<p>ferris state isn't even in the top ten, in my opinion.</p>
<p>My list is:</p>
<p>Michigan
(Publics)
1. Michigan
2. MSU
3. Michigan Tech
4. Grand Valley
5. Wayne State
6. Western Michigan
7. University of Michigan, Dearborn
8. Eastern Michigan
9. Central Michigan
10. Oakland</p>
<p>jpod, I'm sure it's different since you live in PA, but where I'm from, everyone nows Penn State and no one, i mean no one, has ever heard of UPenn....when they do hear of it, they think it's a public school that is inferior to Penn State.....of I live in the middle of nowhere where almost no one has ever gone to a top 20 school</p>
<p>Haha you're telling me! I also live 2 hours from the UChicago campus, and >75% of the people think I'm talking about Univ. of Illinois at Chicago.</p>
<p>The College of William and Mary
The University of Virginia (if you go to UVA you put it first, if you go to W&M, you put it first)</p>
<p>Virginia Tech
Washington and Lee (sorry that's just the way it is)
University of Richmond
University of Mary Washington (will surprise those not in "the know")
James Madison University</p>
<p>George Mason University
Christopher Newport University (keep an eye on this very upcoming school)
Virginia Commonwealth University</p>
<p>has everyone seriously researched that many schools that they can have an educated opinion on the best schools in so many states? I live in Texas and all I know is that Rice and UT-Austin are quite good, and that the rest are somewhere below.</p>
<p>jPoD: I am a student at New College of Florida. My best friend goes to U of Miami, and I grew up in Miami so I have numerous friends and acquaintances who go there. I also underwent the college admissions process along with other high achieving students in a competitive public school. There is no doubt that U of Miami is not respected among top students in Miami. It is known as a vain school with a weak undergraduate curriculum. Its price is ridiculous for the education it offers, and it doesn't touch New College in terms of rigor or devotion to its undergraduates. The intelligent people who go there all admit that they wouldn't pay full price for it. UM is known to give 75% scholarships quite liberally because of their horrible yield. </p>
<p>The initial Florida top 5 is about right. A top 10 based on the undergraduate curriculum would look like this:</p>
<ol>
<li>New College of Florida (which is the Honors college of Florida) </li>
<li>University of Florida Honors</li>
<li>University of Miami Honors</li>
<li>Florida State University Honors</li>
<li>Rollins College</li>
<li>Florida Atlantic University Honors College</li>
<li>Eckerd College</li>
<li>Florida International University Honors</li>
<li>University of Central Florida</li>
<li>University of North Florida </li>
</ol>
<p>The truth is, most Florida schools are not that great compared to their northern counterparts. The Florida Bright Futures scholarship is one of the few forces keeping people at New College and UF, which are the only schools on this list that have average SAT's in the 1300's.</p>
<p>COLORADO (from what I've seen, although it does depend what you want in a school):</p>
<ol>
<li>Colorado College (LAC on the block schedule)</li>
<li>Denver University</li>
<li>University of Colorado at Boulder</li>
<li>Air Force Academy</li>
<li>Colorado School of Mines</li>
<li>Colorado State University</li>
<li>University of Northern Colorado</li>
</ol>
<p>Are there any more colleges in Colorado? Haha just kidding...but I haven't heard much about any of the others.</p>
<p>joshnewcollege: New college of Florida is definetely 100% sure not better than UF for I also live in florida. USNews ranks UF #16 best public school in country and #50 overall best school in country. Ive never even heard of "NEw college" Sorry dude dont give bias opnions just because you attend there.</p>
<p>FutureUSAFApilot: I would say for someone who has to make a decision between UF or NCF, it would be based on fit. These are two totally different environments that should be a major factor in the decision-making process.</p>
<p>FutureUSAFApilot,
NCF is ranked 88th on USNWR LAC's rankings as is quickly rising. Not bad for a school that became independent ~5 years ago. You probably haven't heard of it because its so small (<1000). As ksanders said, UF and NCF are two totally different environments, huge university or small LAC.</p>
<p>And that's about where I stop caring. I know people at all those schools minus Loyola, so a lot of my ranking comes from what I've heard from actual students.</p>
<p>Texas is way too hard for me to rank. I mean, I really have no clue. I know which schools are great overall and for particular programs, but it's impossible for me to rank them.</p>
<p>I've heard of New College of Florida. It actually intrigued me a lot. Honors programs generally draw me, but they sent me a viewbook and I was interested.</p>