IMPORTANT NOTES
As a reminder, here are the criteria and weights I used (data source in parentheses):
% of class sections with fewer than 30 students (Common Data Set)
Total number of class sections (Common Data Set)
First-year retention rate (Common Data Set)
Student diversity (Common Data Set)
Faculty diversity (Common Data Set)
% of full-time faculty with highest degree in their field (Common Data Set)
Do students think their professors teach well? (Princeton Review)
Are students happy with other important factors? (Princeton Review)
20%
20%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
10%
1) The numbers to the right of each college’s name are the total score each received on my scale. Pay close attention to how small the differences in scores are between #1 and #100 on my combined list of liberal arts colleges and national universities compared to the differences between #1 and #50 on USNWR’s two separate lists–around 12 points versus 27 and 30. Twelve points more accurately reflects the distances between colleges, which is critical to understand. There’s not nearly as much distance as many people think between the most selective colleges and others that many consider to be those colleges’ ‘safety schools’. This is true all the way down the ladder of selectivity to colleges that accept everyone who applies.
Fully understanding how small the differences are between different levels of selectivity makes it a lot easier to be disappointed but not devastated if not admitted to one’s first choice of school. [Note: For much more on how small the differences are, see Part 2 under the Presentation tab.]
2) Notice how different the outcome is if different criteria and weightings are used. I didn’t know what to expect when I began to gather data, and was very interested in how things came together. It’s kind of disorienting after so many years of looking at a list based on different criteria, and it emphasizes how important it is to use data relevant to your own preferences in order to avoid making decisions based on assumptions made by someone else regarding what matters in choosing a college.
Creating your own list allows you to share with others–who may have preconceptions about what the best colleges are–that the schools you’re applying to that they might think aren’t so great actually fit very nicely with your preferences based on the personal ranking you created. And there’s no need to share your formula with them if you don’t want to feel like you have to justify every decision you made. This approach is much less stressful than partaking in a process in which everyone assumes certain outcomes are universally more desirable than others.
3) I found data for only 94 of the colleges that have median SAT scores of roughly 1350 or higher. I thought it would be nice to round this out to 100, so I looked at the data for some schools I have connections to where students don’t test as highly. I’ve included the six that scored the highest, with an asterisk next to their names. I was very surprised to see one of them land in my top 25!
4) In case you like the idea of creating your own list, I’m offering suggestions for sources of data and criteria you might consider on page 7 of this section of the website. I’ll keep adding more as I get time.
5) This list is absolutely not intended to compete with USNWR’s list. It’s based on my personal preferences and is intended only to illustrate the importance of each individual creating a list that is relevant to their own wants and needs.
You think it’s unwise to depend on the opinions of college students? Awesome! Make your own list.
You actually like bigger classes because you enjoy feeling anonymous and being able to skip class without the professor knowing or caring? Great! Make your own list.
You agree that diversity is important, but wouldn’t make it 20% of your decision? Fantastic! Make your own list.
You want to factor in net cost, or percentage of financial need met? Or maybe some subjective criteria like location or beauty of the campus? Weather? Vegetarian/kosher/halal food options? Whatever else is important to you? Spectacular! Make your own list.
Only you know what’s important to you in choosing a place to spend 4-5 years furthering your education, so only you should select the criteria upon which that decision is made.
Make your own list!
Here’s mine…..
1) Pomona
2) Northwestern
3) Scripps
4) Wellesley
5) U Pennsylvania
6) Williams
7) Occidental
8) Carleton
8) Mt. Holyoke
10) Bryn Mawr
10) Vassar
12) Claremont McKenna
13) Vanderbilt
14) Macalester
15) Colorado College
15) Emory
17) Smith
17) Yale
19) New York U
19) Northeastern
19) U Richmond
22) Haverford
23) American U*
23) Barnard
23) Brown
23) Trinity U
27) Tufts
28) U Southern California
29) Swarthmore
30) Duke
31) Rice
31) UC Santa Barbara
33) Boston U
33) Reed
35) Pepperdine*
35) Pitzer
37) Harvey Mudd
37) Wesleyan
39) Amherst
39) Princeton
39) U Miami
42) UC Berkeley
43) Cornell
43) Santa Clara U
43) Skidmore*
46) U Illinois
47) U Michigan
48) Stanford
49) Kenyon
50) UC Los Angeles
51) U Florida
51) U Texas-Austin
53) Bates
54) George Washington
54) UNC-Chapel Hill
56) Colgate
57) Dartmouth
58) Bowdoin
59) Middlebury
60) Carnegie Mellon
60) Hamilton
60) MIT
63) Fordham
64) Wake Forest
65) Dickinson*
65) Franklin W. Olin
67) Brandeis
68) CalTech
68) Oberlin
70) Davidson
71) U Maryland-College Park
72) Gettysburg*
73) SUNY Binghamton
73) UC San Diego
75) Holy Cross*
76) Harvard
76) U Virginia
78) U Georgia
78) U Pittsburgh
80) Rose-Hulman
80) Tulane
82) U Washington
83) Case Western
83) Ohio State
85) U Wisconsin
86) Rensselear
86) U Minnesota
88) Lafayette
88) Villanova
90) Washington U in St. Louis
91) Notre Dame
92) Bucknell
93) William and Mary
94) Southern Methodist U
95) US Air Force Academy
95) Worcester Polytech
97) Lehigh
98) Georgia Tech
99) Georgetown
100) U Texas–Dallas
90.9
90.8
90.5
90.1
89.7
89.6
89.4
89.2
89.2
89.0
89.0
88.9
88.6
88.5
88.4
88.4
88.3
88.3
88.2
88.2
88.2
88.1
88.0
88.0
88.0
88.0
87.9
87.8
87.7
87.6
87.4
87.4
87.3
87.3
87.1
87.1
87.0
87.0
86.8
86.8
86.8
86.5
86.4
86.4
86.4
86.3
86.1
86.0
85.9
85.8
85.7
85.7
85.6
85.5
85.5
85.4
85.3
85.2
85.1
84.9
84.9
84.9
84.8
84.7
84.6
84.6
84.5
84.4
84.4
84.2
83.9
83.8
83.7
83.7
83.6
83.5
83.5
83.3
83.3
83.1
83.1
82.9
82.8
82.8
82.5
82.4
82.4
82.2
82.2
82.1
81.8
81.7
81.6
81.3
80.7
80.7
80.6
80.1
79.8
78.5