Staying close to home: best schools by state

College Search & Selection
1

<p>school, state code, SAT 75th percentile, ACT 75th percentile</p>

<p>Birmingham Southern College AL 1290 28
Auburn University Main Campus AL 1240 27</p>

<p>Hendrix College AR 1350 31</p>

<p>California Institute of Technology CA 1580 35
Harvey Mudd College CA 1560 ?
Stanford University CA 1550 33
Pomona College CA 1530 34
Claremont McKenna College CA 1500 32
University of Southern California CA 1460 32
University of California-Berkeley CA 1450 30
Scripps College CA 1440 31
University of California-Los Angeles CA 1400 30
Thomas Aquinas College CA 1393 29
Occidental College CA 1390 ?
University of California-San Diego CA 1360 29
Pepperdine University CA 1350 ?
Pitzer College CA 1330 ?</p>

<p>Colorado College CO 1390 31
University of Colorado at Boulder CO 1280 28
University of Denver CO 1280 28</p>

<p>Yale University CT 1580 34
Wesleyan University CT 1480 32
Connecticut College CT 1420 29
Trinity College CT 1380 29
University of Connecticut CT 1290 28</p>

<p>Georgetown University DC 1490 33
George Washington University DC 1380 ?
American University DC 1360 30</p>

<p>University of Delaware DE 1280 ?</p>

<p>New College of Florida FL 1420 30
University of Miami FL 1370 31
University of Florida FL 1360 29</p>

<p>Emory University GA 1470 33
Georgia Institute of Technology-Main Campus GA 1420 31
University of Georgia GA 1320 28
Agnes Scott College GA 1290 29
Spelman College GA 1160 24</p>

<p>Grinnell College IA 1460 32
Iowa State University IA 1330 27
University of Iowa IA 1320 27</p>

<p>University of Chicago IL 1530 33
Northwestern University IL 1500 33
Wheaton College IL 1420 31
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign IL 1410 31
Knox College IL 1380 31
Illinois Wesleyan University IL 1370 30</p>

<p>University of Notre Dame IN 1510 34
Earlham College IN 1340 29
DePauw University IN 1310 30
Wabash College IN 1290 27
Purdue University-Main Campus IN 1270 28
Hanover College IN 1260 28
Indiana University-Bloomington IN 1260 28</p>

<p>Centre College KY 1340 30
Union College KY 960 21</p>

<p>Tulane University of Louisiana LA 1370 31</p>

<p>College of the Holy Cross MA ? ?
Mount Holyoke College MA ? ?
Harvard University MA 1590 35
Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA 1560 34
Amherst College MA 1530 34
Williams College MA 1520 33
Tufts University MA 1490 33
Wellesley College MA 1480 32
Brandeis University MA 1460 32
Boston College MA 1430 31
Worcester Polytechnic Institute MA 1380 31
Smith College MA 1380 30
Boston University MA 1370 29
Clark University MA 1310 28</p>

<p>Johns Hopkins University MD 1490 33
University of Maryland-College Park MD 1380 ?
St Mary's College of Maryland MD 1340 ?
Goucher College MD 1290 28</p>

<p>Bates College ME ? ?
Bowdoin College ME 1470 33
Colby College ME 1440 31</p>

<p>Kalamazoo College MI 1420 31
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor MI 1420 31
Hope College MI 1300 29
Michigan State University MI 1270 27
Albion College MI 1260 27</p>

<p>Carleton College MN 1490 33
Macalester College MN 1440 32
St. Olaf College MN 1420 31
University of Minnesota-Twin Cities MN 1380 29
College of Saint Benedict MN 1290 28
Saint Johns University MN 1280 28</p>

<p>Washington University in St Louis MO 1530 33
Saint Louis University-Main Campus MO 1320 29
University of Missouri-Columbia MO 1300 28</p>

<p>Millsaps College MS 1320 29</p>

<p>Duke University NC 1540 34
Davidson College NC 1436 32
Wake Forest University NC 1410 31
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill NC 1390 30</p>

