Niche 2026 List

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silly.

Yale is clearly above MIT.

You’re the one who is silly.
Yale is tiers below MIT. No one in their right mind would choose Yale over MIT if double admitted.

That's only true for STEM majors.

[Anonymous]

This ranking methodology looks more like what US News used to have. For example, 40% is academic grade, which they calculate here:

https://www.niche.com/about/methodology/best-college-academics/

It includes factors people have complained about US News removing from their ranking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where's Berkeley? Silly list, without it.

Test blind.

Yep.

UCLA is also test blind at #18 …

Yeah but it is a much more popular campus. It might be the most popular campus in the country.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silly.

Yale is clearly above MIT.

You’re the one who is silly.
Yale is tiers below MIT. No one in their right mind would choose Yale over MIT if double admitted.

I would choose Yale every day of the week and twice on Sundays. in fact, if MIT was my only option I'd take a gap year and reapply. I don't think you realize how little appeal that school has for many people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where's Berkeley? Silly list, without it.

Test blind.

I don't think Niche looks at SAT score because of test optional.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silly.

Yale is clearly above MIT.

You’re the one who is silly.
Yale is tiers below MIT. No one in their right mind would choose Yale over MIT if double admitted.

I would choose Yale every day of the week and twice on Sundays. in fact, if MIT was my only option I'd take a gap year and reapply. I don't think you realize how little appeal that school has for many people.

Reality: you could get in neither.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:T25 colleges

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA
2 Yale University CT
3 Stanford University CA
4 Harvard University MA
5 Dartmouth College NH
6 Columbia University NY
7 Vanderbilt University TN
8 Princeton University NJ
9 California Institute of Technology CA
10 Rice University TX
11 Brown University RI
12 University of Pennsylvania PA
13 Washington University in St. Louis MO
14 Duke University NC
15 Carnegie Mellon University PA
16 Harvey Mudd College CA
17 Georgetown University DC
18 University of Chicago IL
19 University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI
20 University of California Los Angeles CA
21 Cornell University NY
22 Northwestern University IL
23 Claremont McKenna College CA
24 Johns Hopkins University MD
25 University of Notre Dame IN

lol Vanderbilt higher than Princeton?

Vanderbilt ranking high is pretty reflective of reality in 2025. But I'm still perplexed why UCLA ranks so much higher than Berkeley. This is obviously a very undergrad focused list of schools, which makes it useful. I'm guessing they put some weight into student experience. Also, this list seems to value STEM. It's not often that you see Harvey Mudd as the best SLAC. But I totally agree with it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:T25 colleges

1 Massachusetts Institute of Technology MA
2 Yale University CT
3 Stanford University CA
4 Harvard University MA
5 Dartmouth College NH
6 Columbia University NY
7 Vanderbilt University TN
8 Princeton University NJ
9 California Institute of Technology CA
10 Rice University TX
11 Brown University RI
12 University of Pennsylvania PA
13 Washington University in St. Louis MO
14 Duke University NC
15 Carnegie Mellon University PA
16 Harvey Mudd College CA
17 Georgetown University DC
18 University of Chicago IL
19 University of Michigan Ann Arbor MI
20 University of California Los Angeles CA
21 Cornell University NY
22 Northwestern University IL
23 Claremont McKenna College CA
24 Johns Hopkins University MD
25 University of Notre Dame IN

lol Vanderbilt higher than Princeton?

Vanderbilt ranking high is pretty reflective of reality in 2025. But I'm still perplexed why UCLA ranks so much higher than Berkeley. This is obviously a very undergrad focused list of schools, which makes it useful. I'm guessing they put some weight into student experience. Also, this list seems to value STEM. It's not often that you see Harvey Mudd as the best SLAC. But I totally agree with it.

Honestly I can't figure out why cancellation is so high everything else is something that I think reasonable minds can disagree but I can't steel man Vanderbilt as a top 10

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silly.

Yale is clearly above MIT.

You’re the one who is silly.
Yale is tiers below MIT. No one in their right mind would choose Yale over MIT if double admitted.

I would choose Yale every day of the week and twice on Sundays. in fact, if MIT was my only option I'd take a gap year and reapply. I don't think you realize how little appeal that school has for many people.

I think employability is a big factor for a lot of people. A rigorous challenging college environment is not for everyone. And you don't have to worry about that at Yale.

[Anonymous]

List is fine. Not sure why it hates Berkeley. Maybe the test banned nature of the school and its push for DEI.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Niche 26-50

26 Pomona College
27 University of Southern California
28 University of Virginia
29 Georgia Institute of Technology
30 University of Florida
31 Washington and Lee University
32 Bowdoin College
33 Emory University
34 New York University
35 Davidson College
36 Swarthmore College
37 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
38 Boston University
39 Northeastern University
40 Williams College
41 University of Texas - Austin
42 Barnard College
43 Middlebury College
44 Amherst College
45 Boston College
46 Tufts University
47 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
48 University of California - Berkeley
49 University of Miami
50 University of Georgia

Florida above Berkeley? Must be some Maga infection at Niche.

Berkeley undergrad is trash now.

[Anonymous]

UVA too low

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Niche 26-50

26 Pomona College
27 University of Southern California
28 University of Virginia
29 Georgia Institute of Technology
30 University of Florida
31 Washington and Lee University
32 Bowdoin College
33 Emory University
34 New York University
35 Davidson College
36 Swarthmore College
37 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
38 Boston University
39 Northeastern University
40 Williams College
41 University of Texas - Austin
42 Barnard College
43 Middlebury College
44 Amherst College
45 Boston College
46 Tufts University
47 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
48 University of California - Berkeley
49 University of Miami
50 University of Georgia

Florida above Berkeley? Must be some Maga infection at Niche.

Berkeley undergrad is trash now.

Test banned/SAT illegal, DEI obsessed admissions criteria is having a definite impact on quality.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Niche 26-50

26 Pomona College
27 University of Southern California
28 University of Virginia
29 Georgia Institute of Technology
30 University of Florida
31 Washington and Lee University
32 Bowdoin College
33 Emory University
34 New York University
35 Davidson College
36 Swarthmore College
37 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
38 Boston University
39 Northeastern University
40 Williams College
41 University of Texas - Austin
42 Barnard College
43 Middlebury College
44 Amherst College
45 Boston College
46 Tufts University
47 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
48 University of California - Berkeley
49 University of Miami
50 University of Georgia

Florida above Berkeley? Must be some Maga infection at Niche.

Berkeley undergrad is trash now.

Yeah, I've been surprised at who I've seen get in from our public high school.

[Anonymous]

Florida, Georgia, UNC, UVA and UT Austin all ranked above Berkeley.