<p>The reputational rankings are completely fair and accurate, decided via survey. Like it or not, this is the international reputation of US Universities, and it is accurate based on my experience. I don’t know why people complain that Chicago’s only #14; we’re right above Columbia, which is further testament that this is a pretty decent ranking, as Chicago and Columbia have essentially identical reputations internationally.</p>
<p>Berkeley, UCLA, and Michigan are ranked high because they’re all huge research universities with undebate-able international presence. I would expect nothing less. Most of the people responding to these surveys are not intimately aware of the actual makeup of the schools - all they know is how frequently they come across a certain school in their studies, magazines, newspapers, etc. Also, most of the respondents are likely not ever going to encounter many real-life graduates of these universities, which also means that you’re unlikely to encounter them as a potential employee. So I’m not sure why people are taking offense at this.</p>