2022 US News Best National Universities

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists have barely changed in the last 25 years.... it's always the general same spots. You get the occasional change up and down like Yale sometimes being 1 to being 5 this year but everyone knows it's meaningless.

Berkeley was Top 5 in the 80s. Talk about a drop.

Back in the ‘80s peer review was the only criterion that really mattered. Berkeley is easily still among the finest academic institutions on earth. That hasn’t changed at all.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Are the extension students at Harvard taking classes alongside Harvard College students? It’s doubtful many are since 70% of the courses are given online. I think it’s wonderful that Columbia allows 1/3 of its undergraduates to be non traditional students and in classrooms with those brilliant 18 year olds. USNWR rewards them for this as well, by not reporting the huge percentage of students entering without the stellar grades and scores.

Yes, they are. HES students can sit in for the same in-person classes as Harvard College students, as well as online classes. About 1,000 sit in for a ALB degree. Harvard does not report this data, neither does Penn, which awards bachelor degrees to nontraditional students through the School of Liberal and Professional Studies.

I’m sure that the vast majority are taking mostly online classes however. Be it as it may, Columbia brings it to a whole new level. 1/3 of its undergraduates in the SGS!

No, you're wrong. And they get the ALB degree that has been the focal point of complaint by quite a few Harvard students because HES students frequently present themselves as Harvard College grads. Columbia enrolls about 2,000 non-traditional students. So, you're saying that veterans (who compose a large percentage of SGS) who fought and bled for our country don't really deserve to get an Ivy League education? What's wrong with expanding access to an elite education? Aren't universities meant to increase social mobility? I am really at a loss of words.

You’re projecting too much. I never said anything about veterans. I’m saying that Columbia’s ranking is too high because USNWR rewards it for having way too high of a percentage of its transfer students in its undergraduate program. The vast majority of those students would never be admitted as freshman. The data provided by Columbia and distributed by USNWR give it an air of ultra eliteness. Is that really an accurate picture?

Columbia grad here. Not PP. I can vouch for the undergraduate college (CC) and engineering (SEAS), they are about as "elite" as any Ivy can be. But no, we don't have too high of a percentage of transfer students. At most 5% of the class, and it's very competitive, the acceptance rate is just as low as getting in as freshman. GS-wise, I am not really sure haha. It's in a league of its own, and the campus is quite segregated I would say, because GS people don't live on campus and tend to be much older, so they don't really interact with CC or SEAS students. It used to be exclusively for military folks, but I think now they've included community college transfers... They were never included in the rankings to begin with. I don't even think the school ever reports GS data. It's been doing so for the past 15-20 years, and it's not like GS is some hidden secret from USNWR editors.

Can we stop talking about Columbia. It's a great school, just not HYPSM.

Although I would say that Columbia's undergraduate school may not be as desirable or prestigious as HYPSM, the school overall is better than some of those 5 schools.

With strong humanities, social sciences, and STEM departments, this puts Columbia in the tier of Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Berkeley for the arts and sciences. For professional schools, while they are not as good as Harvard and Stanford's, is still the third best overall when including law, medicine, business, international affairs, public health, journalism, etc.

Yale's weakness in STEM, and especially in engineering, is an embarrassment to the school at this point, and their business and med school isn't elite. While Princeton is strong across the arts and sciences, their lack of professional grad schools make it a school that shouldn't be grouped with universities that are elite in virtually all areas. The same argument goes for MIT, which is basically a one-trick pony in STEM (aside from business and some social sciences).

In other words, only two of the HYPSM schools are truly better than Columbia, and they are Harvard and Stanford. Columbia is a better school overall than Yale, Princeton, and MIT. I'm not saying that Columbia is more prestigious than these three schools, but objectively better from an academic standpoint.

A lot of BS to unpack here.
Columbia is NO better than #6. Period. No matter whether ranking just the undergraduate program or the full university.
Yale beats Columbia! No contest!
Columbia does offer a NYC campus which is very desirable to many.
A #6 ranking is great for Columbia. HYPSM are the elite of the elite tier and have been for multiple decades.

The idea that someone thinks Columbia is better overall than Yale Princeton MIT makes me like

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the extension students at Harvard taking classes alongside Harvard College students? It’s doubtful many are since 70% of the courses are given online. I think it’s wonderful that Columbia allows 1/3 of its undergraduates to be non traditional students and in classrooms with those brilliant 18 year olds. USNWR rewards them for this as well, by not reporting the huge percentage of students entering without the stellar grades and scores.

