<p>"Private Schools:</p>
<p>Tier One –
Harvard/Princeton/Yale/Stanford
MIT/Caltech</p>
<p>Tier Two
Columbia/Dartmouth/UPenn/Duke
University of Chicago/Brown/Hopkins</p>
<p>Tier Three
Cornell/Northwestern/Wash U.
Vanderbilt/Notre Dame/Georgetown/Rice
"</p>
<p>These are all tier one. I don’t think there is truly a difference once you get to a certain point.</p>
<p>when does the new rank come out?</p>
<p>In the middle of August. :rolleyes:</p>
<p>My bet: Nothing really changes. HYP seem to have a lock on 1-3 and can shift within that rank. MIT, Duke, Stanford, Penn seem interchangeable so they will be 4-8 in any order. Columbia/ Dartmouth have #9 is a virtual lockdown the last six years…I think any shifts, if they happen, would be after these 10. Hopefully Brown moves up a couple spots, it doesn’t belong so far back.</p>
<p>Harvard has a lock on #1, and will for a while to come with their huge endowment-student ratio.</p>
<p>Agree not much movement in top 10. Beyond that UChicago and Georgetown could move up if UC gets more applicants and Gtown more endowment. In National LAC category, Davidson, Bowdoin, and Holy Cross tend to be under-rated. With over 40% rise in apps and $200 plus million capital campaign, HC should move up.</p>
<p>I think many of the colleges in the top 50 will be trading places though, with a continuation of the trend that has been seen the previous few years. A few colleges have steadily moved up in the rankings, and others have been slipping. </p>
<p>There is no way to guess the list, unless you’ve researched every university and had a first hand experience. The rankings aren’t really that credible. </p>
<p>All of the colleges in the top 50 are very good schools in individual areas.</p>
<p>rutgers at #60, no way hell</p>
<p>Everyone seems to have predicted Brown moving up. I hope it does- I love Brown and I think it deserves a higher rank.</p>
<p>What is the ranking based on?</p>
<p>Uh, no, Bowdoin and Davidson are certainly not underrated in US News rankings; the opposite, if anything.</p>
<p>My predictions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>U Penn</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Cornell</li>
</ol>
<p>Hahaha, a little bit biased there, eh?</p>
<p>"My predictions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>U Penn</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
<li>Cornell"</li>
</ol>
<p>So you think that Duke will magically dissapear?</p>
<p>At least US News isn’t biased against the south. But their rankings are in fact ridiculous</p>
<p>“So you think that Duke will magically dissapear?” ok ok, i change my mind to the following predictions:</p>
<ol>
<li>Harvard</li>
<li>Princeton</li>
<li>MIT</li>
<li>Stanford</li>
<li>Yale</li>
<li>Caltech</li>
<li>U Penn</li>
<li>Duke</li>
<li>Dartmouth</li>
<li>Columbia</li>
</ol>
<p>I predict that a lot of people will continue to pretend that there is a huge difference between schools that are a few slots away from each other, even though there are lots of irrelevant stats that go into these rankings.</p>
<p>Couldn’t agree more TourGuide. It is amazing how many people assume that out of 2,000+ universities, there can be a significant difference among the top 1% of the universities out there. Yes, Harvard is probably better than Tufts. But to assume that Duke is better than Rice or Penn better than Cal is laughable.</p>
<p>Totally agree guys.</p>
<p>People get sucked up in the minutiae here (actually living in it is more like it) - and I’m guilty of it just as much as the next guy.</p>
<p>Folks! These lists should totally be taken with a grain of salt - plenty of outstanding universities / colleges out there… </p>
<p>and lastly, USNWR should be the last place you should hang your hat on in terms of a decision that ABC #7 ranked college is “better” than XYZ #11 ranked U.</p>
<p>Hehe, US News sucks. I don’t know how many people have told me that Brown (where I’m going next fall) sucks because it’s USNWR rank is “low.” Some of the more prestige hungry folks I know have actually offered me their pity for “ending up at Brown with your stats.” Not that I care what they think, but sometimes I think the impressions these rankings create are kinda ridiculous. And tiresome, to say the least.</p>
<p>Its hard to remember which schools are usually top 10…</p>
<p>I think the groupings of schools is always the best, with HYPSM at the top and some combo of Dartmouth, Columbia, Penn, Duke, Brown, Cal and NU making the next</p>