[KR...]

A lot of threads have been posted about which colleges Head-fiers go to or want to go to. The Princeton Review is releasing the 2004 edition of “The Best 351 Colleges” book. Here is the best of the best


BEST ACADEMICS OVERALL
YALE UNIVERSITY, NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT

Not a complete shock. Students there say that their professors “actually seem to enjoy teaching undergrads” and that they are “fascinated with their students.” Students here live in on-campus housing year-round affording them the opportunity to “really get to know a group of people.” The student body there is described as being “intense” and diverse, and students are generally very happy to be there.
Runner-ups
2) Princeton University
3) Duke University
4) Amherst College
5) Massachusetts Institute of Technology


for more list and info follow this link : http://www.msnbc.com/news/954063.asp?cp1=1

 

[strohmie]

Interesting...UIUC got 4th biggest party school status. I guess since there's nothing to do here other than get drunk and go cow-tipping, it makes sense. ^_^

 

[DanG]

It seems just a little bit silly to group universities and liberal arts colleges together.

I'm not a big fan of Princeton Review in general. Their test-prep material is close to the worst on the market because it tries to teach people how to do well on tests without really knowing the subject material. I'd rather base my college decision on Playboy's lists of the colleges with the best-looking co-eds.

You'll also notice that they list "runner-ups." I sure wouldn't want them helping me take the SAT Verbal!

 

[D-EJ915]

personally I think MIT is the best college, since it is in the scope of what I want to do, unlike harvard law and that kind of thing, it's really a personal thing

 

[blessingx]

The top overall is a fun curious question, but it really depends on the program. Find the best program in your field and try to go there.

 

[Born2bwire]

UIUC's party ranking is interesting given that our Engineering program is one of the best. Though the fact that we have the largest greek population is probably the overriding factor here.

 

[DLP]

According to my sister, they rated the city that Barnard is located in as the 16th most desirable or whatever city, and the city that Columbia-across the street from Barnard-is in as the 8th most desirable or whatever city. Impressed?

EDIT
BTW, that's NYC for both.

 

[CaptBubba]

Yeah, those "reviews" are bs mostly. All student surveys, no actual data. Here a bunch of the frats thought it would be funny to all go to the survey takers for last year's survey. The result: Clemson was"ranked" as the #2 party school or something like that, with a strong greek presence. Great job...

This year we are #16 for parties and greek isn't even on the map. Kinda shows you how BS these are.

random thread derailment: football tomorrow!

 

[enak]

Wheres Harvard?

 

[Sol_Zhen]

Quote:

Originally posted by enak Wheres Harvard?

In the metro Boston area.

 

[DanG]

Quote:

Originally posted by Calanctus Do you mean this is bad because it doesn't work--or because it helps people succeed without deserving to?

It doesn't work. The best preparation I got was from taking real tests. I used PR on the physics and chem SAT2s and it just didn't prepare me enough. For the SAT1 I used the CEEB's book Ten Real SATs and I did fine. For Math2C I used some little-known company's book whose exams much more difficult than the real thing -- and thus not exactly like the real thing -- but it gave me the results I wanted.

Teaching a student test-taking tricks is fine. But without proper knowledge of the material, those tricks are next to useless.

 

[stuartr]

As with IQ tests, school rankings are evil perpetrated on the untwitting public. All they do is make schools inflate grades in order to go higher in the lists. Schools that are actually more difficult or equally difficult but which give lower grades are often passed by. My best friend's father is a professor at Yale, and he tried to flunk a kid who had skipped tons of class and failed most of the tests. He received a call from his dean stating that "This is not an acceptable grade at Yale University. You need to work with the student until he can get a C or a B." From my friends who have gone to Harvard, Yale and to a lesser extent, Princeton, all I have heard is how easy the grading is. This is not to say that they are bad schools, they attract phenomenal professors...but that most people who get into these schools breeze through them like they were a cakewalk. None of my friends got below an A or A- overall average, and they told me that was typical. Anyway, I don't know what that means, but all I know is that going to a school like Davidson or Williams of U. Chicago, you are probably going to be forced to do a lot more work than Yale, Harvard or Princeton. The rankings mean jack ****. As was said, majors are a different story. If you want to take Russian, you would be a whole hell of a lot better off at Harvard than you would at Yale, and you would be much much much better off at Middlebury than either of the two. It is all about finding the school to meet your needs.
[/rant]

 

[Music Fanatic]

Quote:

Originally posted by strohmie Interesting...UIUC got 4th biggest party school status. I guess since there's nothing to do here other than get drunk and go cow-tipping, it makes sense. ^_^

You know, when I think of Urbana, wild parties aren't the first thing that come to mind.

 

[hempcamp]

Quote:

Originally posted by stuartr It is all about finding the school to meet your needs.

Truer words have not been spoken. Like headphones, colleges and universities come in many different flavors for many different people with many different strengths.

I started undergrad interested in electrical engineering. I applied and was accepted at Purdue, VT, GT, U Maryland, U Delaware, and NC State. I ended up picking one of the lowest "ranked" schools of the bunch -- UD -- because the student-faculty ratio was much smaller and they had a stronger faculty in my second interest of History. This suited me better than any pure tech school like most of the others.

It ended up being the best choice I ever made. Two years into college I got bored with computers and combinational logic and switched over wholly to history, poly sci, and philosophy. Had I done that at any of the other schools, I don't think I would have had the same quality of instruction I got at UD in that area. I have no regrets and my degree from Delaware has opened just as many doors into my future as any other school would have -- I got into all my first choice grad schools.

--Chris

 

[john_jcb]

Quote:

Originally posted by stuartr It is all about finding the school to meet your needs. [/rant]

This and making the most of the school you attend. Going to college can prepare you for the future or it can be 4 wasted years that end with a degree. Most schools have so much to offer that only a few students take advantage of.