<p>there are no real undergraduate rankings for departments, since, as you will see, the quality of undergraduate education depends more on the ability of a professor to teach than to do research (which matters more for graduate school). You will be taking classes at the low end of the department no matter how far you think you will go with that major. The research opportunities for undergraduates will also not matter if you go to school ranked #1 or #10 on a graduate school rank, as both will have plenty of research going on to suffice the needs of an undergraduate.</p>
<p>Byerly, I don’t think we can take USNEWS rankings as absolute truth. The compression of the scores makes it very hard to determine the differences between top programs–the large number of ties is also obfuscating. Yale English has a reputation that exceeds those of other schools.</p>
<p>Especially when science and technology are playing more important roles than ever, Yale’s fame around the world is being caught up or even surpassed by Stanford, Princeton and MIT.</p>
<p>Lucifer, Yale is investing $1 billion into the sciences in the next few years. Its more than a speed up.</p>
<p>Yes, you should see the new engineering building they are putting up, it’s impressive.</p>
<p>Sorry to direct the conversation away from science, but I have a question about Yale’s undergrad music program. Specifically, the degree I’d graduate with – is it a BA in music or a BM (in instrumental performance or something)? If Yale only offers a BA, is the difference between these two degrees large enough that, if I knew that I want to focus on performance, I shouldn’t apply to Yale for my undergrad study?</p>
<p>Allegro, because of the presence of the graduate school of music, you have many options. Most very very serious muscians at Yale study to get their BA, as Yale does not offer a batchelors degree in performance. If you want an undergraduate performance degree, dont go to Yale or any other non conservatory; however, most people I have talked to about it seem convinced that you dont need an undergraduate performance degree if you are planning to go to graduate school, and that the benefits of a Yale undergraduate education outweigh the difference between a BA and a BM.
Keep in mind that while at Yale you could also work towards either of the two masters degrees offered by the School of Music (MA and MM I believe) as an undergraduate.</p>
<p>One main goal of Harvard’s upcoming 6-billion capital campaign will be aimed at the expansion of their science and engineering. It is said that at least one billon will be invested in engineering.</p>
<p>Umm, good for Harvard?</p>
<p>One main goal of Yale’s upcoming 1-billion dollar campain is to remove that cancerous sprawl called Harvard from the otherwise gorgeous Cambridge and roll it into the sea! I’d like to meet the guy who thought that one up.</p>
<p>By the way, with the classic meaning of BM, I think it would be a terribly sarcastic/crass joke to make that a music degree.</p>
<p>Stop with the Harvard talk already. Harvard is great, so are a lot of other colleges, but this is the YALE board so let’s focus on YALE please.</p>
<p>yale</p>
<p>huh</p>
<p>good god y’all, what is it good for??</p>
<p>The usual answer is that it is the best college in the world.</p>
<p>The usual reasoning is that Harvard is the best graduate university and Princeton is the best on a purely undergrad basis. But and that Yale comes closest to having the best of both graduate and undergraduate worlds. This makes it “best” for individuals as some see it “overall”. Yale undergrads can be the center of attention but have access to many exceptional (not always #1) graduate faculty and graduate courses. Yale students take lots of graduate courses in fact, sometimes as much as a third of their total. </p>
<p>I now there will be those who say Harvard has just as much focus on undergrads but that is not true (nor is true for Stanford, though Stanford comes closer). For those who want more attention as undergrads I’d say Princeton is better (as are many LACs). </p>
<p>So we should always remember not only best for what but also best for who.</p>
<p>US News ranks Harvard and Princeton tied for the best undergraduate education, with Yale ranked third.</p>
<p>It is possible that Yale will rise and Princeton fall in the next edition due in late August based on selectivity data for the Class of 2008.</p>
<p>Byerly please don’t tell me you really accept USNews rankings as the definitive measure. You must have a better rationale than that.</p>
<p>That seems to be the consensus of the experts; and the Revealed Preference ranking reflects the views of top students applying to elite schools.</p>
<p>every time i start a thread asking about which top school are more grad focused over undergrad (or at least just “as” focused) i always am told it’s ambiguous, but then in these threads someone always makes discernable comparisons, odd.</p>
<p>
best for whom</p>
<p>sorry… but i had to</p>
<p>haha…you just couldn’t hold yourself back, could you? :)</p>