2
a year ago
Admissions Advice

US News Ranking vs FORBES
Answered

Hi Counselor

Based on the US News reviews I picked few schools to apply. Today FORBES released it's reviews/rankings.

To my surprise FORBES ranking the universities I picked so low. I don't have enough funds to visit all these universities. I also don't have time. I have attended all of the virtual sessions.

I was wondering why there such a huge diff in the rankings. For instance Case Western is ranked like 149 in Forbes whereas US news ranks it in the top 50.

Another example - Ohio State. Luckily I visited this university and I really love this Uni.

however Forbes rank this unit somewhere around 70s.

ranking
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Accepted Answer
a year ago[edited]

Rankings are all fundamentally flawed so I wouldn't worry too much about one ranking poll versus another one.

If you want to get an average rank then look at more ranking lists like Times Higher Education, Niche, Money magazine, and others as well.

I like Forbes better because it has different criteria like mobility for underprivileged graduates from poor backgrounds. US New relies too much on peer review and some outdated thinking. One reason many schools are lower in Forbes is becuase the ranking combines both research universities and liberal arts colleges whereas US News separates them out. If you think about it, there are at least 50 great LACS like Amherst, Swarthmore, Pomona, Williams, CMC, Middlebury, Colby, Colgate, Hamilton, Davidson, URichmond, Vassar, Harvey Mudd, etc that are way up there in terms of academics and nearly as good as the Ivys and Elite colleges.

Case Western is probably 75-100 IMO definitely not a top 50 school like a BU, NYU, Tulane, or NorthEastern.

Remember that you shouldn't pick your college list based on rankings or clout. You should pick your list based on schools that are great fit for you where you will thrive and grow as a human.

Good luck.

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