I am a senior trying to decide between two colleges - both fit me well and I will be happy to be there otherwise; cost of attendance at both is same; geographically both are far away from home - so there is no difference there as well (weather is different but I don’t care that aspect). So I am looking at the reputation/ranking - where they differ. One is Top-10 university (from multiple national/international rankings) - this is overall ranking. In the subject area I want to major it is good but not spectacular its top-40.
The second univ is good at top-40 overall but in my subject area it is top-5.
I heard that subject area ranks are mostly based on grad programs and/or published papers which may not have a high-bearing on undergraduate program. Is this true? Basically I am trying to assess which ranks are a better indicative for undergraduate programs: overall univ ranks or subject area ranks (which may be based on grad programs). What is a better benchmark to assess undergraduate programs.
PS: I know that a popular answer could be neither and ranks should not be the criteria - I agree with that. But I am truly stuck between these two - assume that fit/price/curriculum-strength are all same. Also not naming colleges and major - to avoid turning this into A vs B thread.
“I heard that subject area ranks are mostly based on grad programs and/or published papers which may not have a high-bearing on undergraduate program. Is this true?”
Yes.
“I know that a popular answer could be neither and ranks should not be the criteria - I agree with that. But I am truly stuck between these two - assume that fit/price/curriculum-strength are all same.”
Well, what are you looking to get out of college? Why turn to rankings instead of stuff like what the student body is like, who you would rather be with, where you want to be, how big the schools are, maybe how rich the schools are, and other aspects that likely would matter more?
“Also not naming colleges and major - to avoid turning this into A vs B thread.”
You’d also get less helpful answers though.
Especially if you don’t even mention what major you’re considering.
Most subject rankings are focused on graduate programs and research, though there may be some that are not. How much the graduate program and research rank matters to an undergraduate depends on whether the undergraduate is advanced enough in the subject area to want to take graduate level courses and do graduate level research as an undergraduate (this most commonly comes up with top-end math majors who complete college sophomore level math or higher while in high school, but is less commonly a concern for other undergraduates).
On the other hand, overall university ranks are often mostly based on prestige and admission selectivity, so they may miss the fact that a given department or major is particularly strong or weak for undergraduates, and how much that matters. Since you did not name the schools or the subject, others cannot help you here.
More things to consider include whether you are likely to change major (and to what other major(s)), and what your post-graduation goals are (some are more concerned with overall school prestige, while others are more concerned about in-major prestige, while still others do not really matter so much).
Discipline specific rankings that pertain to undergraduate study (e.g., *U.S. News* engineering rankings or *Princeton Review* samplings) should be considered.
Relevant overall rankings (i.e., those that you have considered with discretion) should be considered.
In your case, go by overall rankings unless your discipline-specific source pertains to undergraduate study. If you do have access to a reliable discipline-specific ranking, then consider it along with overall rankings.
In some disciplines the subject specific ranking really doesn’t matter because as an undergrad, the courses are plenty rigorous, terrific faculty, you’ll never run out of classes to take. And in other subjects- that’s not true.
So we can’t help you without more information. Take math for example- a student coming in already prepared to take junior/senior/grad classes in math needs to consider the actual department’s strength vs. the overall university. But compare that to econ- even a well prepared undergrad can supplement classes from the econ department with courses from applied math, poli sci, psychology, etc. to create a robust and well rounded program.
If you are truly stumped, name the universities and the discipline and we can help you. If you are leaning towards one or the other- than just pull the plug and go for it.