<p>I read a print piece last month that was discussing the madness in competition to gain admission and the exploding application numbers at the top schools. It also relayed chatter and speculation at which up-and-coming schools (including a few relatively unknown schools) are going to be the next Stanford, etc. A bunch of names are thrown around, but one established school is also mentioned as having arrived with the big boys and on the fast track to the very top - Northwestern University.</p>
<p>THis made me wonder.... Is there a place for NU to crack the Top 10 on US News College Rankings? Dartmouth, Duke, and U Chicago are tied for 9th place just above Northwestern now, so it would seem likely that it would be one of these three schools that is surpassed if NU is to make the top 10.</p>
<p>Concidering that NU is now getting 40% more freshman applications than U Chicago, and with NU's star often described as rising, while U Chicago seems to be fighting poor campus life image problems, that it may be U Chicago that will be surpassed (if any do)? Is it possible Dartmouth may be surpassed slightly? Duke often is also described as a rising star so seems less likely. Anyone have any insights or speculation?</p>
<p>I think your perspective is a little off and it’s not your fault for being too young. NU actually made it to the top-10 three times before in the 90s. It’s nothing new. Duke is not a rising star; it’s been always in the top-10. It may look like NU is “rising” based on what you’ve seen in the last couple years. But it is actually just where it was 15 years ago as far as ranking goes. With the exception of WashU, the schools in the top-15 have been “stuck” around the same place for a long time; the big movers are those outside of this group.</p>
<p>^Interesting historical perspective and informative reply. Is your point that at this level, there is too much entrenched perspective or ingrained bias that it is not likely that anyone’s (peers, academia, GC’s, etc) perspective is likely to be changed? However stagnant the top 10-15 have been for the last 15 years, is it not possible that there will be some movement in the future? </p>
<p>And if it is (as is speculated in the article) Northwestern U that may be moviing up, then who will it surpass and why?</p>
<p>There have been changes in perspective; it’s just that they don’t affect ranking all that much when all things are considered. I can use NU law school as an example; it’s ranked 11th, exactly the same position it had in 1995, even though it attracts significantly more students outside of the Midwest than it was 15 years ago:
1996
54% Midwest
15% Northeast
15% West</p>
<p>Seems that using history as a guide would indicate that although NU could easily move into (a postition or so) and out of the top 10, Is there any catalyst for more dramatic movement (up with HYPSM?)</p>