WSJ/College Pulse 2026 Best Colleges in America published today

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna is a great school

Debatable. Very big on clout chasing over improving the school.

Literally not even true, they’re one of the only lacs going all out with improving the school and student experience

Use a concrete list of examples.

https://www.cmc.edu/giving/investing-in-future-leaders

Priorities on the bottom page

So they’re building things and giving financial aid and grants like every other LAC? This is not a concrete list of anything special.

You think doubling the campus, building a huge integrated science center and recruiting 30+ faculty for it (one of the largest of any LACs), investing the most of any LAC I know outside of Colby in athletics, and raising 1 billion dollars in one fundraising campaign (the most of any LAC ever) to fund internships and scholarships is insignificant?

Ok.

Don’t engage with the anti-CMC buffoon. Everyone knows the Claremont colleges are on the upswing — and the old northeastern, interchangeable SLACs are becoming passe.

CMC is clearly at its lowest

I wish CMC the best but their launch of their integrated science gamble has been very rocky to say the least. I've heard students are not happy with the initial classes they are made to take. This year's class is no longer able to take anything at Keck or other 5C science class, they need to fulfill the core requirements exclusively through the new integrated science center which is kind of a mess. sort of like forced biology hybrid with python and not what they want to take. I think in a few more years they could work out the kinks but the next 3-4 yrs may be frustrating for anyone with interest in science study there.

The concept doesn’t make sense. You can’t shove bio chem and physics into one course without severely watering down content. If CMC is that invested in placing students into biotech, they could’ve just started a computer science program and made a computational science track for the bio/chem interested students. There’s no sane reason to choose integrated sciences at the moment, unless you want a watered down degree with no utility.

yeah seems like a big misstep by cmc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna is a great school

Debatable. Very big on clout chasing over improving the school.

Literally not even true, they’re one of the only lacs going all out with improving the school and student experience

Use a concrete list of examples.

https://www.cmc.edu/giving/investing-in-future-leaders

Priorities on the bottom page

So they’re building things and giving financial aid and grants like every other LAC? This is not a concrete list of anything special.

You think doubling the campus, building a huge integrated science center and recruiting 30+ faculty for it (one of the largest of any LACs), investing the most of any LAC I know outside of Colby in athletics, and raising 1 billion dollars in one fundraising campaign (the most of any LAC ever) to fund internships and scholarships is insignificant?

Ok.

Don’t engage with the anti-CMC buffoon. Everyone knows the Claremont colleges are on the upswing — and the old northeastern, interchangeable SLACs are becoming passe.

CMC is clearly at its lowest

I wish CMC the best but their launch of their integrated science gamble has been very rocky to say the least. I've heard students are not happy with the initial classes they are made to take. This year's class is no longer able to take anything at Keck or other 5C science class, they need to fulfill the core requirements exclusively through the new integrated science center which is kind of a mess. sort of like forced biology hybrid with python and not what they want to take. I think in a few more years they could work out the kinks but the next 3-4 yrs may be frustrating for anyone with interest in science study there.

That sounds like a dumpster fire

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna is a great school

Debatable. Very big on clout chasing over improving the school.

Literally not even true, they’re one of the only lacs going all out with improving the school and student experience

Use a concrete list of examples.

https://www.cmc.edu/giving/investing-in-future-leaders

Priorities on the bottom page

So they’re building things and giving financial aid and grants like every other LAC? This is not a concrete list of anything special.

You think doubling the campus, building a huge integrated science center and recruiting 30+ faculty for it (one of the largest of any LACs), investing the most of any LAC I know outside of Colby in athletics, and raising 1 billion dollars in one fundraising campaign (the most of any LAC ever) to fund internships and scholarships is insignificant?

Ok.

Don’t engage with the anti-CMC buffoon. Everyone knows the Claremont colleges are on the upswing — and the old northeastern, interchangeable SLACs are becoming passe.

