What are the top 10 universities in the USA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My take: (a balance of undergrad and grad emphasis )

Harvard
Stanford
MIT
Yale
Columbia
Princeton
Caltech
Penn
Chicago
UC Berkeley

+1 let’s end the thread with this

We can end if Berkeley is deleted

Ok, fair enough. I don’t think anyone’s even willing to fight for the last spot at this point.

Harvard
Stanford
MIT
Yale
Columbia
Princeton
Caltech
Penn
Chicago

DONE. BYE.

Good list. Goodbye.

I think we came to a consensus on this list. At least among those who understand that a university is more than its undergraduate school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just look at US News & World Report and be done with it.

I don’t think so.

Why not?

Why?

Seems like USNWR often changes its ranking formula in order to jumble up their list to get more eyeballs and clicks. Would be bad for USNWR business, if the top 10 was the same every year. Was a joke when they listed Chicago at number 3. HYPSM should be alone in the top 5 every year until they are knocked off their respective perches. USNWR lost credibility with me with the #3 Chicago ranking a few years back. Chicago should be somewhere in the 6-10 range. No way Chicago deserves to be at number 3. This is not an attack on Chicago but how many students would choose Chicago over Stanford. 1 in a hundred maybe.

Student preference shouldn't be factored in rankings. Many reasons why a kid will choose one school over another, like Cali weather or grade inflation, etc.

Of course it should be factored. It means that one school is getting a much stronger student body and the other not. It would be like a NFL draft where HYPSM gets to choose all the players in the first 5 rounds.

But that doesn't mean you can create tiers out of it. It's not like after the 5th round, the students suddenly become unintelligent and undistinguished. There's no sudden drop in student caliber after HYPSM.

There is some drop in student caliber after HYPSM but neither as minimal nor as severe as the pp suggests.

do you really think that the students admitted to Caltech aren't identical to those pruning a science degree at HYPSM? Chicago and Harvey Mudd actually have higher SATs scores for incoming students than any of them

Well, think it this way. If a kid who went to Caltech also got an acceptance from Stanford, he would have gone to Stanford.
Only a student who didn't apply to Stanford (because he calculated that he would not get in), or applied but got rejected by Stanford, would consider Caltech. We can assume this probably is true for most students who went to Caltech. In other words, this self selecting process by students gives Stanford a better student body statistically. The public perception of the school prestige, superficial or not, plays an important role in determining the caliber of the student body and takes ages to change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My take

1. HYPSM
2. Caltech, Columbia, Chicago
3. Northwestern, Duke
4. Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell
5. JHU

This is the most accurate list, there’s no reason for 20+ additional pages of hand-wringing. Let’s close shop.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The fact of the matter is that there are about 13 or 14 schools that all have a solid case for being considered a “top 10” university. This is a testament to just how dominant the U.S. is in higher education. You take any one of these schools and plop them down in just about any other country in the world, and they’d be the top university in that country (by far, in most cases).

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just look at US News & World Report and be done with it.

I don’t think so.

Why not?

Why?

Seems like USNWR often changes its ranking formula in order to jumble up their list to get more eyeballs and clicks. Would be bad for USNWR business, if the top 10 was the same every year. Was a joke when they listed Chicago at number 3. HYPSM should be alone in the top 5 every year until they are knocked off their respective perches. USNWR lost credibility with me with the #3 Chicago ranking a few years back. Chicago should be somewhere in the 6-10 range. No way Chicago deserves to be at number 3. This is not an attack on Chicago but how many students would choose Chicago over Stanford. 1 in a hundred maybe.

Student preference shouldn't be factored in rankings. Many reasons why a kid will choose one school over another, like Cali weather or grade inflation, etc.

Of course it should be factored. It means that one school is getting a much stronger student body and the other not. It would be like a NFL draft where HYPSM gets to choose all the players in the first 5 rounds.

But that doesn't mean you can create tiers out of it. It's not like after the 5th round, the students suddenly become unintelligent and undistinguished. There's no sudden drop in student caliber after HYPSM.

