QS 2026 ranking out

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The QS ranking is yet another product of a British content generation complex, like the lawyer/law firm rankings. Crap in, crap out.

It's like the world professional tennis rankings, probably useful for the top 20-30, but at lower ranks questionable, biased and not comparable.

If you believe that Kazakh National University is comparable to Wash U, have at it! They are tied in this silly ranking. Borat U had better scores for academic reputation, employer reputation, employment outcomes, global engagement, and virtually tied for for learning experience.

This is not an apples to oranges comparison, it's an apples to tomatoes comparison.

+1000

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why is Georgetown so low? I think of it as an Ivy-plus.

Maybe you could publish your own ranking, with HYPSMG at the top.

and UVA, of course.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is looking at where to go for her undergrad. How a university’s grad programs stack up internationally is entirely irrelevant to that.

What matters to most of the world or benefits the world is research so that is what is ranked. The top schools in the US still show up in the list because not only are they strong brands but they are also strong research institutions. If US falls back in research it will be a huge issue for the country.

Agree, and furthermore undergraduates need research experience for the next steps in many fields. Humanities too but especially stem. Research experience is key for grad school, med school and yes sell out consulting jobs particularly tech sector. Global reputation matters a lot for hiring these days. The QS relative ranking of the top 10-12 US schools overlaps almost exactly with target school hiring preferences in my company and many others

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100

Among US universities: ( methodology superior to USnews)

Crème de le crème: MIT , Harvard, Stanford,Caltech, Uchicago, UPenn, Cornell

Tier 1.5: UCB, Johns Hopkins,Yale, Princeton

Tier 2: Columbia, Northwestern, Umich,UCLA

Tier 3: Duke, CMU ( ex CS), nYU, Brown//

Understandably Dartmouth/Vanderbit/Washu ranks are too low to get recognition

The methodology is not superior to US News as QS rankings are focused on graduate schools and research citations, not on undergraduate schools.

But they are rankings of universities, not of undergrad programs.

A horse by any other name; they are rankings of graduate universities, but not of individual graduate departments. They are worthless.

Good thing QS has subject rankings too.

A university is more than its undergrad program. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

But it isn’t, especially for undergraduate education which is what DCUM discussions are typically focused on. And this is why there are probably 15-20 SLACs which are superior to any of these schools for undergraduate education outside of engineering and CS. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

“A university isn’t more than its undergrad program” is the type of neurotic and myopic take I expect from this place.

For parents of students interested in an undergraduate education, that’s a pretty accurate statement.

But it's not accurate. Professor here, and I think it's not always obvious the ways that research impacts undergraduate education. Off the top of my head... research experiences are often a key step in getting a job in certain areas OR in getting into graduate school. At small liberal arts colleges, for example, it's hard to get the strong research experience. In my own field, when we do admissions, someone from say Penn State has a better chance of having the experience they need to get into our program than someone from say William and Mary. Research brings in money. Research brings attention/prestige. Also, research opportunity tends to attract top faculty (plenty of amazing faculty at small liberal arts colleges, and many of them like teaching more, so on balance might be a wash). My point is that it's sometimes hard for parents to know the way research impacts undergraduate education. But as an academic, I would be looking for a place with high research productivity so my kid has plenty of options for experiences.

[Anonymous]

If research is important, then reference this.
It's better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_research_universities_in_the_United_States

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100

Among US universities: ( methodology superior to USnews)

Crème de le crème: MIT , Harvard, Stanford,Caltech, Uchicago, UPenn, Cornell

Tier 1.5: UCB, Johns Hopkins,Yale, Princeton

Tier 2: Columbia, Northwestern, Umich,UCLA

Tier 3: Duke, CMU ( ex CS), nYU, Brown//

Understandably Dartmouth/Vanderbit/Washu ranks are too low to get recognition

The methodology is not superior to US News as QS rankings are focused on graduate schools and research citations, not on undergraduate schools.

But they are rankings of universities, not of undergrad programs.

A horse by any other name; they are rankings of graduate universities, but not of individual graduate departments. They are worthless.

Good thing QS has subject rankings too.

A university is more than its undergrad program. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

But it isn’t, especially for undergraduate education which is what DCUM discussions are typically focused on. And this is why there are probably 15-20 SLACs which are superior to any of these schools for undergraduate education outside of engineering and CS. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

“A university isn’t more than its undergrad program” is the type of neurotic and myopic take I expect from this place.

For parents of students interested in an undergraduate education, that’s a pretty accurate statement.

