More important: overall or department rating?

College Search & Selection
1

<p>What is more important in terms of future success in your field: the overall rating of your university (top 25) or the rating of the specific department of your major?</p>

2

<p>a university of maryland study last year found that overall rating was generally a much better indicator of future success based on job offers, median salary, etc.</p>

3

<p>yeah i think that "department rating" stuff is for the 'academics,' like the 'perpetual students,' etc.</p>

4

<p>also there are no such things as ratings for undergrad departments</p>

5

<p>Overall definetely for undergrad, for post-undergrad probably by department</p>

<p>For impressing the general public, definetely the overall hehe</p>

6

<p>"also there are no such things as ratings for undergrad departments"</p>

<p><a href="http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/topprogs_brief.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/topprogs_brief.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/topprogs_withphd_brief.php%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://usnews.com/usnews/edu/college/rankings/brief/topprogs_withphd_brief.php&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://bwnt.businessweek.com/bschools/undergraduate/06rankings/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://bwnt.businessweek.com/bschools/undergraduate/06rankings/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>There are rankings for specialty schools as well as certain majors such as engineering. While I'm not familiar with any specific set of rankings for liberal arts degrees, i'm sure you can find them somewhere.</p>

7

<p>are there rankings for history dept?</p>

8

<p>Both the overall reputation and the quality of the specific department are important. Perhaps you could narrow down your list based on overall reputation to perhaps 20 or 25 schools and then narrow down further based on the quality of the department in which you plan to major.</p>

<p>There are many ways to assess the quality of an undergraduate department. Several publications rank or rate undergraduate departments: US News ranks engineering and business, The Gourman Report and Rugg's Recommendations rate specific undergraduate departments. I think Princeton Review or Fiske Guide may name particularly strong departments. You can also check the course offerings, not just in the catalog but in the fall and spring course schedules to see the courses that are actually offered. You can check faculty credentials. You can check the number of degrees awarded annually in a particular major. The quality of the graduate program in a particular major may be ranked by US News. The strength of the graduate program might be one indication of undergraduate quality at universities but not LACs. And so on.</p>

<p>Even top schools can vary in the quality of individual departments.</p>

9

<p>
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More important: overall or department rating? </p>

<p>What is more important in terms of future success in your field: the overall rating of your university (top 25) or the rating of the specific department of your major?

[/quote]
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<p>I'm inclined ot believe both have an imnpact for one's marketability. But if I have my way, I would go for the overall prestige of the university.</p>

10

<p>depends on how sure you are of your major... If you're 100% sure on your intended major and career, then department rating is more important. If there's a chance you might switch, make sure that the whole university is good.</p>