YOU rank

<p>Fellow CCer's, I know you all have diverse opinions and lots of knowledge about colleges. Could you give YOUR own perspective rank? You can rank in any topic, ranging from job placement, to undergrad experience, to focus on undergrads, to plain prestige. Feel free to rank on any one factor, a overall combination, or a mix somewhere between.</p>

<p>Please, though, go more in depth that a top 3 list, and possibly explain anything you feel the need to explain, although I'm sure everyone will anyway.</p>

<p>Harvard
Yale
Stanford
MIT
Princeton
UC Berkeley
UCLA
Caltech</p>

<p>Rough top 8 of best schools to go to for prestige factors if China ends up taking over the world and Asia becomes extremely influential in the world economy and political scene (That's why UC Berkeley and UCLA are up there; they're more well known than many Ivy's in Asia). This is purely a "name-recognition" list and may or may not be indicative of actual quality of education (although I don't think you can really go wrong with any of these universities).</p>

<p>Interesting idea.</p>

<p>I'll do predictions of schools that are likely to gain major recognition in upcoming years.</p>

<p>-Rice and UT (Texan cities have some of the fastest growing job markets in the country. Houston, Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio are all HUGE in the business world right now, and the city of Houston is a major medical hub. Going to school in a Texan city would certainly open doors.)</p>

<p>-George Mason and UMD (International Relations is a really popular ambition right now. DC is considered "the place to be" for the field, but within the city, there are really only 3 schools with name value. I think these close neighboors will become quite the contenders.)</p>

<p>-Colorado School of Mines (Geology and engineering are two hot fields at the moment; both are expected to be in huge demand. CSM is one of the few schools that specializes in different combinations of the two fields. Great for people who want to get into environmental engineering or similar trades.)</p>

<p>-Mills, Agnes Scott, Barnard (I think urban womens colleges are going to become very appealing to today's generation of ambitious teens. Especially great for the types who want the benefit of the city, but also an intimate campus feel.)</p>

<p>Great idea. I'll follow world changer's lead and rank schools that I think are well on their way to becoming much more well known and consequently, more prestigious. I'll break it down by two categories: liberal arts colleges and state schools...</p>

<p>Liberal Arts Schools...
1.) Hendrix College (Conway, Arkansas)
I pimp this school all the time on CC. It's a hidden gem in the Little Rock metro area and my high school sends at least one or two kids here every year. I'm yet to hear from anyone who dislikes the place. The academics, in many respects, are second to none among liberal arts colleges. </p>

<p>One of its major draws is it's a very policially liberal school in the south. Lots of students who want to stay in the south but don't want the more traditional, large southern state school flock to Hendrix where students are very liberal, both culturally and policitally and where there is no Greek life.
Furthermore, it's rather cheap for a liberal arts school and it gave my friend (who could probably get into some really prestigious universities) enough merit aide to convince her to go.</p>

<p>2.) Knox, College (Galesburg, Illinois)
I can't really articulate why I'm so high on Knox. I briefly looked into it and it seemed like a great rural liberal arts college that attracted a diverse array of students (lots of hippies, lots of drinkers, lots of stoners, lots of abstinent christians, etc.)</p>

<p>3.) Rhodes College (Memphis, Tennessee)
This school definitely has more name ID and perceived prestige than Hendrix and Knox but I think it will someday become an elite southern private school in the mold of a school like Davidson. Although I didn't have a very good visit (Rhodes just simply isn't a fit for me AT ALL), I saw a ton of potential for Rhodes. First of all, the campus is drop dead gorgeous and is located in a very pretty neighborhood in Memphis. Secondly, it's very well endowed for a school of its size and gives great merit money. Memphis is a lively city that is exciting enough to attract adventurous northerners but southern enough to keep the locals around. Rhodes is already widely respected in certain areas and the place has a ton of upside.</p>

<p>State Schools... (I would include UT-Austin, but it's already considered "elite." With that said, I think it will become even more "elite" because of the reasons world changer stated above).
1.) University of Georgia
My reasons here are almost strictly anecdotal. For some reason, it's this year's hot school at my small high school in Oklahoma. A lot of people are applying here and I bet a good number of them matriculate. Furthermore, they seem to be getting more and more selective each year. I don't know that they'll attain the "elite" status of a UVA or a UT-Austin, but they'll be close.
2.) University of Florida
Like UGA, they're becoming more and more selective every year. They're well on their way to becoming just as selective as a UVA or a UNC (give them 10 years). The success of their football and basketball teams has certainly helped.
3.) University of Maryland
It's a big draw for polici people who want to experience Washington, yet at the same time, don't want to be surrounded by Washington 24/7. Most importantlly, It offers a more trasitional college experience that the hoity toity private schools in D.C. can't offer.</p>

<p>Top undegrad Math/ applied math schools (by reputation as ive heard- I am from PA)
Princeton
MIT
Harvard
Chicago
CalTech
Stanford
Carnegie
Cornell
UC Berkeley
NYU</p>