But it's not accurate. Professor here, and I think it's not always obvious the ways that research impacts undergraduate education. Off the top of my head... research experiences are often a key step in getting a job in certain areas OR in getting into graduate school. At small liberal arts colleges, for example, it's hard to get the strong research experience. In my own field, when we do admissions, someone from say Penn State has a better chance of having the experience they need to get into our program than someone from say William and Mary. Research brings in money. Research brings attention/prestige. Also, research opportunity tends to attract top faculty (plenty of amazing faculty at small liberal arts colleges, and many of them like teaching more, so on balance might be a wash). My point is that it's sometimes hard for parents to know the way research impacts undergraduate education. But as an academic, I would be looking for a place with high research productivity so my kid has plenty of options for experiences.

Dear Prof,

William and Mary is not a SLAC. It is a mid-sized university. We get that you didn’t attend (or ever teach at) a SLAC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100

Among US universities: ( methodology superior to USnews)

Crème de le crème: MIT , Harvard, Stanford,Caltech, Uchicago, UPenn, Cornell

Tier 1.5: UCB, Johns Hopkins,Yale, Princeton

Tier 2: Columbia, Northwestern, Umich,UCLA

Tier 3: Duke, CMU ( ex CS), nYU, Brown//

Understandably Dartmouth/Vanderbit/Washu ranks are too low to get recognition

The creme de la creme group is the most targeted by international students at top schools, often stem applicants. Maybe add Princeton and move chicago down but that group is basically what everyone in the international pool wants

Hate to break it to you. Internationals love all the Ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My kid is looking at where to go for her undergrad. How a university’s grad programs stack up internationally is entirely irrelevant to that.

What matters to most of the world or benefits the world is research so that is what is ranked. The top schools in the US still show up in the list because not only are they strong brands but they are also strong research institutions. If US falls back in research it will be a huge issue for the country.

Agree, and furthermore undergraduates need research experience for the next steps in many fields. Humanities too but especially stem. Research experience is key for grad school, med school and yes sell out consulting jobs particularly tech sector. Global reputation matters a lot for hiring these days. The QS relative ranking of the top 10-12 US schools overlaps almost exactly with target school hiring preferences in my company and many others

+ a million

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100

Among US universities: ( methodology superior to USnews)

Crème de le crème: MIT , Harvard, Stanford,Caltech, Uchicago, UPenn, Cornell

Tier 1.5: UCB, Johns Hopkins,Yale, Princeton

Tier 2: Columbia, Northwestern, Umich,UCLA

Tier 3: Duke, CMU ( ex CS), nYU, Brown//

Understandably Dartmouth/Vanderbit/Washu ranks are too low to get recognition

The methodology is not superior to US News as QS rankings are focused on graduate schools and research citations, not on undergraduate schools.

But they are rankings of universities, not of undergrad programs.

A horse by any other name; they are rankings of graduate universities, but not of individual graduate departments. They are worthless.

Good thing QS has subject rankings too.

A university is more than its undergrad program. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

But it isn’t, especially for undergraduate education which is what DCUM discussions are typically focused on. And this is why there are probably 15-20 SLACs which are superior to any of these schools for undergraduate education outside of engineering and CS. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

“A university isn’t more than its undergrad program” is the type of neurotic and myopic take I expect from this place.

For parents of students interested in an undergraduate education, that’s a pretty accurate statement.

But it's not accurate. Professor here, and I think it's not always obvious the ways that research impacts undergraduate education. Off the top of my head... research experiences are often a key step in getting a job in certain areas OR in getting into graduate school. At small liberal arts colleges, for example, it's hard to get the strong research experience. In my own field, when we do admissions, someone from say Penn State has a better chance of having the experience they need to get into our program than someone from say William and Mary. Research brings in money. Research brings attention/prestige. Also, research opportunity tends to attract top faculty (plenty of amazing faculty at small liberal arts colleges, and many of them like teaching more, so on balance might be a wash). My point is that it's sometimes hard for parents to know the way research impacts undergraduate education. But as an academic, I would be looking for a place with high research productivity so my kid has plenty of options for experiences.

Yes. Essentially the same advice our family member who is a professor who used to work in industry and still has industry funding for part of their research: they strongly encouraged us to seek top R1 research universities for the above reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100

Among US universities: ( methodology superior to USnews)

Crème de le crème: MIT , Harvard, Stanford,Caltech, Uchicago, UPenn, Cornell

Tier 1.5: UCB, Johns Hopkins,Yale, Princeton

Tier 2: Columbia, Northwestern, Umich,UCLA

Tier 3: Duke, CMU ( ex CS), nYU, Brown//

Understandably Dartmouth/Vanderbit/Washu ranks are too low to get recognition

The creme de la creme group is the most targeted by international students at top schools, often stem applicants. Maybe add Princeton and move chicago down but that group is basically what everyone in the international pool wants

Hate to break it to you. Internationals love all the Ivies.

