US News best colleges 2025

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Precovid, 40% of Berkeley's undergrads had below a 1290 on the SAT or 29 on the ACT.

This just proves that SAT's are meaningless.

Or maybe it proves that SATs are meaningful. Thus the reason all the most selective colleges are reinstating test required.

The state of California says that SAT's are racist in design and implementation. That's why California has done away with them.

Actually the state of California said nothing of the kind. It was the UC Regents that went with no tests even though its own funded studies concluded otherwise. And post Covid, rest-optional research proves the correctness of the original UC result: testing is a good indicator of college performance. That's why, daily, you hear of colleges dropping test optional.

[Anonymous]

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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

Yes, yes they do. Just because they don't say it does not mean they don't. I have watched too many top 5 stellar students including my own that went on to top 10 schools, get waitlisted, not complaining about it, I think it's smart business but it's no coincidence.

+1. Admissions officers lie in order to get your kids to apply just so as to be rejected

[Anonymous]

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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

it's not 3.59% Black

4% says CollegeVine. https://www.collegevine.com/schools/university-of-notre-dame

[Anonymous]

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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.

4% of US Catholics are black. This lines up with the percent of blacks at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a religious school and has different institutional priorities than secular universities.

Agree. ND is well known for its religious priorities and the students it attracts. Why anyone would expect different percentages of ND is ludicrous. Move on folks.

+100

I am the one who posted that haters complain each year saying ND doesn't belong in T20. The fact of the matter is that ND will continue to focus it's priorities on its Catholic identity. This means there will be less appeal to the general non-Catholic public and limits its ability to attract people of more diversity. Despite ND's dedication to its strong Catholic identity, it manages to say on top of the rankings, likely because it makes up for this limitation with other very strong characteristics, like it's great academics, beautiful campus, strong athletics, and welcoming community. People here saying that other Catholic institutions manage to have more diversity, keep in mind that those schools are not as blatant about its religious affiliation. Specifically, ND has chapels in all of it's residence halls, a very active basilica on campus, Touchdown Jesus, the grotto, and many of the main student events have an element of religion sprinkled in. This might make some students uncomfortable -- hence the attraction is just not there. Still, it remains a T20 and that is what irks most people here on DCUM.

No, we just find the diversity numbers to be disturbing. ND could do something about that if it chose to. It chooses not to divert funds to recruiting black students.

Or if it wants to focus on Catholic students why doesn't it have more Latino students. It is weird to me that a school that emphasizes it's Catholic identity so much would have so few Latino students. Like ignore diversity for a second -- ND doesn't do a good job of merely representing the *Catholic* community. It's weird.

Catholic Latina mom here. My high stats (fcps grad) kid did not even apply to ND. Our main reason was tuition. We probably would not have qualified for much aid either.

Second reason, although my kids went to k-8 parrochial school, many Latin American Catholics are not super conservative in the religious sense. Most are culturally Catholic, so ND being very focused on their religious identity, was not a draw for my DD.

Third reason: Distance. Most college students in Latin America live at home and commute. Living on campus is not the norm still for US Hispanics. So when comparing percentages of Hispanic students in the US to those enrolled in universities, our numbers will always be lower at “isolated” campuses. In all fairness, my DD lives on campus at an in-state school.

Fourth: North Bend is freaking cold for “my people”. I mean, the word “North” is in the name of the town! Many kids are trying to attend schools in warmer regions anyway.

Thanks for the insight. Seems spot on. But it’s “South Bend.” Not that it makes it any warmer.

Oops! Thanks for the correction.

Also forgot to add…current low Hispanic numbers at ND will continue to make the school less attractive to future applicants. That good old self fulfilling prophecy.

I have never visited the campus, but from what I see in the football stands, the crowd does look very Caucasian, but let’s not forget, many Hispanics do look Caucasian. I’m thinking the few Hispanics that do apply, probably fit the Caucasian look. Those are the ones that are more likely able to afford the tuition. This due to the history of racism and colonialism in Latin America.

Hyperbole much?

[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.

Notre Dame is 3.59% black. Shameful

it's not 3.59% Black

4% says CollegeVine. https://www.collegevine.com/schools/university-of-notre-dame

According to ND CDS, it's 6% for first year enrolled students. 4.6% for total enrollment. So the trend is improving.

[Anonymous]

US News defiitely favors the large, state, public universities who historically have had a much wider band of students, many of whom at the bottom 25% would never see be able to see the inside of a selective private because their SAT's scores are so low.