Yes, they are. HES students can sit in for the same in-person classes as Harvard College students, as well as online classes. About 1,000 sit in for a ALB degree. Harvard does not report this data, neither does Penn, which awards bachelor degrees to nontraditional students through the School of Liberal and Professional Studies.

I’m sure that the vast majority are taking mostly online classes however. Be it as it may, Columbia brings it to a whole new level. 1/3 of its undergraduates in the SGS!

No, you're wrong. And they get the ALB degree that has been the focal point of complaint by quite a few Harvard students because HES students frequently present themselves as Harvard College grads. Columbia enrolls about 2,000 non-traditional students. So, you're saying that veterans (who compose a large percentage of SGS) who fought and bled for our country don't really deserve to get an Ivy League education? What's wrong with expanding access to an elite education? Aren't universities meant to increase social mobility? I am really at a loss of words.

You’re projecting too much. I never said anything about veterans. I’m saying that Columbia’s ranking is too high because USNWR rewards it for having way too high of a percentage of its transfer students in its undergraduate program. The vast majority of those students would never be admitted as freshman. The data provided by Columbia and distributed by USNWR give it an air of ultra eliteness. Is that really an accurate picture?

Columbia grad here. Not PP. I can vouch for the undergraduate college (CC) and engineering (SEAS), they are about as "elite" as any Ivy can be. But no, we don't have too high of a percentage of transfer students. At most 5% of the class, and it's very competitive, the acceptance rate is just as low as getting in as freshman. GS-wise, I am not really sure haha. It's in a league of its own, and the campus is quite segregated I would say, because GS people don't live on campus and tend to be much older, so they don't really interact with CC or SEAS students. It used to be exclusively for military folks, but I think now they've included community college transfers... They were never included in the rankings to begin with. I don't even think the school ever reports GS data. It's been doing so for the past 15-20 years, and it's not like GS is some hidden secret from USNWR editors.

Can we stop talking about Columbia. It's a great school, just not HYPSM.

Although I would say that Columbia's undergraduate school may not be as desirable or prestigious as HYPSM, the school overall is better than some of those 5 schools.

With strong humanities, social sciences, and STEM departments, this puts Columbia in the tier of Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Berkeley for the arts and sciences. For professional schools, while they are not as good as Harvard and Stanford's, is still the third best overall when including law, medicine, business, international affairs, public health, journalism, etc.

Yale's weakness in STEM, and especially in engineering, is an embarrassment to the school at this point, and their business and med school isn't elite. While Princeton is strong across the arts and sciences, their lack of professional grad schools make it a school that shouldn't be grouped with universities that are elite in virtually all areas. The same argument goes for MIT, which is basically a one-trick pony in STEM (aside from business and some social sciences).

In other words, only two of the HYPSM schools are truly better than Columbia, and they are Harvard and Stanford. Columbia is a better school overall than Yale, Princeton, and MIT. I'm not saying that Columbia is more prestigious than these three schools, but objectively better from an academic standpoint.

A lot of BS to unpack here.
Columbia is NO better than #6. Period. No matter whether ranking just the undergraduate program or the full university.
Yale beats Columbia! No contest!
Columbia does offer a NYC campus which is very desirable to many.
A #6 ranking is great for Columbia. HYPSM are the elite of the elite tier and have been for multiple decades.

The idea that someone thinks Columbia is better overall than Yale Princeton MIT makes me like

Puke**

[Anonymous]

These Columbia boosters remind me of Chicago boosters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists have barely changed in the last 25 years.... it's always the general same spots. You get the occasional change up and down like Yale sometimes being 1 to being 5 this year but everyone knows it's meaningless.

Berkeley was Top 5 in the 80s. Talk about a drop.

Back in the ‘80s peer review was the only criterion that really mattered. Berkeley is easily still among the finest academic institutions on earth. That hasn’t changed at all.

Berkeley must have spent much less money on marketing, artificially driving down admission rates and bolstering their rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists have barely changed in the last 25 years.... it's always the general same spots. You get the occasional change up and down like Yale sometimes being 1 to being 5 this year but everyone knows it's meaningless.

Berkeley was Top 5 in the 80s. Talk about a drop.

Back in the ‘80s peer review was the only criterion that really mattered. Berkeley is easily still among the finest academic institutions on earth. That hasn’t changed at all.

