<p>I'm still in the process of deciding what schools to apply to, and of course, the academics and the environment (by that, i'm thinking of whether or not if the students are happy; is the school generally well-kept; are there good student-teacher relations, student-town, etc.) are the major decision factor... so if you could please help me out, it would be greatly appreciated. :]</p>
<p>The schools:
UH Manoa (also, could anybody tell me how their honors program is?)
UC Davis
UC Irvine
University of Puget Sound
Occidental University
Wesleyan University
Reed College
Cornell University</p>
<p>My daughter was not impressed with the academics at Occidental College, but then she sets a high bar. She thought there was too much drinking going on there, and that many other students were unhappy as well. She did not like the fact that without a car, she was unable to get into L.A. But her experience may not be typical.</p>
<p>Wow, Davis ranking above Wesleyan? I kind of had an idea that at least Reed, Cornell, and Wesleyan would be top three, at least. But then again, there IS a reason why I'm asking for help in terms of ranking. ;)
I'm just curious as to how you figured it out that way, zach. </p>
<p>And greennblue-- thanks for that bit about occidental. Could anybody share anything else about oxy with me? It's been teetering on and off my list for some time now, and the story greennblue told me wasn't the first.</p>
<p>My dd is a freshman and she loves Oxy. She has been v. challenged by classes-had to drop a calculas course -Great prof but she had taken AP Calculas BC independent study her senior year so the month of study last year allowed her to pass the test did not give her the grounding she needed Her writing skills are being challenged and she is off in new directions academically. Her friends are happy with their classes. She is not into drinking herself and has not found an excess in that department. D does have a car-a beater and she is often out and about Pasadena or the beach-a car can be helpful-LA is a car town. I think the location for her is ideal with the campus being a safe perch on near a big city. Being from Northern California she hasn't found the SoCal culture thing overwhelming on campus and she likes the diversity. The kids we met during orientation and at the pre-college events seemed v. clear, directed and enthusiastic about Oxy.</p>
<p>To inject just a bit of statistical objectiveness, strictly on the academic side, consider the epitome of academics, the PhD (well, okay, there's also post-doc). Which of these undergraduate schools send the highest percentage of graduates on to get a PhD? Reed is third highest in the country (about 25%), behind CalTech and Harvey Mudd.</p>
<p>PhD productivity is not really an indicator of academical excellence but rather, an indication of campus culture and the type of student the school recruits and attracts. That is not to say Reed isn't excellent, but I would not say Reed is the third best university in the US simply because it has the third highest rate of PhD productivity.</p>
<p>Academics/ overall
Cornell
Wesleyan
Reed
UC Irvine
Occidental University
UC Davis
UH Manoa (also, could anybody tell me how their honors program is?)
University of Puget Sound</p>
<p>"PhD productivity is not really an indicator of academical excellence but rather, an indication of campus culture and the type of student the school recruits and attracts. That is not to say Reed isn't excellent, but I would not say Reed is the third best university in the US simply because it has the third highest rate of PhD productivity."</p>
<p>Very very true...fair point Alexandre. After all, if that were the lone method for ranking universities, then Harvey Mudd would only be second best...but we all know that I totally disagree with that... :)</p>
<p>I think I had better explain my post. PhD productivity is a measure of academic quality, but like many other indicators, it must be taken into context. Caltech, Harvey Mudd and Reed are top insitutions of higher learning as far as I am concerned, so I am not knocking the PhD productivity theory. All I am saying is that ranking universities according to PhD productivity does not necessarily draw a clear academic ranking picture.</p>