Why is Princeton ranked so high?

Graduate School
1

<p>When I look up USNWR rankings for graduate programs, I can often find highly ranked schools like Harvard near the top of the list. However, I rarely see Princeton. What are its strengths? And what contributions generally put it near the top of the overall rating?</p>

2

<p>Philip Banks went to Princeton. Factoid.</p>

3

<p>because it’s an Ivy!</p>

4

<p>Ah, it all makes sense now. Actually, it seems I was just looking in the wrong spot. No business, law, or medical school.</p>

5

<p>Try looking up molecular biology, public policy, or English.</p>

6

<p>Molec Bio: Harvard 1, Princeton 8
[Molecular</a> Biology - Biological Sciences - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/molecular-biology]Molecular”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-biological-sciences-programs/molecular-biology)</p>

<p>Public Policy: Harvard 1, Princeton 6
[Public-Policy</a> Analysis - Public Affairs - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-public-affairs-schools/public-policy-analysis]Public-Policy”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-public-affairs-schools/public-policy-analysis)</p>

<p>English: Harvard 4, Princeton 7
[Rankings</a> - English - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-english-schools/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-english-schools/rankings)</p>

<p>But I did find it ranked higher in math: Harvard 2, Princeton 1
[Rankings</a> - Math - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-mathematics-programs/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-mathematics-programs/rankings)</p>

<p>and History: Harvard 5, Princeton 1
[Rankings</a> - History - Graduate Schools - Education - US News and World Report](<a href=“http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-history-schools/rankings]Rankings”>http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-history-schools/rankings)</p>

7

<p>Its strength is in its undergraduate programs–as someone mentioned, it doesn’t have the “big 3” professional schools (biz, law, med).</p>

8

<p>

It would perhaps be more accurate to simply say that Princeton’s strengths lie in the arts and sciences.</p>

<p>In the last NRC survey, Harvard and Princeton had roughly the same number of rated programs (30 and 29, respectively). In the accumulation of non-zero scores, Harvard and Princeton came out as peers (#3 and #4, respectively).</p>

<ol>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Berkeley</li>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Chicago</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>UCSD</li>
</ol>