<p>Harvard
Chicago
Williams</p>

<p>Chicagoboy... you can't make a ranking of the top math schools and ignore Harvey Mudd. That place is a math major's dream! (and my hell...)</p>

<p>Haha alright. Well, like I noted, I am from eastern PA, and I was going by their reputations locally. As you can see, the west coast schools showed up, but I did not think of berkeley as great. The point was that I was doing it based on MY perspective. Harvey-Mudd probably should be on there, so should Swarthmore, and Rice? maybe. Maybe UVa as well, but they don't carry a huge reputation around here. (not even swarthmore cause its in a different part of the state)</p>

<p>^That's true. I'm from NJ and I had never heard of Harvey-Mudd until I came on CC. No one from my school applies there, either.</p>

<p>Harvard
Johns Hopkins
Yale</p>

<p>Everything else...</p>

<p>Schools that I'm just sort of compelled to:</p>

<p>Columbia
Yale
Amherst
UPenn
Princeton
Georgetown
Trinity</p>

<p>And if none of those work out (or if Trinity is the only one that works out), a PG year at Exeter or Andover or something...</p>

<p>Based on a lot of different rankings I've seen: undergrad education, graduate education, research expenditures & productivity, faculty awards, financial resources. Combining all that, these schools strike me as the strongest across the board.</p>

<p>Harvard
Stanford
MIT
Penn = Columbia (they are pretty much dead even)
Berkeley
Yale
Princeton
Michigan
Chicago
Duke</p>

<p>I don't know. People probably think I'm crazy.</p>

<p>Most underrated schools on CC (in no particular order):</p>

<p>Cornell University
Tufts University
United States Naval Academy
Cooper Union
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering
Boston University
University of Florida
Bowdoin College
University of Southern California
College of the Holy Cross
United States Military Academy
Lehigh University
Boston College
Pepperdine University
Davidson College
Bucknell University</p>

<p>People have heard of most of these schools, but they never get talked about as top tier with the exception of Cornell, but is often deemed as "The worst Ivy", or at least the easiest to get into.</p>

<p>Cornell has an acceptance rate of 21% (collegeboard's site), and that includes the Agriculture and other state schools, which some accept around 40% or more. So to get into other schools (engineering especially) must be very difficult.</p>

<p>Random lists:</p>

<p>Best Amazing Theater + Strong Academics
Carnegie Mellon
Yale
Northwestern</p>

<p>Undergrad Creative Writing Programs
Johns Hopkins
Stanford
Knox
Swarthmore
Some others I'm not familiar with</p>

<p>Undergraduate Experience, to name a few (Co-ed):</p>

<p>Amherst--Five College Exchange, Several College Towns, Diverse
Haverford--Take classes at UPenn, Swat, & BMC, close to city, Quaker
Davidson--near city, cohesive, friendly
Swarthmore--Classes at other LCs, close to city, Quaker
Pomona--Classes at other LCs, weather, feels like college within university
Grinnell--Very friendly, cohesive, and generous with aid
Carleton
Oberlin
Bowdoin
Middlebury
Princeton
Williams
Yale
Darthmouth
Columbia
Macalester
Reed
Earlham
College of Wooster
Wesleyan
Beloit
Duke
Colby</p>

<p>Weird list, I know...and not complete by any means.</p>

<p>Ohio State
University of Oklahoma
University of Michigan
Penn State
University of the South</p>

<p>What kind of list is this?
Schools with the best marching bands!</p>

<p>Schools with the best 25th percentile SAT scores. Why might this be important? It's one way to gauge the depth of a school's "top" students (assuming "top SAT scorers" is a fair surrogate for "top students"). Data from USNWR.</p>

<p>School, 25th-75th% SAT scores, ranked by 25th% SAT score</p>

<p>Cal Tech 1470-1570
Harvey Mudd 1420-1550
Harvard 1390-1590
Yale 1390-1580
MIT 1380-1560
Princeton 1370-1590
WashU 1370-1530
Pomona 1370-1520
Dartmouth 1350-1550
Duke 1350-1540
Brown 1350-1530</p>

<p>Best for International Relations/Affairs
1. Georgetown SFS
2. GWU
3. American
DC can't be beat. Unless you're going to London or another capital like that.
4. NYU - location is perfect
5. Stanford/Tufts
7. Lewis & Clark (from alumni who are now enjoying jobs traveling the world and working for diplomats)
8. Middlebury - rural-ish location, but amazing, can't-be-beat programs, especially in language
9. Claremont McKenna - amazing IR program, but location (at least to me) is less than desirable. Despite diverse LA area, there's just no "foreign affairs" feel.</p>

<p>I want to add another great creative writing option to the list. Webster University, located in St. Louis, MO has an amazing CR program. All the authors are published, routinely win national awards, and stress exploration of all genres. Here's a link if anybody is interested Webster</a> University - English - Our Programs</p>