<p>No, I go to WPI. But it was a very close choice between WPI, RIT, and Rose Hulman (my first choice was Hopkins, but I got WL there). Just curious, but where did/do you go? </p>
<p>My sister, however, does go to RIT for medical illustration. And when she choose schools, tiers/USNews wasn’t a factor. In fact, her other top choice, MICA, was ranked #4 in the country for fine arts grad school, and top 10 for nearly all art-related majors. But she choose RIT because she felt that the program at RIT would prepare her for a real career, as opposed to MICA which would only teacher her the “art” approach. </p>
<p>Even though MICA was much higher tier, and better ranked for her major, she choose RIT because it had her same mindset and approach toward learning. </p>
<p>I honestly agree with you that tiers (what you call quality, which IMO isn’t the right word since quality is subjective) are real and significant, but I don’t believe that they should be one’s primary focus in one’s college search. </p>
<p>For example, if someone is an “artist”, and has that sort of mindset, RIT is probably a good choice. If someone is excited about optics, RIT has a lot of good research materials, and a generally solid program. </p>
<p>Or, let’s say your choice is RPI vs. WPI. RPI is slightly higher tier (about 20 points higher on each SAT section), but WPI still has unique advantages - like the Worcester consortium that gives you access to #30 LAC Holly Cross College, something that you wouldn’t get at RPI. </p>
<p>Tiers do give you a general idea of a school’s quality, but each person values different things in a school, so money aside tiers often do not give one a sufficient picture to make a decision.</p>