<p>“Washington Monthly Rankings
UCLA #6
Michigan #13
UVA #48
National University Rankings 2012 | Washington Monthly”</p>
<p>Really reputable source there. On what basis are UCSD and TAMU above HYPSMC? Yeah, Yale is 41st in the nation everybody! UCSD and TAMU are fine schools and all, but c’mon now.</p>
<p>UCLA is definitely underrated; it is equal to or better than Michigan.</p>
<p>“UCLA is definitely underrated; it is equal to or better than Michigan.”</p>
<p>Where do you see Michigan rated higher than UCLA in any of the above rankings goldenboy? Where Michigan has a slight edge to UCLA is in overall departmental rankings.</p>
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<p>UVA and UMich boosters like to point out that both of those schools have T14 law schools whereas UCLA doesn’t (we’re 15 :rolleyes:)</p>
<p>Umich and UVa, I believe, also have better business schools than Anderson, and, still, significantly higher endowments than UCLA</p>
<p>But UCLA has the best hospital of them all, etc. The list goes on. All three of those universities are pretty tit-for-tat.</p>
<p>What I think is most significant about this thread is how much UCLA’s changed in 7 years. Those who argued that UVA/Umich >> UCLA would likely change their opinions now (looking at you Alexandre 
)</p>
<p>who knows where UCLA will be in another 7 years, after it’s centennial :)</p>
<p>Michigan is very strong across the board in virtually all of its disciplines. UCLA boosters never mention engineering, where Michigan has a decided edge.</p>
<p>"who knows where UCLA will be in another 7 years, after it’s centennial "</p>
<p>Michigan is planning another capital campaign to celebrate it’s bicentennial in 4 years. Just imagine what can be done with a 12 billion dollar endowment! Guess where Michigan plans to get a nice chunk of change? </p>
<p>[?U</a>? to target West Coast in upcoming capital campaign - The Michigan Daily](<a href=“http://www.michigandaily.com/news/three-senate-assembly-members-elected-sacua]?U”>‘U’ to target West Coast in upcoming capital campaign)</p>
<p>Beyphy, I never believed in the UVa/Michigan >> inequality. I always ascribed to a Michigan > UCLA=UVa equation! 
</p>
<p>Seriously, I believe all three universities are excellent, but I do believe Michigan has a slight advantage over both, simply because Michigan is more well rounded. When it comes to academic prowess, Michigan has a slight advantage over UCLA (primarily thanks to Engineering) and a significant advantage over UVa. When it comes to financial resources, Michigan and UVa both have a significant advantage over UCLA. Given the trend of the last 30 years, it is clear that universities are going to have to rely increasingly on their own endowments, and on revenues from tuition to maintain they standards. In this regard, Michigan and UVa are well positioned while UCLA may have to make some difficult decisions and sacrifices. Like I said, all three universities are excellent, but Michigan is more well rounded.</p>
<p>Where Michigan is lacking in comparison to UCLA and UVA is its prestige and selectivity. All of these schools have one major glaring weakness-its up to you the consumer to decide which drawback is more fatal.</p>
<p>[The</a> Ivy Plus Society](<a href=“http://www.ivyplussociety.org/about.html]The”>http://www.ivyplussociety.org/about.html)
*UCLA and Michigan are missing on this list.</p>
<p>[Katie</a> Baker on the New York Times wedding section - Grantland](<a href=“http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/6769919/matrimonial-moneyball]Katie”>» Matrimonial Moneyball)
*Michigan is missing from this list.</p>
<p>[Ivy-plus</a> maphmaticallyyours](<a href=“http://maphmaticallyyours.■■■■■■■■■■■■■/tag/ivy-plus/]Ivy-plus”>Ivy-plus « maphmaticallyyours)
Continental drift is an unintended consequence of the scarcity of philosophy teaching positions, but before I can defend the claim a brief review of the “rules” of academia. For those new to the traditionally accepted rules of higher education there are in essence three or perhaps four levels of academic institution. At the top are Ivy League schools (the original eight) and Ivy-Plus schools MIT, Stanford, Duke, and University of Chicago. The second level includes venerable, high-profile institutions like University of Michigan, New York University, Boston College, Carnegie Mellon, University of Notre Dame, and at least thirty others. The third tier includes nearly all other state and private universities and colleges. The fourth level–for the purposes of the job market–includes international universities other than ancient English-speaking schools like Oxford, Cambridge, University of Edinburgh. A fresh doctorate from a first tier school gets serious attention from employment panels at other first tier and second tier schools. Lower third tier schools tend to ignore over qualified grads for professional positions because they assume that a grad with a top-shelf education will leave for greener pastures as soon as possible. A fresh doctorate from a second tier school gets attention at second and third tier schools. A fresh doctorate from a third tier school is probably applying at community colleges and small liberal arts schools–or serving you coffee at Starbucks.
