US News 2007 Rankings-Are These Right?

College Majors Engineering Majors
1

<p>Here are the 2007 US News and World Report rankings of the top 20(out of 50+)engineering programs that offer doctorate programs. A few questions.
Virtually no one on this board mentions they are considering Georgia Tech. Is it really better than Cal Tech? Is USC that unbelievable in engineering? And lastly, how much difference is there between a school ranked say, #5, versus one ranked at #12 or #13?</p>

<li>Massachusetts Institute of Technology</li>
<li>Stanford University</li>
<li>University of California–Berkeley</li>
<li>Georgia Institute of Technology </li>
<li>University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign<br></li>
<li>Purdue University–West Lafayette (IN)</li>
<li>University of Michigan–Ann Arbor<br></li>
<li>Carnegie Mellon University ¶<br></li>
<li>University of Southern California<br></li>
<li>California Institute of Technology</li>
<li>Cornell University (NY)<br></li>
<li>University of California–San Diego </li>
<li>University of Texas–Austin<br></li>
<li>Texas A&M University–College Station </li>
<li>University of California–Los Angeles </li>
<li>University of Maryland–College Park </li>
<li>University of Wisconsin–Madison<br></li>
<li>Princeton University (NJ)<br></li>
<li>Pennsylvania State University–University Park<br></li>
<li>Columbia University (Fu Foundation) (NY)</li>
</ol>

2

<p>The overall engineering rankings are much like the college rankings in that they're based on a weighted average of many factors. USC is helped by a large research expenditure, but you can see their reputation score is very low. Similarly, Caltech is hurt by their small size, for example, in the areas of number of PhDs granted and total research expenditures, so they're underranked. It's better to look at the reputation rankings for the subfield of engineering you're considering.</p>

<p>I believe the consensus is that the top 3 engineering programs are MIT, Stanford, and Berkeley. Caltech is a close 4th but is not as visible due to its tiny size.</p>

3

<p>i thought ucb was first last year? or was it 2nd?</p>

4

<p>That 2007 ranking JUST for the graduate school. It's titled "America's Best Graduate Schools."</p>

5

<p>GaTech is actually quite a good engineering school, def. the best public engineering university. I'm not sure if it beats out Caltech. But there can be a consensus 5 spot for Georgia. I am actually going there for comp/elec engineering, it's pretty legit. #7/#8...for undergrad</p>

6

<p>
[quote]
GaTech is actually quite a good engineering school, def. the best public engineering university.

[/quote]

Umm...Berkeley and UIUC?</p>

7

<p>UIUC is awesome for engineering... you will just miss out on most of the party life of the school if that's the path you choose..</p>

8

<p>
[quote]
i thought ucb was first last year? or was it 2nd?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>It certainly wasn't first. MIT has been first for every single year that USNews has published this ranking. </p>

<p>I believe last year, Berkeley was third. However, it should be pointed out that this is a GRADUATE ranking, which is only a minor factor when it comes to determining undergraduate quality. For example, I doubt that too many engineering students would turn down Caltech for USC for undergrad. </p>

<p>
[quote]
GaTech is actually quite a good engineering school, def. the best public engineering university

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Oh really? Definitely better than Berkeley?</p>

9

<p>fu ck the rankings...they are all amazing schools.GO PENN STATE!</p>

10

<p>are the 2007 top undergrad business school rankings out yet anyone????</p>

11

<p>No, the 2007 undergraduate rankings come out at the end of August.</p>

12

<p>here's grad and undergrad</p>

<p><a href="http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/newsroom/rankings.html#grad07%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.coe.berkeley.edu/newsroom/rankings.html#grad07&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

13

<p>I'd say GT and USB are extremely comparable... basically, not much different except for subfields and their location.</p>

14

<p>Honestly, it doesnt even matter all that much. Especially when youre talking about top ones. Rankings are so overrated, for engineering the difference is minimal, and everyone is looking at rankings for graduate schools when they are considering an undergraduate education...doesnt make sense.</p>