40 Colleges & Universities Receive 5 Star Academic Rating
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Anonymous
One of the reasons that I started this thread was to list the most highly respected academic institutions together in order to acquaint readers with strong qualifications to investigate. Higher education is expensive in the US; a degree from any of the above 58 National Universities and SLACs is valuable not only in terms of the quality of education, but also with respect to employment. |
Anonymous
“….severely overrated fir undergraduate education quality,” ? Michigan has been rated very highly for its undergraduate teaching for years at USNWR. This year it’s #16. https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/undergraduate-teaching |
Anonymous
UVA is #34. |
Anonymous
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Selective Liberal Arts Colleges (SLACs) which received the second highest rating of 4.5 stars for academics:
Smith College (all female), Wesleyan University in Connecticut, Bucknell University (Pennsylvania), Bates College (tired industrial location in Maine. Some racial issues), Univ. of Richmond, Scripps College (all female in Calif. consortium), Colgate University in rural New York state, Colby College in Maine (lots of updated facilities), Colorado College in Colorado Springs ( one course per 3.5 week term--lots of rich kids), College of the Holy Cross (Roman Catholic--great education), Lafayette College in Pennsylvania, Union College in Schenectady, NY, Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, NY (artsy & very liberal environment), & Grinnell College in Iowa (wealthy, liberal school with generous financial aid for all--including international students). List without comments: Smith, Wesleyan, Bucknell, Bates, Univ. of Richmond, Scripps, Colgate, Colby, Colorado College, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Union College, Vassar, & Grinnell. The two schools with the largest enrollment (around 3,000 students each) are Colgate University & Wesleyan University. The two all female schools--Smith College & Scripps College--are very close to several other SLACs. SLACs tend to have a dominant personality, therefore it is important to evaluate fit on an individual basis. Some SLACs have Greek organizations (frats & sororities) on campus, while others do not. Some SLACs have a social divide between athletes and non-athletes that is more pronounced and more noticeable than at large universities. Lots of SLACs offer binding ED (early decision) admissions. Some SLACs offer two rounds of early decision admissions (ED 1 & ED 2). At rural LACs, the isolation typically limits students' social options. Important to keep in mind when evaluating schools as college years are about more than just an academic education. In order to break up the monotony of attending a small, rural school, many engage in intercollegiate athletics or in a study abroad experience for an academic year or for a semester. |
Anonymous
| W&M seems underrated. Love it nonetheless. As others have said, it's not quite a National University nor a SLAC - more of a huge SLAC - what evs |
Anonymous
College of William & Mary is a great school for academics. Not a part school. Overlaps are: Univ. of Virginia, Va Tech, UNC, Cornell, Boston College, Georgetown, Univ. of Richmond, Mary Washington, & James Madison. Male/female is about 40% male/60% female. 70% Virginia residents. Offers Accounting, International Relations, Public Policy, History, Neuroscience, Biology, Chemistry, and more. |
Anonymous
Meant to write: "Not a party school." |
Anonymous
It’s amazing that you’re on such intimate terms with all the programs at these universities that you’re better informed than multiple ranking services. |
Anonymous
- SAT middle 50 Berkeley: 1290-1530 Michigan: 1360-1530 Northeastern: 1430-1550 - Acceptance rate Berkeley: 11% Michigan: much higher Northeastern: Lower than Both - Salary https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ (received federal student aid and began college at this institution 10 years ago) Berkeley:$80K Michigan: $76K Northeastern: $80K Looks like peer schools to me. Either Berkeley/Michigan are overrated/overranked or Northeastern is underrated/underranked. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
Regarding the SAT scores, are they for the same year? What percentage of students enrolling in the fall submitted? What percentage of students are actually entering in the spring and don't have their SAT scores, if submitted, counted? Northeastern has a low percentage submitting scores now and also has a sizeable Spring start population which typically has lower stats. |
Anonymous
Northeastern had similar scores for the past several years before the pandemic when scores were mandatory. I know Berkeley and Michigan accept shit ton of students from community colleges and other places in Spring and Fall |
Anonymous
In fact the the Spring accepted applicants are evaluated the same way at the same time, and their stats are not significantly lower at all. |
Anonymous
W&M can be overlooked. It typically does better on ratings and surveys regarding quality of teaching (USNews undergraduate teaching, Niche Academics/Professors, Princeton Review) than other national public universities. It is close to selective SLACs in this regard. W&M also has the second highest percentage of undergraduates going on to get STEM PhDs among national publics (and the highest percentage overall). |
Anonymous
But their stats aren't reported to USNWR or shown on Common Data Sets. |