*UCLA and UVA aren’t mentioned here but this is a more academically-inclined list.</p>
<p>Overall, I would say that UVA is the most prestigious of the bunch, Michigan has the greatest academic potency, and UCLA is the most diverse student body (most Pell Grants) and has the most far-reaching international reputation.</p>
<p>“Better” is subjective. UVa, Michigan, UCLA and Berkeley are all fantastic public universities and are great choices for students who can afford to attend them, and especially so for students who live in those states.</p>
<p>I would warn you to remember that low admission rates do not necessarily translate to better schools, though. Some schools (like women’s colleges) attract a smaller applicant pool; other schools (like RPI, which has a 44% acceptance rate, or Georgia Tech, which has a 51% acceptance rate) are self-selecting. That’s the same admissions rate as our third state flagship, Georgia State. I wouldn’t say that Georgia State is at the same level as Georgia Tech. I also wouldn’t say that my LAC (which has a 37% acceptance rate) is a better school than Georgia Tech.</p>
<p>I’m willing to bet that there are more OOS students vying to get into UCLA and Virginia for reasons that have nothing to do with their academics (location and reputation - Virginia benefits from being on the East Coast, where students historically value prestigious old schools, and UCLA is in LA. Michigan is in a cold and wintry state). That could also affect the selectivity of the school.</p>
<p>I guess the better question is, why do you care?</p>
<p>goldenboy, you are wrong on all accounts. All three have similar prestige nationally. Ivy Plus and Katie Baker are not a measure of prestige. If you took hundreds of similar clubs and articles, all three would be equally well represented. Internationally, Michigan and UCLA are roughly equal in terms of reputation and prestige, UVa lags. Finally, in terms of selectivity, I think all three universities are roughly equal. UCLA may have a lower acceptance rate, but the quality of the students who are admitted and who enrol is identical at all three universities. As far as prestige goes, I would say Michigan = UCLA = UVa. In terms or international reputation goes, I would say Michigan = UCLA > UVa and in terms of selectivity, I would say Michigan = UCLA = UVa.</p>
<p>If I were to judge a university based on whether its supporters on this board (alumni maybe?) knew the difference between “it’s” and “its,” I would not think very highly of any of the three. ;)</p>
<p>^^^LOL. I know I am guilty as charged. It just seems that a possessive pronoun should have a comma. ;-)</p>
<p>I’m a little surprised by the misrepresentation of UCLA on this thread. </p>
<p>The main point of agreement is that all four schools are impressive. Any comparison made between them would be nitpicking because they are so close to each other that it takes only a few years for rankings of to switch between the schools. </p>
<p>The only aspect that doesn’t change quickly is prestige- mainly due to the momentum effect. For this measure, Cal clearly outperforms the rest due to its more storied history. UCLA and Michigan take second place, although UCLA conspiciously does better than Michigan in Asia while the opposite is true in Europe.</p>
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Still way behind Berkeley/UCSF. :D</p>
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Cal clearly outperforms because it has a much more distinguished faculty.</p>
<p>Mid 50% SAT
Michigan 1250-1450
UCLA 1160-1440
UVa 1240-1460</p>
<p>The three have identical SAT ranges</p>
<p>Mid 50% ACT
Michigan 28-32
UCLA 25-31
UVa 28-32</p>
<p>Again, identical ranges for the ACT. I don’t see how Michigan is less selective than UCLA or UVa.</p>
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<p>Not a UCLA booster, but I was surprised at the apparent disdain for UCLA Engineering, so I looked up both. Michigan is #8, while UCLA is #16. Not sure that I would consider that a “decided edge,” since both are clearly excellent, with one being top 10 and the other top 20.</p>
<p>Let’s face it, universities that are in close proximity to great cities have a distinctive advantage in acquiring top faculty to those that aren’t.</p>
<p>Disdain for UCLA Engineering (and UCLA in general) comes from some Cal Engineering boosters. ;)</p>
<p>
Let’s face it, L.A. is NOT an intellectual hotbed. Michigan is in close proximity to a former great city. Michigan’s faculty is on par with (or perhaps slightly better) than UCLA’s faculty.</p>