Berkeley must have spent much less money on marketing, artificially driving down admission rates and bolstering their rankings.

It wouldn’t matter what Berkeley did or did not do. USNWR is in love with the elite privates, using data that supports them, and won’t stray away from their favorites.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These lists have barely changed in the last 25 years.... it's always the general same spots. You get the occasional change up and down like Yale sometimes being 1 to being 5 this year but everyone knows it's meaningless.

Berkeley was Top 5 in the 80s. Talk about a drop.

Back in the ‘80s peer review was the only criterion that really mattered. Berkeley is easily still among the finest academic institutions on earth. That hasn’t changed at all.

Berkeley must have spent much less money on marketing, artificially driving down admission rates and bolstering their rankings.

Berkeley has the luxury of being a state university. It’s gonna be funded no matter what. Someone decided along the way that Berkeley as a state university doesn’t have to have #1 engineering school, #1 law school, #1 this, and #1 that. It’s the same principle with Cal State University. They are not for the elite student of the nation. That’s what the ivies, MIT, CalTech, UC Berkeley, and UCLA are for. Cal State exists to cater to those who are shut out by the top, middle, and even the lower tier universities. They exist to serve the public, the working class, and the immigrant population. They never cared about being the elite #1.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the extension students at Harvard taking classes alongside Harvard College students? It’s doubtful many are since 70% of the courses are given online. I think it’s wonderful that Columbia allows 1/3 of its undergraduates to be non traditional students and in classrooms with those brilliant 18 year olds. USNWR rewards them for this as well, by not reporting the huge percentage of students entering without the stellar grades and scores.

Yes, they are. HES students can sit in for the same in-person classes as Harvard College students, as well as online classes. About 1,000 sit in for a ALB degree. Harvard does not report this data, neither does Penn, which awards bachelor degrees to nontraditional students through the School of Liberal and Professional Studies.

I’m sure that the vast majority are taking mostly online classes however. Be it as it may, Columbia brings it to a whole new level. 1/3 of its undergraduates in the SGS!

No, you're wrong. And they get the ALB degree that has been the focal point of complaint by quite a few Harvard students because HES students frequently present themselves as Harvard College grads. Columbia enrolls about 2,000 non-traditional students. So, you're saying that veterans (who compose a large percentage of SGS) who fought and bled for our country don't really deserve to get an Ivy League education? What's wrong with expanding access to an elite education? Aren't universities meant to increase social mobility? I am really at a loss of words.

You’re projecting too much. I never said anything about veterans. I’m saying that Columbia’s ranking is too high because USNWR rewards it for having way too high of a percentage of its transfer students in its undergraduate program. The vast majority of those students would never be admitted as freshman. The data provided by Columbia and distributed by USNWR give it an air of ultra eliteness. Is that really an accurate picture?

Columbia grad here. Not PP. I can vouch for the undergraduate college (CC) and engineering (SEAS), they are about as "elite" as any Ivy can be. But no, we don't have too high of a percentage of transfer students. At most 5% of the class, and it's very competitive, the acceptance rate is just as low as getting in as freshman. GS-wise, I am not really sure haha. It's in a league of its own, and the campus is quite segregated I would say, because GS people don't live on campus and tend to be much older, so they don't really interact with CC or SEAS students. It used to be exclusively for military folks, but I think now they've included community college transfers... They were never included in the rankings to begin with. I don't even think the school ever reports GS data. It's been doing so for the past 15-20 years, and it's not like GS is some hidden secret from USNWR editors.

Can we stop talking about Columbia. It's a great school, just not HYPSM.

Although I would say that Columbia's undergraduate school may not be as desirable or prestigious as HYPSM, the school overall is better than some of those 5 schools.

With strong humanities, social sciences, and STEM departments, this puts Columbia in the tier of Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Berkeley for the arts and sciences. For professional schools, while they are not as good as Harvard and Stanford's, is still the third best overall when including law, medicine, business, international affairs, public health, journalism, etc.

Yale's weakness in STEM, and especially in engineering, is an embarrassment to the school at this point, and their business and med school isn't elite. While Princeton is strong across the arts and sciences, their lack of professional grad schools make it a school that shouldn't be grouped with universities that are elite in virtually all areas. The same argument goes for MIT, which is basically a one-trick pony in STEM (aside from business and some social sciences).

