List your top 50 universities/LACs
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
If I encountered a UCLA grad (2B) and W&L grad (3B), there is no way I would assume on average the UCLA grade is going to be smarter, better educated, or more capable, so this makes no sense to me. I might have other preconceptions about the graduates of those two schools (background, geography, wealth, etc.), but that is another point. This is but one example. |
Anonymous
| LACs and universities shouldn't be compared in the same tier. They're too different and they don't have much overlap admissions wise either. I think it's sound to separate the two categories. For top LACs specifically, I do think the gap in difference/educational benefits and opportunities is a lot smaller than universities like Princeton vs UCLA since most of them are very wealthy on a per student basis and all emphasize a liberal arts curriculum largely dominated by undergrad attention. Williams might be significantly favored by cross-admits over Colby, but the Williams and Colby experience are almost 95%+ identical in a way Princeton (#1) and USC (#25) are not. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
I think that's fair but there will be some difference on average. UCLA is one of the top handful of public schools if not the top one, and they get the most applications of any school in the country. Their student body especially over the past decade has become extremely strong, so I think on average their students are likely a bit better than the average W&L student. Not that it makes a meaningful difference though. I would say that between schools with just 1 grouping of separation between them (i.e. 1A vs 1B or 1B vs 2A), there won't be a noticeable difference on average. The typical Duke or Yale student won't really be "better" than the typical Penn or Columbia student, you could probably swap the student bodies and have them perform very similarly. I think if you go 2 or more groupings of separation, then you might notice a bit of a difference. The average MIT student is probably better than the average Vanderbilt student, although both schools are of course great. |
Anonymous
| No matter how many times this question is asked, it's always the same schools. Ivy League, Stanford, Duke, etc. and then a smattering of good research universities, public schools, and LACs. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Very good but now way Duke is 1A. 1B is the correct place for it. I don't think Hamilton is in the same league but 3B is properly harder to fill so I will give it to you. I don't think UF/UCSD belong anywhere in the top 40. Only in US News they have a good rank. Lot of publics got pushed up due to Pell Grants. I feel like with the publics you reiterated the US News rankings. |
Anonymous
|
1A) MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale
1B) Penn, Caltech, Columbia, Northwestern, Duke 2A) Vanderbilt, Rice, Dartmouth, Brown, UChicago, Cornell, Williams, Amherst, Pomona 2B) UMich, Johns Hopkins, WashU, Notre Dame, Georgetown, UCLA, Berkeley, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Claremont McKenna 3A) UVA, UNC, CMU, Emory, USC, Georgia Tech, Wellesley, Barnard, Carleton, Middlebury 3B) BC, UT Austin, W&M, W&L, Vassar, Davidson, Hamilton, Haverford |
Anonymous
For UC applicants, you can just check a box to apply to a campus. It is a big factor in driving up the number of applicants. UCLA's tail is going to be weaker, and I think that may increase now that they don't take standardized tests. If you compare 2020-21 CDS, W&L is 60 points higher at the 25th percentile on the SAT and 3 points higher on the ACT at the 25th percentile. But here's the rub. If you take a popular area like pre-med, UCLA (the top public in USNEWS), UCLA's pre-med acceptance rate has ranged from a reported high of 51% to a low of 45% (45% is close to the national average). W&L reports 91%. That is a big difference for schools that may have somewhat similar stats. |
Anonymous
Actually Northwestern needs to be knocked down a tier. Chicago higher actually. 1A) MIT, Stanford, Princeton, Harvard, Yale 1B) Penn, Caltech, Columbia, Duke, Chicago 2A) Vanderbilt, Rice, Dartmouth, Brown, Cornell, Williams, Amherst, Pomona, Northwestern 2B) UMich, Johns Hopkins, WashU, Notre Dame, Georgetown, UCLA, Berkeley, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Claremont McKenna 3A) UVA, UNC, CMU, Emory, USC, Georgia Tech, Wellesley, Barnard, Carleton, Middlebury 3B) BC, UT Austin, W&M, W&L, Vassar, Davidson, Hamilton, Haverford |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
Read the Reddit post. |
Anonymous
| Rarely is it worth the time to read a Reddit post! |
Anonymous
If reading is too difficult for you, maybe you should let the adults do the talking 
|
Anonymous
You list ranked by Princeton Review Academic Rating scores. Thought it would be interesting to compare to the list above which appears to be more of a synthesis of rankings. Academics How hard students work and how much they get back for their efforts, on a scale of 60–99. This rating is calculated from student survey results and statistical information reported by administrators. Factors weighed include how many hours students study outside of the classroom and the quality of students the school attracts. We also considered students' assessments of their professors, class size, student–teacher ratio, use of teaching assistants, amount of class discussion, registration, and resources. Middlebury 99 Williams 99 Carleton 98 Chicago 94 Haverford 94 Wellesley 94 Bowdoin 93 Dartmouth 93 Johns Hopkins 93 MIT 93 Pomona 93 Brown 92 Hamilton 92 Vanderbilt 92 Vassar 92 Yale 92 Claremont McKenna 91 Emory 91 Stanford 91 Amherst 90 Caltech 90 Columbia 90 Cornell 90 Wash U 90 Barnard 89 Rice 89 W&M 89 BC 88 Duke 88 Northwestern 88 Princeton 88 CMU 87 Michigan 86 Penn 86 UNC 85 UVA 85 Notre Dame 84 Harvard 83 Davidson 82 Georgia Tech 82 Swarthmore 82 UCLA 81 Georgetown 80 UC Berkeley 80 UT Austin 80 USC 78 |