<p>The US news and world report rankings are MADE to show that Harvard, Yale, and princeton are on top. (the founder said so) in fact, they fired the 1999 editor of the rankings because her new ranking system put Cal Tech as #1. Harvard, Yale, and Princeton will never leave USNAWR top five, because they base their ranking system on the strength of those 3 schools. The other schools trying to get ranked #1 (Cal Tech, Stanford, MIT) try in vain. the system is against them.</p>
<p>Haha, thanks for that Lavender. Some people are going to be in for a shock as ongoing globalization spreads more firmly. Integration of language is important, and you better not dream of 'correcting' a client or business partner if you value business. Sorry for the digression.</p>
<p>Cjh, I remember reading about that. I was quite happy when Caltech was number one. The reason for that, if I recall correctly, was that they had the most investment (in terms of teachers and equipment) per undergraduate going to school there. Small schools are favored in that ranking though.</p>
<p>why do people think vanderbilt is overrated?</p>
<p>US News atleast gives clear criteria, so people can pinpoint what aspects about it sucks</p>
<p>Is endowment factored in at all?</p>
<p>"Preppy, conservative, pre-professional."</p>
<p>Cornell is preppy, conservative and pre-professional?</p>
<p>Yes, endowment is.</p>
<p>Cornell is not conservative</p>
<p>NYU is the most overrated. I actually think BC is a little overrated even though I am going there.</p>
<p>Couldn't overrated just be measured by the difference in rank between peer selectivity and overall US News rank?</p>
<p>For example, Duke and Penn are ranked 4-5, but are more in the range of 7-9, while Mich and UCBerekely should be within the top 10-15 but instead aren't at all</p>
<p>Yes, Cornell is preppy, conservative (a little less than some schools), and pre-professional.</p>
<p>Cornell is not preppy. The population of preppy students to non-preppy students is far far greater at other schools (and I attended one of those schools last year). </p>
<p>Nor conservative (how rude!!!). The majority of the student body is liberal.</p>
<p>Nor pre-professional. Some majors are pre-professional such as the AEM program, but do not sum up the student body with one major.</p>
<p>Cornell was number 6 for one year in the early 90s, and that was because they PROVIDED INCORRECT INFORMATION. The next year it was back to 13 or somewhere around there. Cornell is frankly more similar to a top state school in the vein of Michigan than it is to the other Ivies. It shines in research (especially scientific research), but loses to its peers in terms of selectivity, alumni giving (and frankly its alum network IS weaker - its a bigger school, this is natural, endowment/ student, etc. For many students, these are the factors that make much of the real difference in their lives, and this is Cornell's weak point. It is by no means weak in these areas, but weakER. Dartmouth conversely shines in these areas, which is why its able to consistently rank among the top 10 every year while Cornell is rarely/ almost never top ten.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt and Notre Dame are definitely overrated.</p>
<p>Again, i ask: why do people think Vanderbilt is overrated?</p>
<p>I like the way thethoughtprocess is thinking. Overrated as in that the school is popular and therefore selective for a reason separate from its academic reputation/ranking, such as the great location of NYU or BU, the status as a top catholic school that notre dame and BC hold, and the reputation for beautiful women at Vanderbilt. It doesn't mean that they are bad academic schools, but simply that people are drawn to them for reasons aside from their academic reputations. </p>
<p>Williams is also highly overrated (hahaha).</p>
<p>sorry, I couldn't resist.</p>
<p>When you compare side by side for resources, student quality and breadth of departments, Vanderbilt can't compete against lower ranked schools like Emory and Georgetown.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt should be ranked in the mid 20s.</p>
<p>non transferable, the quality of the departments at Vanderbilt are equal if not better than Emory's. Saying Vandy students can't compete with "Emory caliber" students is hilarious.</p>
<p>i have to agree........</p>
<p>the joke is....all of this hype about college...and I, myself, have become consumed with this stuff</p>
<p>my parents attended very good schools (especially for grad school), and my dad makes in the upper 6 figures, close to 7....and he doesnt have 1 ivy degree, he is just a hard working professionaal</p>
<p>I, and u guys, need to relax about this stuff...employers aren't gonna be like o, dartmouth grad, we'll he prob had an average SAT score of 1450 compared to the average 1395 for Cornell (well, wait, CAS may be 1420??). I highly doubt this kind of mental process will occur. </p>
<p>Peace!</p>
<p>if u did a study of the average ivy grad's salary, u would be surprised, that most, prob more than 75 percent, are makign under 200 K a year.</p>
<p>To bball87, You're right on target, of course. Besides, Cornell has better name recognition than Dartmouth, nationally and internationally, and....you can say, even universally...that is, in the <em>universe</em>!!!</p>
<p>Cornell, after all, is ON MARS!!!!</p>
<p>heck yus Cornell is!! (but i'm still waiting for the day we can send unwanted people to Mars)</p>
<p>USC is overrated</p>
<p>Rice is underrated</p>