@StrikerX: That’s it exactly. With proper sophistication it may be possible to take even an analysis that is poorly suited to your objectives and apply a few controls of your own to establish at least some probative value. On a practical level, however, the most counter-productive use of certain lists can be the early elimination of colleges without graduate departments, which can be excellent places to study physics and math.
Thanks for the link, btw. And CMU, from what I know of the school, has an incredible math department.