<p>As a major research university UVa can’t carry UM’s jock–or UCLA’s Cal’s, UW and several more. For an undergrad school it is very even with the others.</p>
<p>Anyone understand why Georgetown is ranked so low? I read earlier in this thread that it has something to do with the peer assessment score. I don’t have a USNews in front of me so I don’t know exactly what this score is, but if it is low does anyone know why? It seems weird to me that the school is ranked so low when you consider how competitive it is to get into (assuming that competitive entry leads to a more talented student body). And wouldn’t the SFS account for at least a partial boost in ranking? </p>
<p>This is all assuming ranking actually counts for something, and I believe the general consensus is that we wish it didn’t and it shouldn’t, but it does.</p>
<p>Peer Assessment out of 5.0, Georetown if I believe is at 3.6, so isTufts. As this part is weighted 25 percent of the whole ranking, Gtown will never be a top 20 school, and honestly does not deserve to be one if its departments/faculty are not up to par with a school with a much higher peer assessment score. Michigan/Duke/Cornell/UPenn are 4.6 Dartmouth/Northwestern 4.4</p>
<p>Aibar, the undergraduate rankings of Engineering programs are based on just one factor…the quality of engineers produced at the various undergraduate Engineering programs through the eyes of professors and deans of graduate schools of Engineering. Rice is a great Engineering program…but Michigan is significantly better. That is not to say that Rice does not educate Engineers as well. I never said that (quite frankly, I have no idea how you have established that Rice is a superior instructional institution to Michigan) and I personally think that any of the top 25 or 30 Engineering programs (Rice included) can do an equally good job educating Engineers. But as a program, I am pretty sure that Michigan is greater than Rice.</p>
<p>Alexandre, I know engineers from both schools, and I know what I’ve seen from both of them, and I know what the graduates of each of the schools have gone on to accomplish, in both specific and general senses. That’s how I’m basing my opinion. Rice has a disadvantage when it’s compared to Michigan in these ratings… Consider the fact that last year, Rice graduated 12 civil engineering majors. Honestly, how many Rice alumni can deans of engineering and top level professors at engineering schools have encountered? There are many more Michigan graduates.</p>
<p>Michigan’s <em>program</em> may be stronger, it may have more top-notch professors, it has a larger range of course offerings, it decidedly does a lot more top-level research… but the only point I’ve tried to make all along is that Rice more consistently turns out stronger, more well-rounded undergraduate engineers than University of Michigan, and based upon what I’ve seen, and I’ve seen a lot of undergraduate-trained engineers from Rice and Michigan both, I believe that Rice’s engineers are consistently stronger and more innovative problem-solvers, stronger communicators, and better at dealing with their clients. I think that those qualities are the defining ones for what makes a good engineer.</p>
<p>Sheeesh. Does it really matter, people?</p>
<p>For one thing, I want to know what undergraduate schools you all went to where they didn’t properly teach you how to CITE YOUR INFORMATION.</p>
<p>Until you back up your statement with verifiable facts, opinion is just that.</p>
<p>Aibar, Michigan has produced roughly 60,000 Engineers that are currently alive. You have met what? 10? Maybe 15 of them? Do not be so quick to judge. Michigan is a larger, more well rounded and ultimately better Engineering program to Rice. Whether you like it or not is not going to change that fact. Rice is a great university and has a great Engineering program. I do not dispute that. The average undergraduate student at Rice is indeed slightly better than the average student at Michigan (maybe that is what you are alluding to). I do not dispute that either. What do you expect? Michigan is 10 times larger! But that does not mean that the quality of instruction or the demands on those students aren’t great. The College of Engineering at Michigan is better than that at Rice. I agree that one ranking alone can be flawed. But when all the rankings say the same thing, I tend to believe the rankings. By the way, my uncle is a professor of Civil Engineering at Michigan (Steel reinforced Concrete super geek! LOL He really is a great guy though).</p>
<p>Of course you think Michigan is better, you went there…</p>
<p>Ok…let me get this straight, I went to Michigan, so I think Michigan is better right? And Aibar went to Rice, but she is completely neutral right? LOL</p>
<p>Underrated-Rice,Notre Dame,UChicago,Colgate,Holy Cross,and Davidson. Overrated-Upenn,Emory,WashU, and city schools like BC and BU.</p>
<p>Par72-Maybe BU is overrated by prospective students but I don’t think that its ranking of 56 is deserving. </p>
<p>Also, why is Emory overrated? People keep on saying that but it is a wonderful school with great departments. Just look at its many resources like The Carlos Museum(filled with mummies and ancient artifacts).</p>
