<p>I"m hearing things like, " College A has a better architect program than B" or "College Z has a better computer science program than Y". </p>
<p>Specifically I never knew why people say these things and I've had a hard time researching this fact.</p>
<p>Is it cuz they looked at the rankings from USATODAY that makes certain colleges with certain programs better?</p>
<p>Is it cuz the fact College A gives more internship and co op opportunities than college B?</p>
<p>Is it cuz the fact that College Z's professors shove more workload into your face?</p>
<p>and last, for example, tell me why Carnegie Mellon would have a better computer science and dont' give me "cuz it's ranked high on the USATODAY"</p>
<p>facilities, quality and amount of research, prestige of professors</p>
<p>to name a few</p>
<p>In addition to what mydegisunacred mentioned...</p>
<ul>
<li>access to internships and job placement was a big factor for me</li>
<li>courses offered, specifically electives in my area of interest</li>
<li>class size</li>
</ul>
<p>Ok thanks for your reply, it's just that I wouldn't know how it would pertain to USnews rankings.</p>
<p>The usnews rankings simply try to quantify all the factors that make an engineering school good. </p>
<p>Be wary of any ranking system. The quality of your undergraduate education does not correlate to these numbers.</p>
<p>For undergraduate schools, the strength of the program <em>should</em> be determined by how well it prepares you for the workforce.</p>
<p>Practical & numerous labs/homework/projects is the best way to guarantee that.</p>
<p>Job placement of graduates--career centers should be able to discuss this with you.</p>
<p>
[quote]
The usnews rankings simply try to quantify all the factors that make an engineering school good.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Actually, I thought that the engineering rankings were just the results of those "peer assessment" surveys they send out to all the engineering departments. If I'm correct, I think the rankings would be more representative of the programs reputation within academia than of research opportunities or job placement</p>
<p>I'm sure there's a very significant correlation between a programs reputation within academia and the research opportunities it offers.</p>