<p>The Revealed Preference study has nothing to do with academic rigor, if anything it correlates negatively with rigor. All else equal (selectivity, grad school prospects, prestige, etc), an easier school is more desirable and thus will rise in the rankings. The RP method also rewards self-selection of the applicant pool, and Brown benefited from both effects. </p>
<p>Also, you cited Revealed Preferences to make the claim that Brown is in the same league with MIT, Stanford and Princeton. Whether that’s true or not, Revealed Preference is the last place one would go to support that claim, because the primary finding of the study was the giant separation between HYPSM(C) and all others. Brown was number 7 but came out below 7th place in a majority of the simulations, and was nearly indistinguishable from Columbia.</p>
<p>I don’t think this is particular to the Revealed Preference ratings. Brown is too statistically similar to Columbia to find noticeable differences without statistics-shopping. That is, natural measures by which Brown beats Columbia, but is not itself beaten by non-HYPS(MC) schools such as Upenn or Duke.</p>