<p>overrated really just has to do with schools that are ranked higher than the public perception of that school would have the school at rather than US News. For example, I think that any school ranked in the top 20 should be recognized by most ppl as a great academic school, and I do not mean like University of Kansas or Alabama as sports school. However, when you tell someone you are going to Wash U or Emory, he/she may look you in the face and have no clue what you are talking about. When you say Cornell or UPenn, ppl are wowed.</p>
<p>Eh… I’m from southwestern PA in one of the former mining towns. And even though it’s in the state of Pennsylvania, I think a lot of the people there a) don’t know it’s an Ivy, b) think it’s a state school, and/or c) think you are talking about Penn State. I think a lot of people haven’t heard of Cornell either. I mean, I knew Penn was an Ivy League school, but many didn’t. Cornell was a different story. When I was applying as a freshman, the only way I would’ve heard of Cornell was if I had saw them as an Ivy League team on ESPN or on a video game. I also didn’t know schools like Emory or WUSTL were any good. You’d pretty much have to say Yale, Harvard, or MIT to impress a lot of the people here. I think Carnegie Mellon (it’s about an hour away), Stanford, Princeton, and Columbia would probably impress a lot of people here too. Public perception is very much determined by where you are from.</p>
<p>Uhm…no, bball.</p>
<p>You are going to Cornell, thus you feel as if you are going to the greatest place on earth. WHy shouldn’t you? You are shelling out 40 thou a year. However, when I told ppl I wanted to go to Upenn, ppl had not clue WHAT I WAS SAYING! When I told them I had accepted Duke’s offer of admission, people literally looked at me stunned. Many people don’t even know what Caltech or Dartmouth is, does that mean that it isn’t a top 10 university? No. Truth is, the general public is irrelevent because your future employers WILL know how good these schools are. Just look at Wall Street. They seem to be in love with Dartmouth Tuck kids, yet the general public mostly has no clue what Dartmouth is or if it is an ivy or not. Also, A LOT of people know that Emory is awesome. Finally, do you know how many people at Duke/Penn/Dartmouth/Stanford/Columbia turned down Cornell this year? It seems as if almost every other prefrosh I saw at Duke was willing to turn Cornell down pretty readily. Pretentious/ignorant, but true. Upenn and Duke are about 50/50 in yield to one another though.</p>
<p>Last night at a party, people were asking me about colleges because I’m one of the few who applied to private schools</p>
<p>When I said Dartmouth and Brown, they were like “oh, neat”
When I said Cornell and Columbia, they were like “WHY DIDNT YOU GO TO THEM”
When I said Duke, they said either “Too bad you aren’t good at basketball” or “OMG You’re a GENIUS”</p>
<p>When I said Williams, Amherst, Swarthmore, they just sort of stared lol</p>
<p>People in Atlanta and the south certainly think highly of Emory.</p>
<p>It also depends upon the program which is the most important factor for employers and grad schools. Northwestern and Michigan would be highly regarded as would Emory. Certain schools may have the stigma as the “easiest Ivy to gain acceptance”. A degree from Wharton is quite impressive. A degree from a SUNY college at Cornell might be less prestigious for certain top grad schools. I know this for a fact from an adcom at a school in the top 3 in bboth med and law school. However, this may all be factored in when academic reputation and ranking is considered.
Michigan is chock full of top 10 depts and is quite prestigious. Other factors may drop them in certain rankings but it is still a great school.</p>
<p>I believe that Emory and Cornell are ranked appropriately. On the other hand, Michigan and WUSTL could move about 5 positions in opposite directions.</p>
<p>Alexandre states facts that are accurate about Michigan.</p>
<p>Him saying that Umich UNDERGRAD is a top 10 school is pretty off. Let me rephrase…WAY OFF. Even Umich as a research university is not top 10. Top 15…maybe. However, I believe these schools are better overall:</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>University of Chicago</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>Johns Hopkins</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
<li>Caltech </li>
<li>Dartmouth undergrad to Umich undergrad.</li>
<li>Williams</li>
<li>Upenn in its entirety</li>
</ol>
<p>But that’s just my opinion. Alexandre can talk all day of Umich’s scintillating departments, but I think one could talk even more highly of the departments aforementioned.</p>
<p>Devil May Cry,</p>
<p>As someone who has looked seriously at a variety of grad programs, there is no doubt in my mind that Michigan is a top 10 player in graduate programs. I don’t think it has a dept that is ranked lower than top 10 or top 15, either. Like Berkeley, it is a serious name in graduate school.</p>
<p>Doubting its graduate programs is like discounting Harvard and Stanford.</p>
<p>Very true. But I am talking overall quality. Umich suffers from its lacking undergaduate program to the schools I just listed. A lot of my friends went there and they told horror stories of the lack of intimacy with their teachers and how TAs run rampant. They also said they felt as though they were just a number. Now, I know for a fact that even in the core classes at Cornell/Columbia/Penn/Dartmouth/etc that TAs are never used. EVER.</p>