Why such a disparity for FA grad school rankings as compared to general ranking

Graduate School
1

<p>Daughter has just begun considering and looking at MFA programs for the fall of 2012 or 2013. We've noticed that US News rankings of the graduate programs in fine arts, does not correlate well with the ranking of the school in general. Why is this? It works both ways. For instance our home state, Texas UT Austin is ranked somewhere around #45 generally, but #15 for fine arts programs. Okay, maybe that's not that big of a disparity, but take University of North Texas (not a great school) they're ranked #58 for fine arts grad programs, but not even in the top 200 generally. And Cornell is ranked #50 for fine arts, Stanford #45. I mean, the Ivies and tip/top schools jockey for position among the various fields, but I always felt that generally no matter the field, the education would be better at the Ivy or tip/top. I mean Cornell @#50 vs University of North Texas @#58, how is that even possible? Is it the difference between the arts and the academics?</p>

<p>That leads to the next question, in the fine arts field, what matters more, the ranking of the program or the ranking of the school. How on earth do you choose? For instance, daughter would be much more at home, say at a Tulane (ranked #106) than UNT #58 or UT Austin #15, but assuming she could get in at all three (which we've not gotten that far in the process to know enough yet), and she's wanting to work in a museum/education type setting, where is her best choice? Any advice?</p>

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<p>You’re discovering the meaninglessness of “rankings.”</p>

<p>Graduate programs are highly specialized and universities often have specific strengths in various areas. Just because a school doesn’t have a fancy name doesn’t mean it doesn’t provide high-quality education.</p>

<p>For example, I chose Indiana University over several other offers - it has one of the very best graduate programs in environmental interpretation. Other schools I considered included Mizzou, SUNY-ESF, UIdaho, UMaine, Wisconsin-Stevens Point and Clemson. HYPSM-whatever weren’t ever even on my radar, because none of them have programs in my field.</p>

<p>The best school for your daughter is the school that accepts her, funds her and connects her with a professor who can develop and mentor her development as a writer/artist/etc.</p>