US News 2017 rankings

I believe that Villanova is the only new “National” university that may rank high.

Where do you guys think the current top 10 schools will rank this next year?

Universities:

  1. Princeton
  2. Harvard
  3. Yale, Stanford
  4. Columbia, UChicago, MIT
  5. Penn
  6. Duke
  7. Dartmouth, JHU, Northwestern

LACs:

  1. Williams
  2. Amherst
  3. Swarthmore, Pomona
  4. Middlebury
  5. Bowdoin, Wellesley
  6. Carleton, Haverford
  7. Claremont McKenna, Wesleyan

Most likely in the top 10.

I don’t think northwestern will rise to 10 or that bowdoin will fall to 6

Why aren’t there Vegas odds on this?

Re #65, those moves could reflect an insignificant 1 point score change in either case.

Who cares about the top 10? It just giggles between one and another top 10.

People who have their school or a school they like in the Top 10 usually.

People who have their school or a school they like in the Top X usually.

“Who cares about the top ten?” (#68)

Perhaps those who count on their fingers?

Top 15 National Univ:

  1. Harvard, Princeton
  2. Yale
  3. MIT, Stanford, Columbia, Chicago
  4. Penn, Duke
  5. Caltech, Northwestern, Hopkins
  6. Brown, Dartmouth
  7. Cornell, Vanderbilt

northwestern 9! wow thatd be crazy

According to #71, Northwestern would be in a tie for tenth.

People are still really talking about and concerned with this?

When we’ve checked around for college recommendations, it’s always been with a major (or field) in mind and every single time the person we checked with (who was either doing the job or hiring for the jobs of interest) would mention top schools IN that field. They never once mentioned top schools “overall.” I doubt they even know about “overall” ranking. They care about engineering or marine science or… And with engineering, what’s a top school tends to be very regional for many employers. We’re in PA, so Penn State is often the first recommendation they offer. With Marine Science, Eckerd always topped or was on their list in the top handful (usually topped the list). What’s their national ranking? I have no idea!

Ok, I just googled. Eckerd is at 127. I suppose that means they shouldn’t be even remotely considered, right? Penn St is 47. The horrors! (Unless you want a job in those fields maybe…)

I should probably add that we also looked for pre-med for my doctor wannabe. The advice there? Pick any respected school you like… not once did they say “Top #” with their recommendation. I guess “respected” is subjective, but names being offered were generally in the Top 200, not necessarily Top 20.

Well probably around half of the classes an undergraduate student takes will be outside of his or her major, so I think overall academic quality does matter.

I do agree with the sentiment that there are a great many schools that are good enough to provide an excellent education.

A quick google search (How many 4 year colleges in the US) seems to show there are roughly 2500. Being in the Top 250 would be Top 10%. I feel fairly certain one can get an excellent education outside their major if their school is in the Top 10% in general. From my limited exposure to those hiring, admitting to grad school, and/or recommending, it seems they agree.

Yeah – top 250 certainly (at least). But there are multiple levels of “good” and ranking things is something to do (and is fun for some…), and sells magazines, so we have these published rankings to peruse and discuss annually. hehe

In last year’s US News ranking there were 280 universities that meet the Carnegie classification as National Univiersities.

^^^ The 2500 was adding all categories together, public & private - all types - as long as they were 4 year degree granting colleges.