These are the schools that millennials are seeking in America today:
Here they are:
- Stanford
- MIT
- Harvard
- Yale
- Rice
- Penn
- Princeton
- Washington U.
- USC
- Vanderbilt
The methodology is more substantive than Princeton Review’s “dream” colleges, and notably includes student loan default rates. USC’s default rate is less than Harvard’s.
Fact is that UCLA is almost always considered the superior choice.
While I don’t have issues with how the rankings turned out I do have a problem with any ranking system that is heavily dependent on responses from a very small number of students. Student ratings from their own survey make up a large part of the Niche rating. Check out the number of student responses they got for the top schools- Stanford (104), MIT (41), Harvard (50), Yale (59), Rice (67). Considering the number of students who attend these schools this is far too small a sample size to be statistically valid.
@MBVLoveless not anymore. USC has had better incoming students than Berkeley and UCLA for a decade now. But that doesn’t stop insecure Bruins from going out of their way to attack USC.
Hate on us all you want. The Economist (and plenty of rankings) says otherwise:
http://www.economist.com/node/21560290?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/onestatetwosystems
Another useless ranking…
@MBVLoveless not anymore. USC has had better incoming students than Berkeley and UCLA for a decade now. But that doesn’t stop insecure Bruins from going out of their way to attack USC.
Hate on us all you want. The Economist (and plenty of rankings) says otherwise:
http://www.economist.com/node/21560290?fsrc=scn/tw/te/pe/onestatetwosystems
Just curious as to what measure you are using for this. Most of the data shows UCLA and UCB admits have quite a bit higher average test scores and gpas. Not to say that they are better because of that but I haven’t seen many claims that USC has had better incoming students.
From 2000 AD:
https://news.usc.edu/25648/L-A-Times-Magazine-features-President-Steven-B-Sample-on-its-cover/
Why do you believe that?
A 95% confidence interval, confidence level of 9.5 with a population of 7000 (for example Stanford undergraduate population) would mean they need a sample set of 105 (vs. the 104 they had).
There is a reason why political polls for the nation only have 1,000 respondents. Statistics, how do they work?
BTW, your assertion is wrong.
If you read the Stanford one for example, it says:
. The data they pulled out of all the reviews. The 104 refers to people who gave an overall score (e.g. one of the 915 may have commented on academics and party scene, but had no viewpoint on athletics so did not have an overall score).
Did you read the article?
This is describing what has happened since the budget pressure from THREE years ago…it has gotten much worse since then.
If you a California resident and can’t get aid to attend a private school, the UCs are still a good deal. But in our high school for the last several years, USC and the privates have won out for those that were less price sensitive (although with scholarship money that USC provides, they also grabbed more of the price-sensistive students).
I strongly recommend the college rankings & college analysis comparisons available at colleges.niche.com. They provide a very thorough category by category analysis with their ranking methodology.
As a parent, back when my daughter was considering various colleges, I did my very best to research all of America’s elite colleges as thoroughly as possible. I of course looked at various college rankings, but I also dug quite a bit deeper into a number of various articles, blogs, alumni statements, etc. To me, and eventually to my daughter, USC (U. of Southern California) clearly emerged as a Top Ten program overall. Eventually, I analyzed the methodology used by a number of different college ranking sources, and I found that the one source that most accurately mirrored our own concerns and priorities was the Niche College Rankings. Coincidentally, Niche also (as this post suggests) concluded that USC is a Top Ten program overall.
https://colleges.niche.com/university-of-southern-california/rankings/
My daughter eventually was accepted by USC and attends there currently. I am surprised though that USC itself does not emphasize the Niche College Rankings, especially as a counter-point to the U.S. News College Rankings. I have noticed that the USC International Office does feature USC’s rank via Niche prominently right next to the U.S. News Ranking, but I have failed to see any USC news reports or Admissions Office features or marketing that also emphasize such. Comparing the two services methodologies side-by-side, I am personally far more impressed with the way that Niche determines its rankings vs U.S. News.
We do think that Niche’s college ranking system s a great tool for prospective college-bound juniors and seniors. Clearly, no one should simply make any college decision based on a single college ranking list. I suggest using many sources, visiting each finalist school and then coming to your own personal decision.
@MBVLoveless
Son chose USC over UCLA, but it was not an easy choice.
But you did throw in the word almost in there.
Here are the test scores for both SC and UCLA using information from the official websites of each university. UCLA has not yet posted ENROLLED student scores for 2015, only admitted. I am listing scores for ENROLLED students in the 2014 entering class of both SC and UCLA.
For the 2014 entering freshmen class:
ACT Composite for USC-----29-33
ACT Composite for UCLA----25–32
SAT Scores UCLA - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Reading 570-710
Math 600-750
Writing 590- 730
SAT Scores for USC - — – - - - - - - - -
Reading 620-720
Math 660-760
Writing 640-740
For the 2014 July California Bar Exam Stanford and Berkeley tied with the highest percentage of law students who passed. In second place was USC. Fifth place was UCLA.
Bar exam scores for the July exam 2015 will not be released until late November 2015.