<p>I agree Pierre0193 and I think it’s a stretch for Claremont McKenna to be above Berkeley also. They don’t offer what engineering/science majors are looking for at all. The rankings on that site for California don’t look right to me.</p>
<p>I looked at my home state of Massachusetts and Zion Bible College was in the top 20 or something like that haha</p>
<p>hahahaha Okay, that’s pretty funny… Shows everyone should take the rankings with a grain of salt. :-)</p>
<p>Yeah, the most realistic rankings I have seen are the ones from US News. I saw the one from Forbes and it’s crazy lol</p>
<p>The fact that Montana State has not been listed as in the top two public schools in Montana is laughable.</p>
<p>Why is practically every public school in California listed as one of the “best”? What are you guys doing?</p>
<p>Virginia has the best public school system in the USA.
UVA and William and Mary are both top 5 publics in the US, top 30-40 public/private. </p>
<p>SUre, UC-Berkley and UCLA are good (but UVA and WM are better than UCLA) but remember that VA has a population of 8 million while Cali has a population of 40 million. The public uni system in VA is truly remarkable, considering that VA is a pretty average state, in general.</p>
<p>Anyways, the VA rankings:</p>
<p>Top Tier (nationally and internationally recognized schools):
University of Virginia
College of William and Mary</p>
<p>2nd Tier (nationally recognized and solid prestige in-state):
Virginia Tech (but if you do Tech engineering, it’s top 25 in the nation, including privates and ivies; top 5 if you only include publics)</p>
<p>3rd Tier (state respected):
VCU (nursing is top tier and arts are #4 in the nation! Medical school is really good too, the VCU Hospital was ranked as one of the best in the nation by US news and world report)
James Madison U
George Mason U
Old Dominion U
Christopher Newport U</p>
<p>4th Tier (honestly, kinda a laughing stock in-state, you’ve probably not heard of them unless you read the “best party schools” rankings)
Radford U
Longwood U</p>
<p>In general, depending on what your major is, VCU, WM, UVA, and VT are all top-notch schools.</p>
<p>
FOR FLORIDA: I would argue the addition of FAU and the deletion of UNF in the bottom position of the top schools. And while New College is small and quirky, it belongs in the top three.</p>
<p>“Virginia has the best public school system in the USA.
UVA and William and Mary are both top 5 publics in the US, top 30-40 public/private.”</p>
<p>So what? They handle a fraction of the number of people the top UC’s do, have quite a few glaring academic weaknesses, and are also quite weak overall as graduate programs compared to the great public schools in this country.</p>
<p>“2nd Tier (nationally recognized and solid prestige in-state):
Virginia Tech (but if you do Tech engineering, it’s top 25 in the nation, including privates and ivies; top 5 if you only include publics)”</p>
<p>Top 5 for “Tech” engineering? Is that a department?</p>
<p><a href=“but%20UVA%20and%20WM%20are%20better%20than%20UCLA”>quote=bzva74</a>
[/quote]
I’m just making sure you’re aware UCLA is the same rank as UVa, has markedly more rigorous admissions than William and Mary, and has more nationally recognized departments than William and Mary (and UVa but that’s more into the grad school arena).</p>
<p>If you’re aware of all this, I respect your opinion; however, I feel its unfair to push onto others the argument that Virginia has better public schooling that California because of Virgina and William and Mary when the latter isn’t widely accepted as better than UCLA.</p>
<p>That’s one way of looking at it. VA has a fraction of the people to serve. I see it differently, the smaller the state, the less emphasis on education. Texas, California, and NY have better public systems than Montana, South Dakota, and New Hampshire. That’s for sure.</p>
<p>Weak graduate programs? Glaring academic weaknesses? Please elaborate.
The UC system is highly specialized. SF, for example, dominates in medicine. It’s worth noting that across the board UVA is top 25. VA publics are much more rounded.
Name 1 field in which UVA has a glaring academic weakness. It’s certainly not law school (Ranked 10th), medical school (Ranked 25th for research, Ranked 39th for primary care) or undergraduate and graduate business schools (Ranked 5th and 13th respectively). </p>
<p>Also which UC is a liberal arts school even comparable to WM? “William & Mary’s undergraduate teaching ranks among the Top 5 in the nation according to the 2011 U.S. News college rankings. The College ranked #5 in this category ahead of Ivies Yale and Brown as well as Stanford, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan”</p>
<p>Admittingly, UC Grad is better, but the Wall Street Journal’s list of feeder schools was revealing.
