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08-15-2006, 08:24 PM
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#61 | | Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Threads: 19
Posts: 641
| My take is that the Shiangtao (sp) list, in it of itself, is a lot better. | 
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08-15-2006, 08:26 PM
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#62 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Threads: 15
Posts: 812
| We are discussing Newsweek, sorry | |
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08-15-2006, 08:30 PM
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#63 | | Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Threads: 19
Posts: 641
| right... and in their methodolgy they explain that they used part of two rankings to compile their own... and my contention is that either of those two lists -- by themselves -- is better than this mix-mash. So, I AM discussing NEWSWEEK | |
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08-15-2006, 08:34 PM
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#64 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Threads: 15
Posts: 812
| Oh ok, I don't know what the Shiangtao list is but I'd be happy to argue about it with you! | |
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08-15-2006, 08:40 PM
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#65 | | Member
Join Date: Dec 2005
Threads: 19
Posts: 641
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08-15-2006, 08:41 PM
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#66 | | Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Threads: 15
Posts: 812
| All rankings are rediculous. I can't think of a practical application for them! | |
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08-15-2006, 08:58 PM
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#67 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Threads: 29
Posts: 2,476
| Practical use for college rankings: "You are a complete failure as a human being because your alma mater ranked 3 spots below mine on the 'Best College Logo' list in the magazine 'Embroidery Monthly.'" | |
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08-15-2006, 09:07 PM
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#68 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2005
Threads: 7
Posts: 224
| All ranking lists have value if done carefully. The important thing to remember is that they highlight different characteristics which are more appropriate for different audiences.
The USNews plays to the mostly US applicants to undergrad.
The Newsweek/Shanghai/Times lists apply heavily to foreigners who are applying to grad school (mostly Phd).
While I don't agree with their specific choice of weights (I think Shanghai is the best of the 3) these lists are helpful to foreigners who often have no good info in their home countries about US schools and often rely on word of mouth which is less reliable still. Foreign students are a huge minority -- sometimes majority -- of grad students in technical fields such as engineering, science, econ, math, business, medicine. So they (esp Shanghai) chose weights which reflect this demand.
Moreover, many of the things that undergrads value -- sports, social atmosphere, extracurricular activities, summers abroad -- are nearly useless or irrelevant in a grad context. Except for Law/MBA you'll probably find that all that "balance" that helped get you into a great undergrad program will mean diddly for helping you enter and succeed in PhD programs.
Foreign students understand this and are trained for this. That is why they are often better prepared than Americans to do graduate work in technical fields unless the Americans took the most heavily mathematical workload possible. | |
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08-15-2006, 09:09 PM
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#69 | | New Member
Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Cambridge, MA
Threads: 0
Posts: 28
| Does anybody know of any rankings where Harvard was not on the top?
I am beginning to hate Harvard for it being Harvard. | |
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08-15-2006, 09:11 PM
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#70 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2005
Threads: 105
Posts: 2,153
| Yes, in terms of undergraduate education quality, Caltech and Yale beat out Harvard. | |
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08-15-2006, 09:13 PM
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#71 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Northwestern University '08 -> Harvard
Threads: 9
Posts: 2,201
| Do you have any way to back up that statement? | |
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08-15-2006, 09:14 PM
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#72 | | Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Northwestern University '08 -> Harvard
Threads: 9
Posts: 2,201
| "All ranking lists have value if done carefully."
- So pretty much only rankings with which you agree, right? | |
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08-15-2006, 09:16 PM
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#73 | | Member
Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: new jersey
Threads: 28
Posts: 479
| Quote: |
Yes, in terms of undergraduate education quality, Caltech and Yale beat out Harvard.
| That would depend on what you're studying. If you wanted pre-med, would you really choose CalTech over Hahfurd? | |
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08-15-2006, 10:27 PM
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#74 | | Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2006
Threads: 17
Posts: 43
| Umass
UMASS at Amherst | |
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08-15-2006, 10:28 PM
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#75 | | Member
Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: smalltown, MA
Threads: 36
Posts: 966
| lol yea, just thinking that... | |
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