In other words, only two of the HYPSM schools are truly better than Columbia, and they are Harvard and Stanford. Columbia is a better school overall than Yale, Princeton, and MIT. I'm not saying that Columbia is more prestigious than these three schools, but objectively better from an academic standpoint.

A lot of BS to unpack here.
Columbia is NO better than #6. Period. No matter whether ranking just the undergraduate program or the full university.
Yale beats Columbia! No contest!
Columbia does offer a NYC campus which is very desirable to many.
A #6 ranking is great for Columbia. HYPSM are the elite of the elite tier and have been for multiple decades.

The idea that someone thinks Columbia is better overall than Yale Princeton MIT makes me like

What's wrong with that? I think PP, whether she's being a booster or not, had a fair point. You, on the other hand, need to stop associating the quality of institutions with undergraduate education alone. You must have sent your kids to a LAC lol.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:These Columbia boosters remind me of Chicago boosters

PP, at least the boosters have a fair claim, it's got the Ivy League aura, great academics, and all that ongoing NYC hype. Chicago, meh, it really just doesn't have as much of a pull. Both USNWR and Forbes gave them a pretty high and fairly consistent ranking this year so it definitely triggered some vitriol on this forum by HYP fanatics and certain Columbia rejects.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the extension students at Harvard taking classes alongside Harvard College students? It’s doubtful many are since 70% of the courses are given online. I think it’s wonderful that Columbia allows 1/3 of its undergraduates to be non traditional students and in classrooms with those brilliant 18 year olds. USNWR rewards them for this as well, by not reporting the huge percentage of students entering without the stellar grades and scores.

Yes, they are. HES students can sit in for the same in-person classes as Harvard College students, as well as online classes. About 1,000 sit in for a ALB degree. Harvard does not report this data, neither does Penn, which awards bachelor degrees to nontraditional students through the School of Liberal and Professional Studies.

I’m sure that the vast majority are taking mostly online classes however. Be it as it may, Columbia brings it to a whole new level. 1/3 of its undergraduates in the SGS!

No, you're wrong. And they get the ALB degree that has been the focal point of complaint by quite a few Harvard students because HES students frequently present themselves as Harvard College grads. Columbia enrolls about 2,000 non-traditional students. So, you're saying that veterans (who compose a large percentage of SGS) who fought and bled for our country don't really deserve to get an Ivy League education? What's wrong with expanding access to an elite education? Aren't universities meant to increase social mobility? I am really at a loss of words.

You’re projecting too much. I never said anything about veterans. I’m saying that Columbia’s ranking is too high because USNWR rewards it for having way too high of a percentage of its transfer students in its undergraduate program. The vast majority of those students would never be admitted as freshman. The data provided by Columbia and distributed by USNWR give it an air of ultra eliteness. Is that really an accurate picture?

Columbia grad here. Not PP. I can vouch for the undergraduate college (CC) and engineering (SEAS), they are about as "elite" as any Ivy can be. But no, we don't have too high of a percentage of transfer students. At most 5% of the class, and it's very competitive, the acceptance rate is just as low as getting in as freshman. GS-wise, I am not really sure haha. It's in a league of its own, and the campus is quite segregated I would say, because GS people don't live on campus and tend to be much older, so they don't really interact with CC or SEAS students. It used to be exclusively for military folks, but I think now they've included community college transfers... They were never included in the rankings to begin with. I don't even think the school ever reports GS data. It's been doing so for the past 15-20 years, and it's not like GS is some hidden secret from USNWR editors.

Can we stop talking about Columbia. It's a great school, just not HYPSM.

Although I would say that Columbia's undergraduate school may not be as desirable or prestigious as HYPSM, the school overall is better than some of those 5 schools.

With strong humanities, social sciences, and STEM departments, this puts Columbia in the tier of Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Berkeley for the arts and sciences. For professional schools, while they are not as good as Harvard and Stanford's, is still the third best overall when including law, medicine, business, international affairs, public health, journalism, etc.

Yale's weakness in STEM, and especially in engineering, is an embarrassment to the school at this point, and their business and med school isn't elite. While Princeton is strong across the arts and sciences, their lack of professional grad schools make it a school that shouldn't be grouped with universities that are elite in virtually all areas. The same argument goes for MIT, which is basically a one-trick pony in STEM (aside from business and some social sciences).

In other words, only two of the HYPSM schools are truly better than Columbia, and they are Harvard and Stanford. Columbia is a better school overall than Yale, Princeton, and MIT. I'm not saying that Columbia is more prestigious than these three schools, but objectively better from an academic standpoint.

