<p>Bclintonk, the problem with rankings is that you never know how narrow the “band of excellence” is for certain disciplines. The difference between the #6 school and the the #7 school in a certain subject might be far greater than the difference between the #7 school and the #15 school. Only an expert in a particular field would be able to parse through the actual differences in quality. At the graduate level, where the departmental rankings actually matter, the sub field within a subject that a PhD aspirant is actually interested in might lead him/her to select a different set of schools than another prospective PhD student who’s interested in the same field of study but a different sub field.</p>
<p>At the undergraduate level, a delta of ten, twenty, and even thirty spots in graduate rankings would most likely be unnoticeable since you are studying the basics of a subject and a wide number of schools can give you the sufficient level of education to pursue a PhD in the area.</p>
<p>Stanford or Harvard or Berkeley or “insert X elite graduate program” in any core field of study would never accept an alum from Michigan over Wisconsin for the sole reason that he/she studied at U of M. It would come down to grades, research experiences, letters of recommendation, statements of intent, etc. etc. </p>
<p>If one were interested in working for an investment bank or a management consulting firm, then it would be a different story.</p>