Here Are America's Top Colleges for 2018

[Anonymous]

The top 6 is spot on in my opinion for each category- I consider HYPSM + Caltech the top universities and WASP + Harvey Mudd Mudd/Bowdoin the top LACs (don't really care about the specific order- they're all close enough to each other). From then on, though, the list gets murkier.

[Anonymous]

Terps 6th ranked public in the US. If they merge the law and medical they will easily be top 5.

[Anonymous]

I went to Georgetown and still think #12 is a bit high. I think Georgetown is very strong in certain areas, but doesn't have the strength across departments that UChicago and Michigan have, for example. I'd put it below both schools, but still in the top 25.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I went to Georgetown and still think #12 is a bit high. I think Georgetown is very strong in certain areas, but doesn't have the strength across departments that UChicago and Michigan have, for example. I'd put it below both schools, but still in the top 25.

It does incredibly well due to absurdly high alumni salaries relative to other schools, and that's a big factor for the Forbes ranking.

PayScale ranks Georgetown 18th for earning potential, while the CollegeScoreCard has Georgetown with the third highest salary among alumni between elite schools (only MIT and Harvard rank higher).

Also explains why LACs do so poorly in general- they're not really known for highly paid alumni.

[Anonymous]

Can't help but notice that Georgetown , Hopkins, Annapolis and UMCP all being so close to each other may be the nations highest concentration of academic firepower.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The top 50 are all amazing ... which is why ranking schools is dumb.

Yes. Not that there isn't a overall difference in the average academic achievement of, say, whatever school is 10 and whatever is 40, but the quality of the education that a specific student will get is basically the same. An unmotivated student won't learn much at a top school; a curious, involved student who works hard and seeks out opportunities - whether academic or extracurricular - will thrive at any number of schools. (That doesn't mean that a kid who can get into Harvard would be just as good going to a second rate state school, but that they'd do great at any of the top 30 or 40, and someone who could get into #40 would be great at any of 40-80, etc. It's more important to get a good fit on size, location, academic focus, etc.

[Anonymous]

This list is more logical and less secretive than USnews which feels like pay to play and manipulated.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:That's a really good list. The only one I disagree with is Unc which I don't feel is in the top 100 graduating illiterates for decades.

This is almost exactly what my father said over the weekend. My niece is a rising senior and swimmer. She is considering attending U. of Wisconsin and UNC (comparable swimming programs). We were discussing her options on family vacation over the weekend and my father, who is a college professor and a midwesterner, was very down on UNC despite the fact that its higher ranked. Wisc seems to have fallen in the rankings. I was wondering if its bc Gov. Walker has cut funding.

UW is my alma mater, and you are correct. The funding cuts has led to professors leaving and a reduction in research grants, which has hurt the school in the past years. It's a true shame.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can't help but notice that Georgetown , Hopkins, Annapolis and UMCP all being so close to each other may be the nations highest concentration of academic firepower.

Eh, Boston has you beat hands down.

[Anonymous]

They call Dartmouth “Dartmouth University.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They call Dartmouth “Dartmouth University.”

Who cares?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They call Dartmouth “Dartmouth University.”

Who cares?

Actually, anybody affiliated with the college would care quite a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They call Dartmouth “Dartmouth University.”

Who cares?

The editors can’t get something as basic as the name of a school correct. In a list of “top schools” this seems like a very low bar.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't help but notice that Georgetown , Hopkins, Annapolis and UMCP all being so close to each other may be the nations highest concentration of academic firepower.

Eh, Boston has you beat hands down.

Probably so. Still We're #2! We're #2!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In what universe is Brown better than Columbia, Duke, and Dartmouth?

Well, you know Forbes is such a bastion of crazy leftist thought that it probably overrates Brown.

Related note: U. of Chicago way down there at #18.

UChicago is overrated. Their ROI is paltry $5000 more per year than UVA, according to PayScale. Forbes got UChicago right.