Any predictions?
@bb3nyc Honestly UsNews do not really change year to year. The top 9 has remained largely the same in the last few decades, the top 11-15, again remains fairly the same, as does the top 16-20. Occasionally they just change change the order up within these groups to keep it interesting for people. The only thing of some significance that fluctuates is the final spot in the top 10, and schools care because they want to be able to say they are a top 10 school.
But still, the general perception does not really change according to USNews. It sure is influence by USNews historical data, but it does not blindly follow USNews. In general what is the top 5, top 10, top 15 is fairly well-established and immune to small changes from year to year. For example no one really thinks that Stanford is not a top 2/top 3 school, and no one really thinks Chicago is a top 3 school, or that Caltech is not top 10.
It moves most in the 50-75 range both for Universities and LACs.