WM was ranked #7 in the nation in feeding undergrad students to top (Wharton, Harvard Law, etc.) grad programs. UVA was #33, Berkley was 41, and UCLA was 61.</p>
<p>What do you mean “is that a department”? Of COURSE it’s a department, lol! It’s top 25 in the nation! Open your eyes, google it.</p>
<p>Anyways, UC has more schools. Sure. But, like the public crap in VA, a lot of the UCs are just excuses to go to beaches and get STDed up. Disagree? Spend the night at UCSB.</p>
<p>Plus tuition at Berkley is twice the amount for WM and 20% higher than UVA. UCLA was the same as UVA, like 200 dollars more.</p>
<p>
The medical school is one of UVa’s glaring academic weaknesses. </p>
<p>There are far fewer graduate schools in the United States than undergraduate colleges so a rank 25 in a graduate department is not well regarded. Compare Viriginia to UCLA, rank #11 medical school, that does perform consistently in all graduate fields. </p>
<p>UVa Rank #39 graduate engineering can also be described nothing short of horrific. This compares to UCLA’s consistent rank #15 engineering performance.</p>
<p>UVa’s incompetence in the math and sciences is one of the greatest reasons it is not an internationally recognized university like UCLA. ARWU ranks UCLA #13 in the world. Virginia? #96. THEQS ranks UCLA #35. Virginia? No where to be found.</p>
<p>True, grad is weaker in VA than California. I will concede that.
But how many people do grad in comparison to undergrad? Undergrad is much more important than graduate, since exponentially more kids go through the undergrad programs.
When you get an undergrad Business program that’s #5, #2 according to Businessweek (ahead of Berkley, Wharton, etc.) it’s clear that the school does a better job with the majority of the students.</p>
<p>We dont see Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore on these lists for the same reason WM isnt on it. It’s not a school that focuses on grad school. On the other hand, anybody would agree that PolSci and IR from both WM and UVA blow any UC school out of the water.</p>
<p>In this discussion, you are looking at the math-science stuff. The grad school. The doctors and scientists.
Im looking at undergrad, humanities, business, economics, law, liberal arts…
In these categories, VA clearly does a better job. </p>
<p>BTW I’d be careful when using hyperbole such as starting a paragraph with “UVa’s incompetence in the math and science…” It is not only rude, but also completely untrue. Making sweeping statements just damages your credibility.</p>
<p>If VA has 2 great schools with 8 million people, imagine how many great schools it would have with 40 million.
10, I guess?</p>
<p>bzva74, I must apologize for my baby brother university, UCLA.</p>
<p>You see it is a very bitter university. First, it is always in the shadow of the #1 public research university (which, btw, they got killed on the football field today), it is officially ranked below its rival school, USC in US News, and the NRC ranked it as the third best UC for PhDs, below UCSD. </p>
<p>Again, you must understand the pain the student body is experiencing. I ask, no, beg of you, to be kind to the bitter bruins. </p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>^There’s no pain. I’m simply critical of those who boast of universities and give them far more praise than they deserve.</p>
<p>Virginia is a good school and certainly teaches undergrads better than UCLA; but the poster above started complimenting its grad school, which doesn’t deserve so much praise, and then began undermining the importance of science and graduate studies. </p>
<p>I dislike those who boast and misrepresent, being primarily a pessimist at heart.</p>
<p>sentimentGX4 is correct.</p>
<p>I also am more inclined to believe that UVa is better than UCLA. Even UMich is better than UCLA for udnergrad education.</p>
<p>I felt the need to highlight UVA grad achievements to dispel the rumor that they are weak in that category. But even so, UVA+WM are both better for undergrad, plus they are both better feeder schools.
So the choice is clear: If I could go to UVA, William and Mary, UCLA, or UC Berkley (only accounting for academics) it would be a toss up between WM and UVA. The fact that I will get a better undergrad and be in prime position to apply to Columbia, Harvard, Yale, Penn, and other top grad schools would be the deciding factors. You can boast about grad school or PhDs, but when the UCs dominate in grad school (which only about 25% of the students are in), you know you’re grasping at straws.</p>
<p>No doubt in some fields in which the UCs are better. But overall the undergrad dominance of VA reigns supreme.</p>
<p>I will be careful about any humoring regarding bayboi’s orientation. He mentioned something about screaming when US News’ rankings came out, and I made a joke about Elle Woods’ discovery about the cabana boy, which I jokingly similarly discovered about bayboi. Dont want to see anyones feelings hurt.</p>
<p>Anyway, about his post:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>If the gist of your post is wrt football, then you have to remember taht there will be game misfires with a new offense, and with a wrong qb for the system. Hopefully with a qb most often compared to McNabb set to enroll next year - Id give him the ball next season - the offense will start to roll. </p>
<p>#1 public research university</p>
<p>Are there very many here who really care about research, and this designation? </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Talk about selective references…</p>
<p>In every other ranking, UCLA is above USC, including USNs World Rankings - reference disharmony of Einsteinian (Macro), say, World and Quantum Physics, say, US, rankings. In some rankings it isnt even close…</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Thats because UCLA produces the most professional degree seekers within UC. Most CA-certified attys in CA; at the top of UCs along with Cal for MDs. UCSD isnt close to UCLA in either.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Again, since your post seems more sports-related, Cal fans are arguably the most bitter of all fans in the Pac10/12 conference. Ask fans of all the other schools within the Pac.</p>
<p>What has Cal ever done in football and basketball wrt championships? One basketball championship?. Whens the last time Cal won a league title in fb? Only because the conference was down, did it do anything last year in basketball but was bounced from the tourney quickly.</p>