Stanford is indeed a great school and I understand why you raise the point but I think the trend is moving along. Silicon Valley is wonderful and it's been a great incubator. I would love my kid to experience working there but the companies are starting to expand to other cities to pick up talent and a livable economy. For example i believe it's Google that is establishing a huge site near CMU because they want those kids. In this digital age, it doesn't matter where you live or study for tech. Location is surely a factor in fit but I don't see the relevance to rankings.

Stanford stands out because it is located in the center of the known universe in the modern economy, Silicon Valley. Just think of the companies involved in the tools you've used to read and send messages to this site.

Chicago, even the south side near Hyde Park, is a great city, but if it disappeared tomorrow how would life be different? Ditto for Boston, Philly, and especially New Haven, Princeton etc. New York is always important and LA and Seattle make a difference too. Silicon Valley is the center - closer to Asia, at the center of trends.

Some don't want to engage in the 21st century, but for those who do, Stanford stands out with Cal, Santa Clara, UCLA, other UCs and USC catching some of the light.

Anonymous wrote:Stanford and MIT heavily lean STEM, Yale is great at Humanities, As wonderful as Harvard's resources are, the undergraduate program and grade inflation leaves the educaitonal quality up to the individual student. UChicago has been the secret of people in the know for both. Small classes, hard core academics equates to well educated graduates besides the string of Nobel Laureates. They earned their spot.

UofC is also a great place for undergrads who are very strong in both science and humanities and who want to preserve that dual citizenship or to get more/higher level exposure to fields in each before choosing what they'll specialize in.

Anonymous wrote:Stanford and MIT heavily lean STEM, Yale is great at Humanities, As wonderful as Harvard's resources are, the undergraduate program and grade inflation leaves the educaitonal quality up to the individual student. UChicago has been the secret of people in the know for both. Small classes, hard core academics equates to well educated graduates besides the string of Nobel Laureates. They earned their spot.

Yy re Chicago.

Anonymous wrote:Stanford and MIT heavily lean STEM, Yale is great at Humanities, As wonderful as Harvard's resources are, the undergraduate program and grade inflation leaves the educaitonal quality up to the individual student. UChicago has been the secret of people in the know for both. Small classes, hard core academics equates to well educated graduates besides the string of Nobel Laureates. They earned their spot.

Interesting ranking here of schools by number of Nobel Laureates. It restricts those who can be claimed to grads, attendees and academic staff.

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


Note: Cornell in top ten, higher than Princeton, Brown, Penn, Dartmouth

Stanford and MIT heavily lean STEM, Yale is great at Humanities, As wonderful as Harvard's resources are, the undergraduate program and grade inflation leaves the educaitonal quality up to the individual student. UChicago has been the secret of people in the know for both. Small classes, hard core academics equates to well educated graduates besides the string of Nobel Laureates. They earned their spot.

UChicago is really out of place in the ranking. No one buys that it is a top 3 school. Harvard and Stanford have been the real top 2 for the past several years, no matter what USNews says.And HYPSM is the real top 5. UChicago is equivalent to places like Columbia and Penn, not HYPSM.

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Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to reinvent the wheel. Take time to understand the evolution of the USNEWS metrics and you'll appreciate why USNEWS is the only ranking that matters.

It only matters to the money makers who perpetuate the lie. USNWR and certain college presidents scratch each other's backs so they both make out in the rankings. The metrics are bogus and manipulated.

Actually there have been some scandals where schools manipulated stats to rise in the USNWR ranks, and deans and others ended up resigning.

To my mind, the real scammers are the College Board who sell your kid SATs, APs, and then SAT Subject Tests, and the colleges fall in line and require these tests. And then all the test prep books to go with. The SAT Subject Tests in particular drove me nuts, after my kid had already submitted AP scores in the same or similar subjects, knowing in advance that the school didn't even give AP credit and the only purpose of taking those tests was to demonstrate rigor for the application process.

True. The Collegeboard claims to be a nonprofit. I am sure the leader David Coleman is doing just fine as his nonprofit creates a billion dollar industry for test preppers. I looked into test prep for my kid and they wanted $3500. Such a scam. There is nothing fair and equal about the college education process in this country.

Buy the $12 book or use the FREE Khan Academy site. I grew up poor, went to the library and got a test prep book and was accepted to several HYPS. Lose the chip on your shoulder...

