Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Georgetown, UVA, and Vanderbilt are still excellent undergraduate schools and arguably would have had their undergraduate schools included if the methodology was slightly altered.
Essentially, the author decided to focus on the frequency of occurrences in USNWR top 20 instead of 25 over some number of years. While Vanderbilt has ranked well into the top 20 for most of the past decade, it was ranked between 20-25 in the 1990s. Georgetown has consistently ranked in the top 20-25, and UVA has hovered around 25.
I don’t think this means much, especially when you consider the LACs included, which if slotted in among national universities in USNWR national university rankings might rank lower than Georgetown, Vanderbilt, and UVA.
When considering undergraduate education the SLACs on this list are the equal of ANY institution on the list. That is not to say that Georgetown and Vandy aren't excellent schools; they are but they have nothing on any of the SLACs on that list for a classical liberal arts education.
UVA is also an excellent school but no Public school belongs in any serious discussion of the best schools for undergraduate education. It isn't their mission and if they were focused on it they would have to drastically reduce the pool of students eligible to attend from within their state borders.