US News best colleges 2025

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy to see Cornell get a little more respect. But Duke and Northwestern at 6 is an abomination.

Also, what is with the the fixation on the UCs? Berkeley and UCLA do not belong in the top 20 for undergrad. There are five UCs in the top 40 alone. And UC Merced at 58 is ridiculous.

Pell Grant factor...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm happy to see Cornell get a little more respect. But Duke and Northwestern at 6 is an abomination.

Also, what is with the the fixation on the UCs? Berkeley and UCLA do not belong in the top 20 for undergrad. There are five UCs in the top 40 alone. And UC Merced at 58 is ridiculous.

Good lord, the top UCs trounce the bottom Ivy schools if one cares at all about diversity in the educational setting, student quality of life, social development, etc.

I’d take LA or Berkeley over Ithaca or Hanover 10/10x to spend the formative years of my life.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary behing Virginia Tech.

This is what high school counselors have been saying for years.

No they haven't.

Not shocking VT is ranked higher when they play affirmative action with first gens

+1. Also, VT practices yield protection.

This has been repeatedly debunked on DCUM. From VT’s own website:

“Virginia Tech does not participate in yield protection.”

https://www.vt.edu/admissions/undergraduate/counselor-corner.html

Don't you understand admissions today is all about marketing? The job of an admissions officer is solely to get your kid to apply (to drive up no. of applications) in order to reject them, thereby making the school
appear more selective than it is. They will say anything to secure an application. Any college admissions counselor will tell you that. You're hopelessly naive if you actually believe what Admissions says.

What are the stats that put you at risk for yield protect?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another year with ND in the top 20. Another year the haters will say it won't last. Always get a chuckle out of this.

Notre Dame is 3.59% black. Shameful

A Catholic school in Indiana isn’t a huge draw for POC? Shocking!!

ahem. Using the same argument, there should be only 18% Catholics at ND because Indiana is only 18% Catholic.

No, when doing this analysis the experts compare to the national percentage of blacks, which is 14%. Hence, Harvard's black population is 14%. So it is at the other top schools. How do they achieve this? By offering generous merit and financial aid packages. Clearly, ND isn't vested in increasing diversity for the sake of its own student body by trying to increase the number if black students, Catholic or not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA ahead of UNC once again. And tied with Georgetown. Maryland remains far behind.

Congratulations?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary behing Virginia Tech.

This is what high school counselors have been saying for years.

No they haven't.

Not shocking VT is ranked higher when they play affirmative action with first gens

+1. Also, VT practices yield protection.

This has been repeatedly debunked on DCUM. From VT’s own website:

“Virginia Tech does not participate in yield protection.”

https://www.vt.edu/admissions/undergraduate/counselor-corner.html

Don't you understand admissions today is all about marketing? The job of an admissions officer is solely to get your kid to apply (to drive up no. of applications) in order to reject them, thereby making the school
appear more selective than it is. They will say anything to secure an application. Any college admissions counselor will tell you that. You're hopelessly naive if you actually believe what Admissions says.

What are the stats that put you at risk for yield protect?

Ask any TJ parent

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another year with ND in the top 20. Another year the haters will say it won't last. Always get a chuckle out of this.

ND would be the perfect school imo if it backed the gas off on religion just a smidge. I know they’ve just expanded financial aid for middle class applicants and gone need blind for international applicants which may bring in a bit more diversity of voices.

But the vibes there are very good. The kids are happy, the sports are fun, the academics are solid, the job placement is great. What else do you want?

OMG, maybe not having to spend the four most formative years of one’s life in godawful Indiana?

Phoning in from boring NoVa? Okay

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary behing Virginia Tech.

This is what high school counselors have been saying for years.

No they haven't.

Not shocking VT is ranked higher when they play affirmative action with first gens

What school doesn't? At least they're transparent about it.
DP

Not on the level VA tech does. They want 40% of the student body to be FGLI. Seems middle class gets no financial aid as a result of that. Makes US news happy, not so much the average Virginian who can't afford 40K COA on a 100k income

Again: that is no longer part of the criteria they use for ranking. Move along.

Did you even read the methodology? They replaced first gen factors with Pell grant factors. Still weighted as heavily as last year. These factors only reflect social mobility, not educational experience for all. USN&WR remain irrelevant for most DCUM users whose kids are not in need of social mobility.

My kids could use some mobility.

+1
So could mine! I love how the PP deigns to speak for everyone.

Nope, I said MOST DCUM users aren’t focused on social mobility. DCUM has one of the wealthiest, most educated user bases out there. They’re looking for educational quality, not admission and performance of low income students. So these rankings are irrelevant to those users, yet people don’t read the methodology and treat it as some sort of holy grail.

If now USN, then what? What ranking would you consider to be a more legit measure of educational quality?

I don’t know why you need a ranking. If you must, look for one that focuses on what’s important to you. For me that would be size of classes, student quality, job or grad school placement within 6 months. Maybe you would care about the strength of the major. We focus on strong academics and a good fit.

+1

My kid selected the 10 schools top for his programming/major first. You can find lists on this- we compiled a bunch of them and it was essentially the same 10-15, e.g., international relations/politics.

Then some were immediately ruled out due to size (wanted small-mid-size), location, student quality of life, etc.

The list was primarily what would be considered reaches solely due to selectivity/acceptance rates for him. So he picked about 5 and then broadened his search/list.

He did get into a few schools higher ranked- but he didn’t like them for various reasons after visits, etc. He chose the one that he really felt at home at- checked all his boxes.

