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 9 points versus 27 and 30. Nine 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) 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.

4) 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) U Chicago

2) Pomona

3) Northwestern

4) Scripps

5) Wellesley

6) Johns Hopkins

7) U Pennsylvania

8) Williams

9) Grinnell

10) Occidental

11) Carleton

11) Mt. Holyoke

13) Bryn Mawr

13) Vassar

15) Claremont Mc Kenna

16) Vanderbilt

17) Macalester

18) Colorado College

18) Emory

20) Smith

20) Yale

22) Northeastern

22) New York U

24) U Richmond

25) Haverford

26) American U

26) Barnard

26) Brown

26) Florida State

26) Trinity U (TX)

31) Tufts

32) U Southern California

33) Swarthmore

34) Duke

35) Rice

35) UC Santa Barbara

37) Boston U

37) Reed

39) Pepperdine

39) Pitzer

41) Harvey Mudd

41) Wesleyan

43) Amherst

43) Princeton

45) U Miami

46) UC Berkeley

47) Cornell

47) Santa Clara U

47) Skidmore

50) U Illinois

51) U Michigan

52) Stanford

53) Kenyon

54) UC Los Angeles

55) U Florida

55) U Texas

57) Bates

58) George Washington

58) UNC Chapel Hill

60) Colgate

61) Dartmouth

62) Bowdoin

63) Middlebury

64) Boston College

64) Carnegie Mellon

64) Hamilton

64) MIT

68) Fordham

69) Wake Forest

69) Dickinson

71) Franklin W. Olin

72) UC Davis

72) Brandeis

74) CalTech

75) Oberlin

76) Davidson

77) U Maryland

78) Gettysburg

79) SUNY Binghamton

79) UC San Diego

81) Holy Cross

82) Harvard

82) U Virginia

82) Washington College

85) Connecticut College

86) U Pittsburgh

86) U Georgia

88) Rose-Hulman

88) Tulane

90) U Washington

91) Case Western Reserve

91) Ohio State

93) Ithaca College

94) Purdue

95) Rensselear

95) U Wisconsin

97) U Minnesota

98) Lafayette

98) Villanova

100) Washington U in St. Louis

91.2

90.9

90.8

90.5

90.1

89.8

89.7

89.6

89.5

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

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

84.6

84.6

84.5

84.4

84.4

84.2

83.9

83.8

83.7

83.7

83.6

83.5

83.5

83.5

83.4

83.3

83.3

83.1

83.1

82.9

82.8

82.8

82.7

82.6

82.5

82.5

82.4

82.2

82.2

82.1