No we do not love Dartmouth and Brown, they are considered less desired...and we do not understand why US students look down on Cornell as the bottom of the ivies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100

Among US universities: ( methodology superior to USnews)

Crème de le crème: MIT , Harvard, Stanford,Caltech, Uchicago, UPenn, Cornell

Tier 1.5: UCB, Johns Hopkins,Yale, Princeton

Tier 2: Columbia, Northwestern, Umich,UCLA

Tier 3: Duke, CMU ( ex CS), nYU, Brown//

Understandably Dartmouth/Vanderbit/Washu ranks are too low to get recognition

The methodology is not superior to US News as QS rankings are focused on graduate schools and research citations, not on undergraduate schools.

But they are rankings of universities, not of undergrad programs.

A horse by any other name; they are rankings of graduate universities, but not of individual graduate departments. They are worthless.

Good thing QS has subject rankings too.

A university is more than its undergrad program. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

But it isn’t, especially for undergraduate education which is what DCUM discussions are typically focused on. And this is why there are probably 15-20 SLACs which are superior to any of these schools for undergraduate education outside of engineering and CS. I’m not sure what else there is to say.

“A university isn’t more than its undergrad program” is the type of neurotic and myopic take I expect from this place.

For parents of students interested in an undergraduate education, that’s a pretty accurate statement.

But it's not accurate. Professor here, and I think it's not always obvious the ways that research impacts undergraduate education. Off the top of my head... research experiences are often a key step in getting a job in certain areas OR in getting into graduate school. At small liberal arts colleges, for example, it's hard to get the strong research experience. In my own field, when we do admissions, someone from say Penn State has a better chance of having the experience they need to get into our program than someone from say William and Mary. Research brings in money. Research brings attention/prestige. Also, research opportunity tends to attract top faculty (plenty of amazing faculty at small liberal arts colleges, and many of them like teaching more, so on balance might be a wash). My point is that it's sometimes hard for parents to know the way research impacts undergraduate education. But as an academic, I would be looking for a place with high research productivity so my kid has plenty of options for experiences.

Dear Prof,

William and Mary is not a SLAC. It is a mid-sized university. We get that you didn’t attend (or ever teach at) a SLAC.

It only recently became R1. It is a great school and ideal for many students but not on par with top-5 or 6 publics or the top 20 or so research based privates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If research is important, then reference this.
It's better.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_research_universities_in_the_United_States

It lists all 187 R1s as of 2025 in alphabetical order. Not helpful. For those of us who want our kids to target the best research universities in the US, QS ranking is the way to go.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100

Among US universities: ( methodology superior to USnews)

Crème de le crème: MIT , Harvard, Stanford,Caltech, Uchicago, UPenn, Cornell

Tier 1.5: UCB, Johns Hopkins,Yale, Princeton

Tier 2: Columbia, Northwestern, Umich,UCLA

Tier 3: Duke, CMU ( ex CS), nYU, Brown//

Understandably Dartmouth/Vanderbit/Washu ranks are too low to get recognition

I don’t understand Chicago—they don’t even have an engineering school. Any college that does not have an engineering school nowadays is not considered a real school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Where is UVA?

UVA is always in your head. Must drive you crazy!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.topuniversities.com/world-university-rankings?items_per_page=100

Among US universities: ( methodology superior to USnews)

Crème de le crème: MIT , Harvard, Stanford,Caltech, Uchicago, UPenn, Cornell

Tier 1.5: UCB, Johns Hopkins,Yale, Princeton

Tier 2: Columbia, Northwestern, Umich,UCLA

Tier 3: Duke, CMU ( ex CS), nYU, Brown//

Understandably Dartmouth/Vanderbit/Washu ranks are too low to get recognition

I don’t understand Chicago—they don’t even have an engineering school. Any college that does not have an engineering school nowadays is not considered a real school.

They do. Pritzker school of molecular engineering, started as grad(masters, phd) and as of 2022 has an undergraduate major on track to be ABET accredited. Molecular engineering incorporates biomolecular E with medical applications as well as nanotech, quantum computing that are important to the energy and non-medical technology sectors. In addition though most certainly related, UChicago is affiliated with two of the 14 National Laboratories, Argonne and Fermilab. The only other institution affiliated with two is Berkeley. These labs are at the forefront of energy and defense related science and engineering.

TLDR, for those in the field UChicago is not surprising at all to be at the top of the research-based QS rankings