothing about what the college’s strengths are or their rankings, however.</p>