<p>Dartmouth College NH 1550 34</p>

<p>Princeton University NJ 1580 34
Stevens Institute of Technology NJ 1360 27
Rutgers University-New Brunswick NJ 1300 ?
Drew University NJ 1280 25</p>

<p>Bard College NY ? ?
Hamilton College NY ? ?
Sarah Lawrence College NY ? ?
Columbia University in the City of New York NY 1540 33
Cornell University NY 1500 32
Vassar College NY 1450 31
Barnard College NY 1440 31
Colgate University NY 1430 32
New York University NY 1430 31
University of Rochester NY 1420 31
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute NY 1420 29
Yeshiva University NY 1360 28
Skidmore College NY 1350 29
SUNY at Binghamton NY 1340 29
Fordham University NY 1330 29
Syracuse University NY 1330 29</p>

<p>Oberlin College OH 1460 32
Kenyon College OH 1420 32
Case Western Reserve University OH 1410 31
Denison University OH 1360 31
Ohio State University-Main Campus OH 1330 29
The College of Wooster OH 1330 29</p>

<p>Reed College OR 1470 32
Willamette University OR 1350 29</p>

<p>Franklin and Marshall College PA ? ?
Swarthmore College PA 1540 33
University of Pennsylvania PA 1520 33
Haverford College PA 1490 ?
Carnegie Mellon University PA 1490 32
Bryn Mawr College PA 1420 30
Bucknell University PA 1400 31
Lafayette College PA 1390 30
Dickinson College PA 1370 30
Gettysburg College PA 1360 ?
Lehigh University PA 1350 ?
University of Pittsburgh-Pittsburgh Campus PA 1320 29
Ursinus College PA 1320 29
Muhlenberg College PA 1310 29
Allegheny College PA 1310 28
Juniata College PA 1280 ?
Pennsylvania State University-Main Campus PA 1280 28</p>

<p>Brown University RI 1530 33</p>

<p>Furman University SC 1380 31
Clemson University SC 1310 29
Wofford College SC 1300 28
Presbyterian College SC 1250 27</p>

<p>Vanderbilt University TN 1480 33
Rhodes College TN 1360 30
Sewanee: The University of the South TN 1330 33
The University of Tennessee TN 1270 28</p>

<p>Rice University TX 1510 34
The University of Texas at Austin TX 1350 28
Southwestern University TX 1340 29
Southern Methodist University TX 1330 29
Austin College TX 1330 28
Baylor University TX 1310 28
Texas A & M University TX 1300 28</p>

<p>Brigham Young University UT 1350 30</p>

<p>Washington and Lee University VA 1460 31
College of William and Mary VA 1450 32
University of Virginia-Main Campus VA 1420 ?
University of Richmond VA 1378 31
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University VA 1300 ?
Randolph-Macon College VA 1170 24</p>

<p>Middlebury College VT 1480 32
Bennington College VT 1330 30</p>

<p>Whitman College WA 1430 32
University of Puget Sound WA 1350 30
University of Washington-Seattle Campus WA 1320 29</p>

<p>University of Wisconsin-Madison WI 1380 30
Beloit College WI 1380 29
Marquette University WI 1290 29</p>

2

<p>I’d like to make an edit to Texas</p>

<p>Rice University TX 1510 34

  • Trinity University TX 1360 31
    The University of Texas at Austin TX 1350 28
    Southwestern University TX 1340 29
    Southern Methodist University TX 1330 29
    Austin College TX 1330 28
    Baylor University TX 1310 28
    Texas A & M University TX 1300 28</p>

<p>If I had to rank the schools…</p>

<p>Group 1
Rice
UT
Texas A&M</p>

<p>Group 2
SMU
Trinity
Southwestern
Baylor</p>

<p>Group 3
Austin College
UTD
Tech
TCU</p>

3

<p>UT is a great school, but I really don’t think that it even comes close to Rice.</p>

4

<p>I think that Rice and UT are the top two schools in Texas. Rice beats UT for undergrad academics, but I think UT beats Rice in both price (for in-staters) and in social life. I wouldn’t question someone’s choice if they picked UT over Rice or vice versa. Also, almost all (like 31 of 37) of UTs academic programs are ranked #1 or #2 in the state of Texas. </p>

