Margaret BauerThe newest issue of U.S. News & World Report showed the University holding its spot at 11 in the rankings of national undergraduate universities while its rankings fluctuated in more specific categories.
Eleventh is the same ranking that the school shared last year with Northwestern. This year, the University holds eleventh place outright, with Northwestern ranked No. 12. Columbia and Dartmouth are tied at ninth.
U.S. News also ranked the University in more specific categories. The school was ranked nationally as the sixth most selective university, an improvement of two places from last year. The University ranked 10th in proportion of classes under 20 students, 17th in graduation and retention (an improvement of two spots from last year), fourth in financial resources, fifth in faculty resources (an increase of one spot), and ninth in alumni giving.
The Olin School of Business was ranked No. 12, and the School of Engineering and Applied Science was ranked No. 41.
The University was also ranked 20th in the Best Value category, a significant drop from last year’s No. 12 ranking.
Chancellor Mark Wrighton responded to that drop with a strong assertion of the University’s value.
“I think we’re the best value in the country,” said Wrighton. “[The University] is not that different from last fall in terms of value.”
He added that the University’s overall rankings were strong. “Rankings come every year. The overall impression is that people view us very favorably,” said Wrighton.
Nanette Tarbouni, the director of admissions, said, “We are privileged to be in the rankings. To be in the top 100 or 200 is really a compliment.”
She said that “around 21,000 students” applied for the 2005-’06 school year, as opposed to “a bit under 20,000” for the 2004-’05 school year.
Tarbouni explained that students ought to visit the University and form their own impressions, independent of rankings. A student from another country unable to visit might rely on them, but first-hand visits were preferable, she said.
“I want people to come and see what a great institution this is. It has a place for everybody, and there is no way that any ranking can ever capture the spirit of Wash. U,” said Tarbouni.
Students also weighed in on their views of the rankings. Laura Keys, a sophomore in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, said, “I’m not necessarily familiar with the schools that ranked before [the University], but I know from experience that the students [here] tend to be hard workers who are academically inclined. I think the ranking is valid.” When Laura was deciding which school to choose, she “did not know what Wash. U. was ranked. I just knew it was a good school.”
“I did take the ranking into account as a helpful guide rather than something I put an extreme emphasis on,” said freshman Adam Schneider.
Schneider added that the 11th-place ranking was “definitely respectable,” though he would not mind it being higher in the future. “I would like to be in the top 10 just so I can count it on my fingers.”
U.S. News & World Report compiles its rankings by picking 15 academically related categories and then gathering data about each one. Then weights are assigned to each category. The colleges are then ranked based on their total weighted score.