We see this across many public schools, like UCLA, UC Berkeley, UC Irvine, Michigan, Georgia, UMass, etc. It should be the function of the state to let students in who may not be the most competitive academically but can enrich the university in different ways.

Now that US News has embraced this philosophy, hopefully employers who recruit colleges will see it the same way, as well as medical and law school admissions. An average graduate of UC Merced is better than an average graduate of SMU, UMiami, Tulane, etc.

[Anonymous]

https://publiccounsel.org/our-cases/smith-v-regents-of-university-of-california/

Eliminating University of California’s Use of Discriminatory SAT and ACT Scores

For decades, the University of California’s use of discriminatory SAT and ACT scores deprived hundreds of thousands of well-qualified students of color, students from low-income families, and students with disabilities of the opportunity to pursue higher education in the nation’s preeminent public university system.

[Anonymous]

ND has a lot of international students from Latin America. Most are very rich and very white. Their parents are the top of society in their home countries.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:William and Mary behing Virginia Tech.

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

Not.

[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.

Notre Dame is 3.59% black. Shameful

it's not 3.59% Black

4% says CollegeVine. https://www.collegevine.com/schools/university-of-notre-dame

According to ND CDS, it's 6% for first year enrolled students. 4.6% for total enrollment. So the trend is improving.

Well, that's one possibility. Another way of getting to those numbers is if Black students transfer out disproportionately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1. Princeton
2. MIT
3. Harvard
4. Stanford
5. Yale
6. Caltech, Duke, JHU, Northwestern
10. UPenn
11. Cornell, UChicago
13. Brown, Columbia
15. Dartmouth, UCLA
17. Berkeley
18. Rice, Notre Dame, Vanderbilt
21. CMU, UMich, WashU
24. Emory, Georgetown, UVA
27. UNC, USC
29. UCSD
30. NYU UF UT Austin
33. Georgia Tech, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UIUC
37. BC, Tufts
39. UCSB, UW Madison

Cornell moved up? Why?
Duke, Northwestern, Vanderbilt and WashU all still TO - doesn't seem to hurt them?
UIUC above UW Madison? Wow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://publiccounsel.org/our-cases/smith-v-regents-of-university-of-california/

Eliminating University of California’s Use of Discriminatory SAT and ACT Scores

For decades, the University of California’s use of discriminatory SAT and ACT scores deprived hundreds of thousands of well-qualified students of color, students from low-income families, and students with disabilities of the opportunity to pursue higher education in the nation’s preeminent public university system.

Providing a link to a statement by the people that brought the lawsuit is not providing a sturdy foundation for your argument. The UC BOR challenged it meaning they did not see the efficacy in going to test blind. Again as PP's have stated, many schools are going back to them for good reason. Given the opportunity after 2025 the UC system will reinstate them, you can bank on it.

[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.

Notre Dame is 3.59% black. Shameful

it's not 3.59% Black

4% says CollegeVine. https://www.collegevine.com/schools/university-of-notre-dame

According to ND CDS, it's 6% for first year enrolled students. 4.6% for total enrollment. So the trend is improving.

Well, that's one possibility. Another way of getting to those numbers is if Black students transfer out disproportionately.

right. or you could look back at previous years and see - in plain numbers - that it's an increase in admissions and nothing to do with transferring out. (btw, retention rate at ND is over 98% which is v v high).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The rankings are out now.

Once your kid in college the rankings fade away. All you care about is happiness, friends etc and good fit. These numbers don’t make kids happy. DD’s friend at JHU not happy with social scene.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:UC Merced up to #58. Will be top 50 by next year.

93% acceptance rate, 9% yield!!!

Get in while you can!

It's time to rank privates and publics separately.

They do have a separate ranking for publics:

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/national-universities/top-public

Private only

1 Princeton
2 MIT
3 Havard
4 Standford
5 Yale
6 Caltech,Duke,JHU,Northwestern
7 Upenn
8 Cornell,Uchicago
9 Brown,Columbia,
10 Dartmouth
11 Rice,NortreDame, Vanderbilt
12 CMU,WashU
13 Emory, GEORGETOWN
14 USC
15 NYU
16 Boston College,Tufts
17 Boston University
18 University of Rochester
19 Lehigh,WakeForest
20 Case Western

Why is U Chicago behind NW, Duke and JHU?