A lot of BS to unpack here.
Columbia is NO better than #6. Period. No matter whether ranking just the undergraduate program or the full university.
Yale beats Columbia! No contest!
Columbia does offer a NYC campus which is very desirable to many.
A #6 ranking is great for Columbia. HYPSM are the elite of the elite tier and have been for multiple decades.

The idea that someone thinks Columbia is better overall than Yale Princeton MIT makes me like

Puke**

Go ahead dear, no one will stop you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the extension students at Harvard taking classes alongside Harvard College students? It’s doubtful many are since 70% of the courses are given online. I think it’s wonderful that Columbia allows 1/3 of its undergraduates to be non traditional students and in classrooms with those brilliant 18 year olds. USNWR rewards them for this as well, by not reporting the huge percentage of students entering without the stellar grades and scores.

Yes, they are. HES students can sit in for the same in-person classes as Harvard College students, as well as online classes. About 1,000 sit in for a ALB degree. Harvard does not report this data, neither does Penn, which awards bachelor degrees to nontraditional students through the School of Liberal and Professional Studies.

I’m sure that the vast majority are taking mostly online classes however. Be it as it may, Columbia brings it to a whole new level. 1/3 of its undergraduates in the SGS!

No, you're wrong. And they get the ALB degree that has been the focal point of complaint by quite a few Harvard students because HES students frequently present themselves as Harvard College grads. Columbia enrolls about 2,000 non-traditional students. So, you're saying that veterans (who compose a large percentage of SGS) who fought and bled for our country don't really deserve to get an Ivy League education? What's wrong with expanding access to an elite education? Aren't universities meant to increase social mobility? I am really at a loss of words.

You’re projecting too much. I never said anything about veterans. I’m saying that Columbia’s ranking is too high because USNWR rewards it for having way too high of a percentage of its transfer students in its undergraduate program. The vast majority of those students would never be admitted as freshman. The data provided by Columbia and distributed by USNWR give it an air of ultra eliteness. Is that really an accurate picture?

Columbia grad here. Not PP. I can vouch for the undergraduate college (CC) and engineering (SEAS), they are about as "elite" as any Ivy can be. But no, we don't have too high of a percentage of transfer students. At most 5% of the class, and it's very competitive, the acceptance rate is just as low as getting in as freshman. GS-wise, I am not really sure haha. It's in a league of its own, and the campus is quite segregated I would say, because GS people don't live on campus and tend to be much older, so they don't really interact with CC or SEAS students. It used to be exclusively for military folks, but I think now they've included community college transfers... They were never included in the rankings to begin with. I don't even think the school ever reports GS data. It's been doing so for the past 15-20 years, and it's not like GS is some hidden secret from USNWR editors.

Can we stop talking about Columbia. It's a great school, just not HYPSM.

Although I would say that Columbia's undergraduate school may not be as desirable or prestigious as HYPSM, the school overall is better than some of those 5 schools.

With strong humanities, social sciences, and STEM departments, this puts Columbia in the tier of Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Berkeley for the arts and sciences. For professional schools, while they are not as good as Harvard and Stanford's, is still the third best overall when including law, medicine, business, international affairs, public health, journalism, etc.

Yale's weakness in STEM, and especially in engineering, is an embarrassment to the school at this point, and their business and med school isn't elite. While Princeton is strong across the arts and sciences, their lack of professional grad schools make it a school that shouldn't be grouped with universities that are elite in virtually all areas. The same argument goes for MIT, which is basically a one-trick pony in STEM (aside from business and some social sciences).

In other words, only two of the HYPSM schools are truly better than Columbia, and they are Harvard and Stanford. Columbia is a better school overall than Yale, Princeton, and MIT. I'm not saying that Columbia is more prestigious than these three schools, but objectively better from an academic standpoint.

A lot of BS to unpack here.
Columbia is NO better than #6. Period. No matter whether ranking just the undergraduate program or the full university.
Yale beats Columbia! No contest!
Columbia does offer a NYC campus which is very desirable to many.
A #6 ranking is great for Columbia. HYPSM are the elite of the elite tier and have been for multiple decades.

The idea that someone thinks Columbia is better overall than Yale Princeton MIT makes me like

What's wrong with that? I think PP, whether she's being a booster or not, had a fair point. You, on the other hand, need to stop associating the quality of institutions with undergraduate education alone. You must have sent your kids to a LAC lol.