You still have to pay $60+ a test for PSAT, SAT (maybe taken multiple times), APs (1-6 of these maybe) and 2-3 SAT Subject Tests at some colleges. That's the scam. I don't know any kids who did test prep with the College Board, instead they all do it with private prep groups or tutors or maybe Kaplan.

Signed, NMSSF who didn't do test prep because it didn't exist on my town

Every low income kid can get a fee waiver for the tests.

Rice was incredibly lucky to have been spared almost entirely by Harvey. The campus was up and running several days after the hurricane hit; I think that they missed 3 days of classes. What's been wonderful to hear about (although not surprising) is the extent to which the students have been volunteering in the community.

Anonymous wrote:I'm so glad to see that Rice is receiving the recognition it deserves. My DD has absolutely loved it there!

Hey are classes cancelled this week?
I guess Tulane eventually recovered from Katrina so Rice should be able recover from Harvey

I'm so glad to see that Rice is receiving the recognition it deserves. My DD has absolutely loved it there!

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to reinvent the wheel. Take time to understand the evolution of the USNEWS metrics and you'll appreciate why USNEWS is the only ranking that matters.

It only matters to the money makers who perpetuate the lie. USNWR and certain college presidents scratch each other's backs so they both make out in the rankings. The metrics are bogus and manipulated.

Actually there have been some scandals where schools manipulated stats to rise in the USNWR ranks, and deans and others ended up resigning.

To my mind, the real scammers are the College Board who sell your kid SATs, APs, and then SAT Subject Tests, and the colleges fall in line and require these tests. And then all the test prep books to go with. The SAT Subject Tests in particular drove me nuts, after my kid had already submitted AP scores in the same or similar subjects, knowing in advance that the school didn't even give AP credit and the only purpose of taking those tests was to demonstrate rigor for the application process.

True. The Collegeboard claims to be a nonprofit. I am sure the leader David Coleman is doing just fine as his nonprofit creates a billion dollar industry for test preppers. I looked into test prep for my kid and they wanted $3500. Such a scam. There is nothing fair and equal about the college education process in this country.

Buy the $12 book or use the FREE Khan Academy site. I grew up poor, went to the library and got a test prep book and was accepted to several HYPS. Lose the chip on your shoulder...

You still have to pay $60+ a test for PSAT, SAT (maybe taken multiple times), APs (1-6 of these maybe) and 2-3 SAT Subject Tests at some colleges. That's the scam. I don't know any kids who did test prep with the College Board, instead they all do it with private prep groups or tutors or maybe Kaplan.

Signed, NMSSF who didn't do test prep because it didn't exist on my town

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Anonymous wrote:Happy to see my alma mater ranked #1 another year. It truly is the best damn place of all.

The only people who choose P are the ones who wanted HYPS but were rejected by the others. The grade deflation makes students miserable.

Why are people on this board so nasty and vile? Posts like yours make me wish this board had an "ignore user by IP" function.

You're right. I'm sorry.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everyone wants to reinvent the wheel. Take time to understand the evolution of the USNEWS metrics and you'll appreciate why USNEWS is the only ranking that matters.

It only matters to the money makers who perpetuate the lie. USNWR and certain college presidents scratch each other's backs so they both make out in the rankings. The metrics are bogus and manipulated.

Actually there have been some scandals where schools manipulated stats to rise in the USNWR ranks, and deans and others ended up resigning.

To my mind, the real scammers are the College Board who sell your kid SATs, APs, and then SAT Subject Tests, and the colleges fall in line and require these tests. And then all the test prep books to go with. The SAT Subject Tests in particular drove me nuts, after my kid had already submitted AP scores in the same or similar subjects, knowing in advance that the school didn't even give AP credit and the only purpose of taking those tests was to demonstrate rigor for the application process.

True. The Collegeboard claims to be a nonprofit. I am sure the leader David Coleman is doing just fine as his nonprofit creates a billion dollar industry for test preppers. I looked into test prep for my kid and they wanted $3500. Such a scam. There is nothing fair and equal about the college education process in this country.

Buy the $12 book or use the FREE Khan Academy site. I grew up poor, went to the library and got a test prep book and was accepted to several HYPS. Lose the chip on your shoulder...

Anonymous wrote:The small private the Brunswick School in Greenwich with a class size around 70 had 7 students going to UPenn and about half the class going to other top ten schools. So disproportionate to the average school.

Not unlike top DMV private schools.