Anonymous wrote:The USNEWS ratings for the Ivy caliber schools haven't changed much, but it's clear that the Ivy caliber schools (all terrific, of course) are falling into tiers.
Top Tier IVY
Princeton University
Harvard University
Yale University
Columbia University
Top Tier IVY Comparable
Stanford University
University of Chicago
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Duke University
Mid- Tier IVY
University of Pennsylvania
Dartmouth College
Mid- Tier IVY Comparable
California Institute of Technology
Johns Hopkins
Northwestern University
Washington University in St. Louis
Lower Tier IVY
Cornell University
Brown University
Lower IVY Comparable
University of Notre Dame
Vanderbilt University
Anonymous wrote:... and the most successful people I know didn't go to any of these schools (although DH and I did).
Anonymous wrote:This thread is like ships passing in the night: some noting the flaws in the USNEWS rankings; some noting the importance of the USNEWS rankings and some saying they don’t think the USNEWS rankings should be important. The truth is 1) the rankings are far from perfect; 2) the USNEWS rankings matter a lot to the schools because the USNEWS rankings influence school selection; and 3) yes, USNEWS profits from their rankings and does so because they matter. It is foolish to deny either the imperfection or the importance of the USNEWS rankings.
Anonymous wrote:There is no way that Wash U is better than Cornell and Brown. C'mon. If you do give up a spot at Brown to go there, people will rightly think you are an idiot.
Anonymous wrote:And you will use this "information" how?