<p>Got bored, so I compiled some data and made some graphs comparing USNews rank to median SAT score. I did it for the first two tiers of national universities and liberal arts colleges. For schools where rank was tied, I just averaged the medians. Interpret at your will.</p>
<p>Cool demonstration of the strong correlation between SAT/overall rank. The most interesting aspects were the "bumps." What's the story, for example, with Thomas Aquinas College (the bump out there around #73)? That's sure not a household word on CC.</p>
<p>They're meant to demonstrate that where there are severe outliers, USNews should reconsider a school's ranking. While SATs are no where near the end-all in determining a college's quality, they say, at least, the strength of their applicants.</p>
<p>For example, on the National Universities graph, there's a huge high bump between 80 and 90 (ie, American University). There is also a large low bump around 25, UC-Berkeley...obviously still a great school.</p>
<p>On the Liberal Arts graph, notice the high jump where Reed is (just past the 50 mark) and a low jump where Smith is (just before 20). Could Reed be so "low" in rankings due to its refusal to cooperate with USNews? The graphs may tell it all.</p>
<p>Good graph, except it would be much better if there was some way to tell exactly what college was where, instead of the estimation we're given, because then we can look at specific schools that seem to have a very strong applicant pool but are, for some reason or another, ranked low on USNews (instead of just estimating)</p>
