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<p>No, not “cherry picking,” just DISCERNING. The undisputed gold standard for ranking the quality and reputation of doctoral programs in the US–and hence the rankings most relied upon for assessing the quality of institutions in particular academic fields–are those of the National Research Council (NRC). Even the University of Chicago page to which YOU linked acknowledges that:</p>
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<p><a href=“University of Chicago News”>University of Chicago News;
<p>Very few, if any, US academics would look to the THES or QS rankings as a comprehensive and valid measure of the relative strength of US institutions in specific fields, ESPECIALLY when those rankings conflict with the NRC rankings in those particular fields.</p>
<p>Additionally, the THES and QS rankings in “Humanities” in general, as opposed to rankings in specific fields that comprise the “humanities,” are further suspect in that there’s no general field of “humanities” that’s studied as a specific academic discipline at the undergraduate or graduate level at the overwhelming majority of top US universities.</p>
<p>Moreover, the rankings of fields in the social sciences are completely irrelevant to this discussion, since I was responding only to RML’s statement that “Chicago beats Penn in the humanities, from an academic standpoint.” Although again, while Chicago generally ranks higher than Penn in some of the “social sciences” as defined by the NRC (10 or fewer places higher in Economics and Sociology, more of a separation in Political Science), Penn generally ties or ranks higher than Chicago in other “social sciences” as defined by the NRC (Anthropology, History, and Psychology).</p>
<p>So again, in the “humanities” as defined by the NRC, Penn consistently ranks higher than Chicago in 4 fields–English, Comparative Literature, Linguistics, and Romance Languages–essentially ties Chicago over time in 2 fields–Art History and Classics–and trails Chicago by less than 10 places in 2 fields–Music and Religion.</p>
<p>Accordingly, relying solely on the highly esteemed rankings of the National Research Council, I stand by my original statement: it’s NOT accurate to say that “Chicago beats Penn in the humanities.” At the very least, Penn TIES Chicago in the humanities, with the edge going to Penn in at least 4 fields. That is, unless one disregards what even The University of Chicago admits is “the nation’s most comprehensive and highly regarded assessment of university doctoral programs.” ;)</p>
<p>But to again reinforce what we’ve all been saying here: for an undergraduate liberal arts education, these two schools are comparable, and the decision to attend one or the other should be based on personal preference and fit based on the total package. Academically, they’re both phenomenal choices.</p>