Niche 2026 List

[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.

Vanderbilt is very overrated. Sorry.

[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.

Berkeley is famous for academics but quality of life is worse than UCLA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Berkeley is famous for academics but quality of life is worse than UCLA.

Berkeley's academic quality is tanking. Niche is right for placing them where they do.
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
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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Silly.

Yale is clearly above MIT.

Yup

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Silly.

Yale is clearly above MIT.

Yup

Not really. Yale is dead last of T5 while MIT is arguably number one. It’s not even close.

[Anonymous]

Tufts should be higher, Emory lower. Where's Bucknell?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tufts should be higher, Emory lower. Where's Bucknell?

Which rankings does Tufts rank higher than Emory? Niche doesn't really like Emory since the SAT scandal years ago, either way its Niche so cares. Emory has moved up the ranking for all rankings released this year thus far, so we'll see what usnews says.

[Anonymous]

Great list.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

Vanderbilt is very overrated. Sorry.

Vanderbilt has a 5% acceptance rate.