The Georgia Tech College of Engineering reclaimed the No. 3 position among the nation’s undergraduate engineering programs in the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report .
The new list marks the second time in three years the College’s overall programs have ranked third, its best-ever position on the annual list.
It’s also the first time three specific engineering disciplines ranked first in a single year:
Ga Tech is obviously a fine school but the “best in major” methodology is a sham…a pure popularity contest - and that’s sad - because it’s not really measuring anything other than perception of names (done by two deans or senior faculty at other schools).
It’s like saying a Ferari is the best car - without ever looking under the hood or evaluating anything about it - other than it’s a big time name.
In this sense, so many students are misled or uneducated - and it’s sad.
I like rankings but when you dig deep, their assessment by department is hollow.
It’s more than just rankings. Follow the money. Georgia Tech is a leader with private corporate investments in scientific research for the work they do within these majors and fields as was written about by the WSJ in a recent article noted below. Quite remarkable actually. Try visiting the school sometime and do a deep dive by touring these various facilities and buildings. Don’t think you would conclude it’s “empty”.
Agree with @tsbna44 that the overall engineering rankings should be a good enough indicator for undergraduate study. It is pretty hard to understand what metric in the methodology caused them to go from #2 to #1 in the BME rankings or for that matter the role that Emory plays in this partnership.
Agree that ranking by dept. in disciplines like engineering & business are helpful & often necessary for those who intend to specialize. Thanks for posting !
Georgia Tech is an awesome school and many great programs. Don’t forget to check out the different lists out there for engineering. If your kid likes a smaller school - Rose- Hulman is highly ranked ( they don’t offer doctorates - but the undergrad is the best ). Also check that the student gets directly admitted to engineering or they could end up out of the program at the end of sophomore year. This happened to a friend at Penn State.
That can happen anywhere. Nationally 50% of engineering majors don’t make it through although kids at top schools likely do far better than the averages.