<p>In terms of jobs, UT has a really solid alumni network and they have really strong connections accross the state of Texas. </p>

<p>[Top</a> 10 Colleges with the Best Career/Job Placement Services - MSN Encarta](<a href=“http://spotlight.encarta.msn.com/features/encnet_departments_college_default_article_10schoolsbestcareerservices08.html]Top”>http://spotlight.encarta.msn.com/features/encnet_departments_college_default_article_10schoolsbestcareerservices08.html)</p>

<p>While I don’t consider A&M to be on the same level as UT and Rice, the large and crazy loyal alumni network of A&M enables many A&M graduates to get comparable, if not better jobs than UT and Rice grads. So from a job prospect perspective, A&M is an incredibly solid school in the state of Texas.</p>

<p>Basically, a degree from Rice, UT and A&M will carry you pretty far and to pretty similar places in the state of Texas.</p>

5

<p>Cornell College IA 1340 29</p>

6

<p>Lawrence University, Wisconsin also should be on the list, probably at the top of the Wisconsin group. </p>

<p>But it’s a curious definition of “best” that ranks schools only by SAT/ACT scores. This is a measure of selectivity, not quality. Some schools are more selective because they’re more popular with applicants and they’re in turn more popular with applicants because their selectivity is mistaken for quality. In short, they’re “overrated.” It seems to me that faculty quality is at least as important a compnent in a school’s overall quality as its selectivity, and the two aren’t always closely correlated. All you’re measuring here is which are the toughest to get into.</p>

7

<p>University of Arkansas 1280 29
Hendrix College AR 1350 31</p>

<p>Hendrix is hardly the best school, if you take in consideration the sheer number of students with 29/1280+ at U of A. I would take a large state u over a above average at most LAC anyday.</p>

8

<p>Rose-Hulman needs to be included in Indiana (#2 spot) - 1390/31</p>

9

<p>Lawrence in WI has ACT 75th percentile and probably should be on the list.</p>

10

<p>

</p>

<p>Actually, UT is stronger than Rice in essentially every academic field they both have - plus it has a lot more fields Rice doesn’t. You mean at the undergraduate level, Rice is more selective and smaller. There’s a difference…</p>

<p>
[quote=]
Also, almost all (like 31 of 37) of UTs academic programs are ranked #1 or #2 in the state of Texas.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>That’s from the last NRC ranking, and yes, UT was ranked #1 in Texas (not #2) in 31 of 37 fields. The majority of the remainder were bio/medical type programs where UT Southwestern was #1.</p>

11

<p>TCNJ should be on the list for NJ.. i think its avg SATs are actually higher than rutgers. and definetly regarded higher than Drew is here in jersey</p>

12

<p>Sorry, but the University of Arkansas is a medicore state school at best.</p>

<p>Frat parties and football are the main concern of the average UA student.</p>

13

<p>Carnegie Mellon, Swarthmore, and Upenn do very different things for very different people but those three are definitely up there for Pennsylvania.</p>

14

<p>About the UT/Rice debate, I would say that a Rice degree carries with it a better name for non-regional work, regardless of comparable quality. And this isn’t coming from someone who puts high value on names.</p>

15

<p>Centre College KY 1340 30
Union College KY 960 21</p>

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16

<p>in comparing Rice and U Texas:</p>

<p>It is less useful to look at overall test scores to decide how selective or otherwise “good” UT is because 85% of UT Freshman are admitted with absolutely no regard to their test scores; they are admitted because they were in the top 10% of their respective HS classes and by law, they had to be admitted. Urban, inner city school / rich suburban school / poor rural school? The top 10% of the graduating class is admitted if they apply. This had made UT diverse, and the graduation rates are fine for all student subsets.</p>

<p>But there are two test score ranges at UT: The test score range for the top 10 percenters and the test score range for the mcls others (Texas kids ranked at the 11th and 12th percentile - horrors!, other Texas kids, out of state kids). In my opinion, it is not useful to use test scores when thinking about the relative selectivity of Texas. The University of Texas is a completely different creature.</p>