It’s funny that the boosters, whatever their intention may be, can make valid arguments backed with proper reasoning for their schools, while the bashers just repeat the same dogmatic and often pathetic statements like that one. If you want to criticize a school, go ahead, but give us a valid reason why it made you puke.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the extension students at Harvard taking classes alongside Harvard College students? It’s doubtful many are since 70% of the courses are given online. I think it’s wonderful that Columbia allows 1/3 of its undergraduates to be non traditional students and in classrooms with those brilliant 18 year olds. USNWR rewards them for this as well, by not reporting the huge percentage of students entering without the stellar grades and scores.

Yes, they are. HES students can sit in for the same in-person classes as Harvard College students, as well as online classes. About 1,000 sit in for a ALB degree. Harvard does not report this data, neither does Penn, which awards bachelor degrees to nontraditional students through the School of Liberal and Professional Studies.

I’m sure that the vast majority are taking mostly online classes however. Be it as it may, Columbia brings it to a whole new level. 1/3 of its undergraduates in the SGS!

No, you're wrong. And they get the ALB degree that has been the focal point of complaint by quite a few Harvard students because HES students frequently present themselves as Harvard College grads. Columbia enrolls about 2,000 non-traditional students. So, you're saying that veterans (who compose a large percentage of SGS) who fought and bled for our country don't really deserve to get an Ivy League education? What's wrong with expanding access to an elite education? Aren't universities meant to increase social mobility? I am really at a loss of words.

You’re projecting too much. I never said anything about veterans. I’m saying that Columbia’s ranking is too high because USNWR rewards it for having way too high of a percentage of its transfer students in its undergraduate program. The vast majority of those students would never be admitted as freshman. The data provided by Columbia and distributed by USNWR give it an air of ultra eliteness. Is that really an accurate picture?

Columbia grad here. Not PP. I can vouch for the undergraduate college (CC) and engineering (SEAS), they are about as "elite" as any Ivy can be. But no, we don't have too high of a percentage of transfer students. At most 5% of the class, and it's very competitive, the acceptance rate is just as low as getting in as freshman. GS-wise, I am not really sure haha. It's in a league of its own, and the campus is quite segregated I would say, because GS people don't live on campus and tend to be much older, so they don't really interact with CC or SEAS students. It used to be exclusively for military folks, but I think now they've included community college transfers... They were never included in the rankings to begin with. I don't even think the school ever reports GS data. It's been doing so for the past 15-20 years, and it's not like GS is some hidden secret from USNWR editors.

Can we stop talking about Columbia. It's a great school, just not HYPSM.

Although I would say that Columbia's undergraduate school may not be as desirable or prestigious as HYPSM, the school overall is better than some of those 5 schools.

With strong humanities, social sciences, and STEM departments, this puts Columbia in the tier of Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Berkeley for the arts and sciences. For professional schools, while they are not as good as Harvard and Stanford's, is still the third best overall when including law, medicine, business, international affairs, public health, journalism, etc.

Yale's weakness in STEM, and especially in engineering, is an embarrassment to the school at this point, and their business and med school isn't elite. While Princeton is strong across the arts and sciences, their lack of professional grad schools make it a school that shouldn't be grouped with universities that are elite in virtually all areas. The same argument goes for MIT, which is basically a one-trick pony in STEM (aside from business and some social sciences).

In other words, only two of the HYPSM schools are truly better than Columbia, and they are Harvard and Stanford. Columbia is a better school overall than Yale, Princeton, and MIT. I'm not saying that Columbia is more prestigious than these three schools, but objectively better from an academic standpoint.

A lot of BS to unpack here.
Columbia is NO better than #6. Period. No matter whether ranking just the undergraduate program or the full university.
Yale beats Columbia! No contest!
Columbia does offer a NYC campus which is very desirable to many.
A #6 ranking is great for Columbia. HYPSM are the elite of the elite tier and have been for multiple decades.

The idea that someone thinks Columbia is better overall than Yale Princeton MIT makes me like

Puke**

The unemployed adult-extension school reject master baiter is back!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was just looking at the Michigan thread, and looked up the school. No. 3 public in the country and tuition is free for families making less than $65,000.

It has a $12 billion endowment / glad they are putting some of that to good use … not going to post graduate stipends …

That isn't where the endowment spending is going. And much of it will have nothing to do with undergraduate programs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah Oxbridge and other UK universities are not nearly as prestigious as the top American universities, and haven't been for quite some time. They have sway in parts of Europe and Commonwealth/former Commonwealth countries, but even then, an American degree will often be seen as more desirable.

