- Graduate rankings can be quite relevant in the humanities because they represent the faculty strength and draw other great faculty to already established programs. And many of the best universities have humanities professors that teach at both the graduate and undergraduate level so undergrads can be quite impacted by those graduate strengths. Yes, my opinion of some of these programs is partially based on doctoral program rankings because they represent general understandings of departmental strengths that are seen and trusted by the people who have to go teach and research at these institutions and who have devoted their lives to these disciplines. The best departments attract the best faculty which is what makes them the best.
- Graduate rankings are also highly relevant at Penn because undergrads are encouraged to take classes in the graduate departments as a consequence of Penn's One University Policy that allows students to take classes/do research/network/etc. in Penn's undergraduate/graduate/professional schools and research centers all housed on Penn's one, contiguous, idyllic urban campus. So undergrads DO have access to the strengths of these graduate programs at Penn.
- The link you posted relates to a relatively new French public relations program to which universities must submit proposals. I don't know if Penn applied, do you? There also isn't a lot of information about the methodology used to evaluate the criteria. Do you have anything better? Any info like a 4 year long evaluation of departmental strength? Plus, that's only a reference to one department; there are many listed there...
- Course offerings matter quite a bit and it's not just about more courses- it's about more courses of specialization in addition to the bread and butter. And that's why I offered them in addition to my reference to the most trusted rankings in the humanities that exist. If you can take more, unique courses in addition to getting a great foundational education in the humanities, then yes, that's indeed better than being able to take fewer, run-of-the-mill courses in addition to standard foundational courses. The hallmarks of a great humanities education are breadth and depth-- can you study broadly but also specialize deeply? Better humanities programs allow you to do that...better.
Feel free to ignore those rankings if you want; but scholar’s don’t ignore them. They consider which schools will (1) pay them the most to (2) work in the most renowned departments (3) in the nicest places to live. I’m not just laying claim to departmental strength; I’m bringing up differences represented in a 4 year long departmental evaluation and then showing you evidence that Penn is translating the greater quality of its humanities departments into genuine opportunities to take more, unique classes.
And with that, I’m done because this is now becoming (actually) irrelevant to OP who has already chosen Penn. au revoir! (picked that one up in the french dep’t at Penn)