<p>Goldenboy, it is true that 1/3 of Michigan’s graduating class ends up going to law, medical or business graduate school. That’s actually low compared to many elites, where typically, half their graduates end up in one or more of these three professional programs. The reason for this is simple. Michigan has a far more intellectually diverse student population than many of its peers. The only elite institutions I can think of that have an equally diverse undergraduate student body (academically speaking) are Cal, Cornell and Northwestern. That is why I often list those are Michigan’s closest peers. </p>
<p>The WSJ report you referenced above was flawed…very flawed. It was certainly interesting and, had the study been far more exhaustive, would actually have been quite telling. Let us be honest, there is no way that looking at the top 5 programs in each of those three professional fields would have been sufficient. For one, how do you determine the top 5 HYS are the definite top 3 Law schools, but which two follow? Chicago, Columbia, Michigan or NYU? Legal scholars and major law firms would not be able to agree on two out of those four. And that’s not even scratching the surface. What about Cal, Cornell, Duke, Georgetown, Northwestern, Penn and UVa law schools? There are approximately 15 law schools that are considered outstanding/elite/world class. Why settle for just 5? And there are probably 15 elite Medical schools and just as many elite MBA programs. For example, among Medical programs, Harvard and JHU are the unquestioned top 2. But what about Columbia, Duke, Michigan, Penn, UCSF, UDub, WUSTL and Yale to name a few? Heck, even Chicago, UCLA and Vanderbilt can be included. Which three medical schools would you pick to join Harvard and JHU? Among MBA programs, Harvard, Wharton and Stanford are the top 3. But Chicago, Columbia, MIT and Northwestern come close. Cal, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Michigan, NYU, UCLA, UVa and Yale are up there too. Can anyone honestly pick two of those to join Harvard, Stanford and Wharton among the top 5? There are just too many elite graduate programs. I would include 15 for each of those major graduate programs.</p>
<p>But as many have pointed out above, those three fields are not the be-all/end-all of graduate school admissions. Engineering and CS are as important as Law, Medicine and MBA. The Engineering PhDs I know all started off in the 6 figures for major companies. They are now all making over the half million mark annually. Not including Engineering and CS makes no sense.</p>
<p>And not including other important programs, such as the major traditional disciplines (Anthro, Bio, Chem, Econ, Geology, History, Math, Physics, PoliSci, Psych, Socioloigy etc…), other health programs (Dentistry, Heath Services Management, Pharmacy, Nursing, Veterinary Medicine, Speech/Occupational/Physical Therapy, Public Health, Social Work etc…) and other important graduate programs such as Public Affairs, Architecture, International Relations, Music, etc… would also diminish the accuracy and relevance of such a study.</p>
<p>Don’t get me wrong, Michigan did ok in that study, so I have nothing personal against it. If memory serves, Michigan was #5 in absolute terms (only HYPS placed more graduates into the 15 programs included in the study), #18 in relative terms among national universities and #1 among public universities. But in order for the study to be truly complete, it will have to include far more fields of study, and far more programs than just the top 5 for each field. In such a comprehensive report, I suspect that HYPSM and Caltech will be the top 6. Beyond those, I do not think you will see a major difference between the next 15 private universities, top 5 public universities and top 10 LACs.</p>