There is some drop in student caliber after HYPSM but neither as minimal nor as severe as the pp suggests.

do you really think that the students admitted to Caltech aren't identical to those pruning a science degree at HYPSM? Chicago and Harvey Mudd actually have higher SATs scores for incoming students than any of them

Well, think it this way. If a kid who went to Caltech also got an acceptance from Stanford, he would have gone to Stanford.
Only a student who didn't apply to Stanford (because he calculated that he would not get in), or applied but got rejected by Stanford, would consider Caltech. We can assume this probably is true for most students who went to Caltech. In other words, this self selecting process by students gives Stanford a better student body statistically. The public perception of the school prestige, superficial or not, plays an important role in determining the caliber of the student body and takes ages to change.

Well, a student who participated in lots of dancing programs and a little bit of research probably would get accepted into Stanford, but maybe or maybe not Caltech, while a student who participated in lots of research would probably get accepted into Caltech, but maybe not Stanford. Who is better?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My take

1. HYPSM
2. Caltech, Columbia, Chicago
3. Northwestern, Duke
4. Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell
5. JHU

This is the most accurate list, there’s no reason for 20+ additional pages of hand-wringing. Let’s close shop.

Not quite. Penn is missing.

1. HYPSM
2. Caltech, Columbia
3. Penn, Chicago, Duke
4. Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Northwestern
5. JHU

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My take

1. HYPSM
2. Caltech, Columbia, Chicago
3. Northwestern, Duke
4. Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell
5. JHU

This is the most accurate list, there’s no reason for 20+ additional pages of hand-wringing. Let’s close shop.

Not quite. Penn is missing.

1. HYPSM
2. Caltech, Columbia
3. Penn, Chicago, Duke
4. Berkeley, Brown, Dartmouth


Final list. Cornell and Northwestern really do not belong on the list.

[Anonymous]

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT
Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Northwestern Duke Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT
Yale Columbia
Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Northwestern Duke

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT
Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Northwestern Duke Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT
Yale Columbia
Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Northwestern Duke

Better yet.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT
Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Northwestern Duke Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT
Yale Columbia
Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Northwestern Duke

Better yet.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

+1. Put Columbia in the same tier as Princeton for overall then very good list. Doesn't make sense to put Princeton above Columbia when they don't even have any professional grad programs except SPIA. That's like saying Columbia's top law, med, and business schools are worth nothing.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Columbia Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT
Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Northwestern Duke Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT
Yale Columbia
Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Northwestern Duke

Better yet.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

+1. Put Columbia in the same tier as Princeton for overall then very good list. Doesn't make sense to put Princeton above Columbia when they don't even have any professional grad programs except SPIA. That's like saying Columbia's top law, med, and business schools are worth nothing.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Columbia Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

Good list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT
Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Northwestern Duke Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT
Yale Columbia
Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Northwestern Duke

Better yet.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

+1. Put Columbia in the same tier as Princeton for overall then very good list. Doesn't make sense to put Princeton above Columbia when they don't even have any professional grad programs except SPIA. That's like saying Columbia's top law, med, and business schools are worth nothing.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Columbia Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

Good list.

Very good list. Nothing controversial or nonsensical.

[Anonymous]

This last list is very good and everything makes sense. The two separate lists should satisfy both the undergrad and grad boosters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT
Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Northwestern Duke Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT
Yale Columbia
Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Northwestern Duke

Better yet.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

+1. Put Columbia in the same tier as Princeton for overall then very good list. Doesn't make sense to put Princeton above Columbia when they don't even have any professional grad programs except SPIA. That's like saying Columbia's top law, med, and business schools are worth nothing.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Columbia Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

Good list.

Very good list. Nothing controversial or nonsensical.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Columbia Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke Northwestern

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT
Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Northwestern Duke Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT
Yale Columbia
Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Northwestern Duke

Better yet.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Princeton
Columbia
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

+1. Put Columbia in the same tier as Princeton for overall then very good list. Doesn't make sense to put Princeton above Columbia when they don't even have any professional grad programs except SPIA. That's like saying Columbia's top law, med, and business schools are worth nothing.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Columbia Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke
Northwestern

Good list.

Very good list. Nothing controversial or nonsensical.

Undergraduate:

Harvard Stanford MIT Yale Princeton
Columbia Caltech
Penn Chicago
Duke Northwestern
Dartmouth Brown
Cornell JHU
Berkeley

Overall:

Harvard
Stanford MIT Yale
Columbia Princeton
Penn Chicago
Berkeley
Duke Northwestern

+1