CMC is clearly at its lowest

I wish CMC the best but their launch of their integrated science gamble has been very rocky to say the least. I've heard students are not happy with the initial classes they are made to take. This year's class is no longer able to take anything at Keck or other 5C science class, they need to fulfill the core requirements exclusively through the new integrated science center which is kind of a mess. sort of like forced biology hybrid with python and not what they want to take. I think in a few more years they could work out the kinks but the next 3-4 yrs may be frustrating for anyone with interest in science study there.

That sounds like a dumpster fire

It is. The school really seems to have a lot of money, but doesn't know how to effectively plan. Things are only gonna get worse when the president leaves.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:The WSJ rankings actually fill a very important niche for families that have little to no hope of attending even a top 50 school.

As an example, they list schools that we all know aren't "the best", but they represent likely great values and options for a lot of kids. Just looking at the list, below is an interesting sampling:

13. UC Davis
14. UC Merced
17. San Jose State University
19. Loyola University MD (I actually don't know if that's a great value)
21. Cal State Stanislaus
22. Cal State Pomona
28. Cal State San Obispo
32. Cal State Fresno
36. University of Detroit Mercy
38. University of Delaware
44. Baruch

It's not really saying these are the "best" colleges, but rather these colleges have the best relative outcomes for students.

I think including schools like Babson and Bentley is a bit unfair because they are 100% business...it's unclear how those schools would rank if only compared to Wharton, Stern, Ross et al.

I think LUMD gives out good merit aid.

Some of those Cal State numbers are skewed though because being in CA, the pay there is very high, but so is the col. It's too bad they can't adjust the income by col to get a more accurate picture.

Even so, Cal State schools do a great job of bringing up 1st gen and lower income students. I was one of them.

You might be correct...however, it's not like the SUNY schools are ranked super highly (best is Binghamton at 120) and some of those are in high COL areas. Baruch I guess is the best proxy, but that's the only NY public school in the top 100.

More than likely, it's because most at colleges like Pomona, SLO, SJSU go into CS/engineering, which is higher paying. I don't k now that much about SUNY schools and what the are known for, but I do know that those three CSU graduate a lot of CS/eng majors. While NYC certainly has a lot of tech, IMO, SV has more.

I'll also add, that I would never pay oos for those CSU schools, and I went to one. Nor would anyone choose SJSU over some place like UC Davis unless it was due to finances.

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yay for Claremont McKenna.
USNWR #7 LAC
WSJ #6
Niche #2 LAC
Forbes #26
FIRE/Free Speech #1

lol Free Speeh #1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna is a great school

Debatable. Very big on clout chasing over improving the school.

Literally not even true, they’re one of the only lacs going all out with improving the school and student experience

Use a concrete list of examples.

https://www.cmc.edu/giving/investing-in-future-leaders

Priorities on the bottom page

So they’re building things and giving financial aid and grants like every other LAC? This is not a concrete list of anything special.

You think doubling the campus, building a huge integrated science center and recruiting 30+ faculty for it (one of the largest of any LACs), investing the most of any LAC I know outside of Colby in athletics, and raising 1 billion dollars in one fundraising campaign (the most of any LAC ever) to fund internships and scholarships is insignificant?

Ok.

Don’t engage with the anti-CMC buffoon. Everyone knows the Claremont colleges are on the upswing — and the old northeastern, interchangeable SLACs are becoming passe.

CMC is clearly at its lowest

I wish CMC the best but their launch of their integrated science gamble has been very rocky to say the least. I've heard students are not happy with the initial classes they are made to take. This year's class is no longer able to take anything at Keck or other 5C science class, they need to fulfill the core requirements exclusively through the new integrated science center which is kind of a mess. sort of like forced biology hybrid with python and not what they want to take. I think in a few more years they could work out the kinks but the next 3-4 yrs may be frustrating for anyone with interest in science study there.

