<p>The differences between universities in the DC-Baltimore area can be stark (or not!) and the rankings (or popular hype) are not always reliable. </p>
<p>I’m familiar with the ones I’ve ranked below having worked at more than one of these. The only factor I’ve considered is academic rigor (and ignored cost, resident life, general atmosphere etc).</p>
<p>I hope this helps for making decisions in cases like when you’ve got full ride at GMU vs 2K at UMd. (I’d go to GMU then because it isn’t bad unless UMd offers more.) And as others have said: no matter where you finally choose to go, with a bit of resolve you can end up doing a lot better professionally than those who chose the “top” school. </p>
<p>My Rankings
UMd
JHU (better than UMd for Bio, Chem, and some Humanities majors)
Georgetown
George Mason GMU (better than Georgetown in some majors/areas)
<p>How much scholarship did you get from Jhu. If it was me, I’ll pick Umd due to who I am but you have to pick which one you would fit in more- class size, school population. Diversity, environment feature. But if you can’t comfortably afford the schools, then go to gmu if you’ll fit there. Good luck </p>
<p>Ranking these is a waste of time. Why? Very subjective, and depends on the preferences/major/future desires of each student. For major research U, it’s UMd and Johns. For prestige in science/medical it might be Johns/G-town/UMd. For liberal arts it might be Mason, GW, G-town and UMd-Honors College. For religous studies might be G-town and Catholic. For public policy might be UMd, GW, and American. Different strokes and all. </p>
<p>@MitchK… Indeed, some schools are better for certain majors and others for different ones. What’s more, only a professional or academic in a particular subject area could give an honest and reliable opinion on the relative standing of a set of schools in that area. (For this reason, I should have qualified my initial post by noting that it was biased toward math, physical sci, and engrg.)</p>
<p>@umbcrep: Consider however a parable of three schools, each loved greatly by its fans. Each of these schools offers Calc III (Multivariable Calculus) to sophomores and some freshmen. And those who get As in Calc III from each school are now given the AP Calc BC Exam (which tests the material in Calc I/II - prereqs for Calc III) as part of an experiment. Kids with As from School-1 get 5s without exception; four-fifths from School-2 (somewhat preppy) get 5s, the rest 4s; and the best score from School-3 is a 3. Would you still insist that School-1 and School-3 are academically tied in every respect, and that School-2 is better than both School-1 and School-3? It is quite possible that School-3 is very good, has overall potential, and has turned out some good graduates in the past. But overstating its standing hurts its image.</p>