What you are saying could very well be true. I studied at Columbia College and then studied at Oxford. Between the two, Columbia undergraduate was harder and teaching was better, probably in part because there's more dialogue in the US, open office hours and less conversation in British academic culture. However, both are excellent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are the extension students at Harvard taking classes alongside Harvard College students? It’s doubtful many are since 70% of the courses are given online. I think it’s wonderful that Columbia allows 1/3 of its undergraduates to be non traditional students and in classrooms with those brilliant 18 year olds. USNWR rewards them for this as well, by not reporting the huge percentage of students entering without the stellar grades and scores.

Yes, they are. HES students can sit in for the same in-person classes as Harvard College students, as well as online classes. About 1,000 sit in for a ALB degree. Harvard does not report this data, neither does Penn, which awards bachelor degrees to nontraditional students through the School of Liberal and Professional Studies.

I’m sure that the vast majority are taking mostly online classes however. Be it as it may, Columbia brings it to a whole new level. 1/3 of its undergraduates in the SGS!

No, you're wrong. And they get the ALB degree that has been the focal point of complaint by quite a few Harvard students because HES students frequently present themselves as Harvard College grads. Columbia enrolls about 2,000 non-traditional students. So, you're saying that veterans (who compose a large percentage of SGS) who fought and bled for our country don't really deserve to get an Ivy League education? What's wrong with expanding access to an elite education? Aren't universities meant to increase social mobility? I am really at a loss of words.

You’re projecting too much. I never said anything about veterans. I’m saying that Columbia’s ranking is too high because USNWR rewards it for having way too high of a percentage of its transfer students in its undergraduate program. The vast majority of those students would never be admitted as freshman. The data provided by Columbia and distributed by USNWR give it an air of ultra eliteness. Is that really an accurate picture?

Columbia grad here. Not PP. I can vouch for the undergraduate college (CC) and engineering (SEAS), they are about as "elite" as any Ivy can be. But no, we don't have too high of a percentage of transfer students. At most 5% of the class, and it's very competitive, the acceptance rate is just as low as getting in as freshman. GS-wise, I am not really sure haha. It's in a league of its own, and the campus is quite segregated I would say, because GS people don't live on campus and tend to be much older, so they don't really interact with CC or SEAS students. It used to be exclusively for military folks, but I think now they've included community college transfers... They were never included in the rankings to begin with. I don't even think the school ever reports GS data. It's been doing so for the past 15-20 years, and it's not like GS is some hidden secret from USNWR editors.

Can we stop talking about Columbia. It's a great school, just not HYPSM.

Although I would say that Columbia's undergraduate school may not be as desirable or prestigious as HYPSM, the school overall is better than some of those 5 schools.

With strong humanities, social sciences, and STEM departments, this puts Columbia in the tier of Harvard, Stanford, Princeton, and Berkeley for the arts and sciences. For professional schools, while they are not as good as Harvard and Stanford's, is still the third best overall when including law, medicine, business, international affairs, public health, journalism, etc.

Yale's weakness in STEM, and especially in engineering, is an embarrassment to the school at this point, and their business and med school isn't elite. While Princeton is strong across the arts and sciences, their lack of professional grad schools make it a school that shouldn't be grouped with universities that are elite in virtually all areas. The same argument goes for MIT, which is basically a one-trick pony in STEM (aside from business and some social sciences).

In other words, only two of the HYPSM schools are truly better than Columbia, and they are Harvard and Stanford. Columbia is a better school overall than Yale, Princeton, and MIT. I'm not saying that Columbia is more prestigious than these three schools, but objectively better from an academic standpoint.

A lot of BS to unpack here.
Columbia is NO better than #6. Period. No matter whether ranking just the undergraduate program or the full university.
Yale beats Columbia! No contest!
Columbia does offer a NYC campus which is very desirable to many.
A #6 ranking is great for Columbia. HYPSM are the elite of the elite tier and have been for multiple decades.

The idea that someone thinks Columbia is better overall than Yale Princeton MIT makes me like

Yale had some real weirdos there. Misfits who I saw. some had chips on their shoulder for whatever reason. Not nice. Also, some dopes like the-you-know-whoooses...

Beautiful campus, but not always the best students fully in each entering class.