That sounds like a dumpster fire

It is. The school really seems to have a lot of money, but doesn't know how to effectively plan. Things are only gonna get worse when the president leaves.

We have crossed UVA off DD’s list for these reasons.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay for Claremont McKenna.
USNWR #7 LAC
WSJ #6
Niche #2 LAC
Forbes #26
FIRE/Free Speech #1

lol Free Speeh #1

lol, you cannot spell “speech” correctly, even with auto-correct.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay for Claremont McKenna.
USNWR #7 LAC
WSJ #6
Niche #2 LAC
Forbes #26
FIRE/Free Speech #1

lol Free Speeh #1

You need to be looking at WSJ Elementary School Ranking..LOL

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford, Babson, Yale are top-3. Rest is paywalled.

Babson?

Is this some sort of joke list ??

I was in high school in Massachusetts in the 80”s. I now live in California. I’ve had to recalibrate my thinking when it comes to some of the schools in Mass. I used to feel sorry for the poor schlubs who had to commute to Northeastern. I also thought kids going to Bentley and Babson were sub-par. It took my engineering son getting rejected from Northeastern to understand how times have changed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Stanford, Babson, Yale are top-3. Rest is paywalled.

Babson?

Is this some sort of joke list ??

I was in high school in Massachusetts in the 80”s. I now live in California. I’ve had to recalibrate my thinking when it comes to some of the schools in Mass. I used to feel sorry for the poor schlubs who had to commute to Northeastern. I also thought kids going to Bentley and Babson were sub-par. It took my engineering son getting rejected from Northeastern to understand how times have changed.

Sure but even today babson isn’t even northeastern level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Claremont McKenna is a great school

Debatable. Very big on clout chasing over improving the school.

Literally not even true, they’re one of the only lacs going all out with improving the school and student experience

Use a concrete list of examples.

https://www.cmc.edu/giving/investing-in-future-leaders

Priorities on the bottom page

So they’re building things and giving financial aid and grants like every other LAC? This is not a concrete list of anything special.

You think doubling the campus, building a huge integrated science center and recruiting 30+ faculty for it (one of the largest of any LACs), investing the most of any LAC I know outside of Colby in athletics, and raising 1 billion dollars in one fundraising campaign (the most of any LAC ever) to fund internships and scholarships is insignificant?

Ok.

Don’t engage with the anti-CMC buffoon. Everyone knows the Claremont colleges are on the upswing — and the old northeastern, interchangeable SLACs are becoming passe.

CMC is clearly at its lowest

I wish CMC the best but their launch of their integrated science gamble has been very rocky to say the least. I've heard students are not happy with the initial classes they are made to take. This year's class is no longer able to take anything at Keck or other 5C science class, they need to fulfill the core requirements exclusively through the new integrated science center which is kind of a mess. sort of like forced biology hybrid with python and not what they want to take. I think in a few more years they could work out the kinks but the next 3-4 yrs may be frustrating for anyone with interest in science study there.

That sounds like a dumpster fire

It is. The school really seems to have a lot of money, but doesn't know how to effectively plan. Things are only gonna get worse when the president leaves.

We have crossed UVA off DD’s list for these reasons.

??? PP was referring to CMU. All is fine at UVA, but you do you.

[Anonymous]

Local public schools:

UVA - 31
Virginia Tech - 35
George Mason - 71
JMU - 102
UMDCP - 125
W&M - 184
UMDBC - 187

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Stanford, Babson, Yale are top-3. Rest is paywalled.

[Anonymous]

Here's a gift link to the article - not sure if you can click through to the list:
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/best-colleges-america-2026-f64d590e?st=naL4tM&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yay for Claremont McKenna.
USNWR #7 LAC
WSJ #6
Niche #2 LAC
Forbes #26
FIRE/Free Speech #1

lol Free Speeh #1

lol, you cannot spell “speech” correctly, even with auto-correct.

Because my school was not #1 for Free Speech. lol