It’s been 1 month and he ha living everything about the school- made a ton of friends, made a club sport team, small class sizes—biggest class 30. Others range from 5-12. Likes the professors (all courses taught by actual profs; seminar or two associated with class has an assistant prof).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another year with ND in the top 20. Another year the haters will say it won't last. Always get a chuckle out of this.

ND would be the perfect school imo if it backed the gas off on religion just a smidge. I know they’ve just expanded financial aid for middle class applicants and gone need blind for international applicants which may bring in a bit more diversity of voices.

But the vibes there are very good. The kids are happy, the sports are fun, the academics are solid, the job placement is great. What else do you want?

OMG, maybe not having to spend the four most formative years of one’s life in godawful Indiana?

I know you are talking about ND, but Indiana-Bloomington is often highlighted here as being a great place to go to college. Is it just a nicer place?

No. It’s “a great place to go to college” for applicants who didn’t get into better publics like the UCs, Michigan, Virginia, Florida, Texas, NC, Georgia, Wisconsin, or even Minnesota.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another year with ND in the top 20. Another year the haters will say it won't last. Always get a chuckle out of this.

ND would be the perfect school imo if it backed the gas off on religion just a smidge. I know they’ve just expanded financial aid for middle class applicants and gone need blind for international applicants which may bring in a bit more diversity of voices.

But the vibes there are very good. The kids are happy, the sports are fun, the academics are solid, the job placement is great. What else do you want?

OMG, maybe not having to spend the four most formative years of one’s life in godawful Indiana?

I know you are talking about ND, but Indiana-Bloomington is often highlighted here as being a great place to go to college. Is it just a nicer place?

ND is 1.5 hour from Chicago.
Still better than middle of nowhere in VA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary behing Virginia Tech.

This is what high school counselors have been saying for years.

No they haven't.

Not shocking VT is ranked higher when they play affirmative action with first gens

+1. Also, VT practices yield protection.

This has been repeatedly debunked on DCUM. From VT’s own website:

“Virginia Tech does not participate in yield protection.”

https://www.vt.edu/admissions/undergraduate/counselor-corner.html

Don't you understand admissions today is all about marketing? The job of an admissions officer is solely to get your kid to apply (to drive up no. of applications) in order to reject them, thereby making the school
appear more selective than it is. They will say anything to secure an application. Any college admissions counselor will tell you that. You're hopelessly naive if you actually believe what Admissions says.

What are the stats that put you at risk for yield protect?

Ask any TJ parent

I don't know any. Don't be coy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another year with ND in the top 20. Another year the haters will say it won't last. Always get a chuckle out of this.

ND would be the perfect school imo if it backed the gas off on religion just a smidge. I know they’ve just expanded financial aid for middle class applicants and gone need blind for international applicants which may bring in a bit more diversity of voices.

But the vibes there are very good. The kids are happy, the sports are fun, the academics are solid, the job placement is great. What else do you want?

OMG, maybe not having to spend the four most formative years of one’s life in godawful Indiana?

I know you are talking about ND, but Indiana-Bloomington is often highlighted here as being a great place to go to college. Is it just a nicer place?

No. It’s “a great place to go to college” for applicants who didn’t get into better publics like the UCs, Michigan, Virginia, Florida, Texas, NC, Georgia, Wisconsin, or even Minnesota.

This is madness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another year with ND in the top 20. Another year the haters will say it won't last. Always get a chuckle out of this.

ND would be the perfect school imo if it backed the gas off on religion just a smidge. I know they’ve just expanded financial aid for middle class applicants and gone need blind for international applicants which may bring in a bit more diversity of voices.

But the vibes there are very good. The kids are happy, the sports are fun, the academics are solid, the job placement is great. What else do you want?

OMG, maybe not having to spend the four most formative years of one’s life in godawful Indiana?

I know you are talking about ND, but Indiana-Bloomington is often highlighted here as being a great place to go to college. Is it just a nicer place?

ND is 1.5 hour from Chicago.
Still better than middle of nowhere in VA.

1.5 hours from Chicago is one of the weirdest flexes I’ve ever seen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another year with ND in the top 20. Another year the haters will say it won't last. Always get a chuckle out of this.

ND would be the perfect school imo if it backed the gas off on religion just a smidge. I know they’ve just expanded financial aid for middle class applicants and gone need blind for international applicants which may bring in a bit more diversity of voices.

But the vibes there are very good. The kids are happy, the sports are fun, the academics are solid, the job placement is great. What else do you want?

OMG, maybe not having to spend the four most formative years of one’s life in godawful Indiana?

I know you are talking about ND, but Indiana-Bloomington is often highlighted here as being a great place to go to college. Is it just a nicer place?

No. It’s “a great place to go to college” for applicants who didn’t get into better publics like the UCs, Michigan, Virginia, Florida, Texas, NC, Georgia, Wisconsin, or even Minnesota.

ew

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another year with ND in the top 20. Another year the haters will say it won't last. Always get a chuckle out of this.

ND would be the perfect school imo if it backed the gas off on religion just a smidge. I know they’ve just expanded financial aid for middle class applicants and gone need blind for international applicants which may bring in a bit more diversity of voices.

But the vibes there are very good. The kids are happy, the sports are fun, the academics are solid, the job placement is great. What else do you want?

OMG, maybe not having to spend the four most formative years of one’s life in godawful Indiana?

I know you are talking about ND, but Indiana-Bloomington is often highlighted here as being a great place to go to college. Is it just a nicer place?

No. It’s “a great place to go to college” for applicants who didn’t get into better publics like the UCs, Michigan, Virginia, Florida, Texas, NC, Georgia, Wisconsin, or even Minnesota.

This is madness.

It’s consolation talk and you know it, I know it, everyone knows it. The Kelley talk is some of the cringiest consolation talk I’ve seen in these kinds of threads.