<p>NRC ranks individual graduate departments, not overall undergrad. Washington Monthly uses very unique criteria (including research and service) that does not serve as a measure for the quality of undergraduate education; additionally, Harvard ranks #27 in this system… Also, as in U.S. News and World Report, differences between Yale and Stanford are miniscule in Newsweek rankings.</p>
<p>People can argue about rankings for hours. </p>
<p>My point was that rankings cannot determine that Stanford is better than Yale or vice versa, which is what datalook is trying to claim. The differences are too small and everyone should really look at other factors than rankings when making college decisions. </p>
<p>Why should it matter that one school’s graduate department is ranked ahead of the other (especially for undergrad)? In the end, we’re all basically learning the same material. The difference comes from how engaging the professor was and not necessarily how many awards he or she has won.
I strongly believed that quality of teaching cannot be quantified by ANY ranking system.</p>