The Pointless Rankings

[bertyruss]

I look at rankings this way. There are two issues, (1) are they accurate, and if so, (2) accurate about what? First of all, they are a little old, based entirely on a 2008 survey of "reputation." In other words, they are not based on data about resources of the school, the success of their grads, or anything like that. They are based on reputation opinions. Okay, so let's say they are reasonably accurate rankings of the reputation of a school. The question would then be, how valuable is this to a graduate? I would say that it could be fairly important in getting a teaching job (after all, to respond to one post, you don't have a shot if you don't get an interview), and maybe gallery owners would give you a harder look. Not sure the consuming public cares too much though. The art and entertainment bizz's aren't so "linear."

Put a different way, there is (1) credential value, and (2) educational experience value. The problem is, it is fairly easy to measure the status of an institution as an applicant, but it is fairly hard to REALLY know what your educational experience is going to be like, apart from a vibe you get during a campus visit, or an assessment of the resources available to you. That said, the big question is how important IS the credential value. I'd say it is very high for the top 10 schools or so, but the returns diminish after that. But again, how do we really know what the educational experience is going to be like?

[designr]

Just curious.. did the new rankings come out? I researched and only found 2008.

never mind... their new website format is incredibly misleading. Here's an e-mail I received recently:

You are receiving this E-mail in regards to your U.S. News Graduate

School Compass subscription. On March 15, 2011, U.S. News will

publish the 2012 Best Graduate Schools rankings. Your subscription,

purchased last year to our Premium Online Edition, is set to expire

on April 8.

the sculpture list is the same 2008.

[shabu2011]

Would you be so kind as to share the 2012 MFA graphic design rankings pleasethankyougoodbye.

[obripe]

Would you please post the listings for fibers/ textiles? Curious if it's the same as the rankings I've seen. Thanks!!

[helec2003]

I e-mailed US News and World Reports to ask why the new Fine Art rankings weren't available and this is what they said:

Only the Business, Law, Medicine, Education and Engineering specialties are updated annually. All the other specialties are updated about every 4 years.

Regards

so it's looking like they won't be updated until next Spring.

[subb]

Would it be possible for you to post the rankings of Chemical Engineering programs? Top 20 would do. (10-20 aren't accessible to "free users")

Really appreciate it.

Thanks

Edited March 24, 2011 by subb

[helec2003]

Here you go - sorry it took so long - i haven't been on in a while.

Cornell University - College of Engineering Ithaca, NY #10

Purdue University--West Lafayette - College of Engineering West Lafayette, IN #11

University of Southern California (Viterbi) - Andrew and Erna Viterbi School of Engineering Los Angeles, CA #11

Texas A&M University--College Station (Look) - Dwight Look College of Engineering College Station, TX #13

University of California--Los Angeles (Samueli) - Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science Los Angeles, CA #14

University of California--San Diego (Jacobs) - Jacobs School of Engineering La Jolla, CA #14

Columbia University (Fu Foundation) - Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science New York, NY #16

University of Wisconsin--Madison - College of Engineering Madison, WI #16

Princeton University - School of Engineering & Applied Science Princeton, NJ #18

Northwestern University (McCormick) - Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science Evanston, IL #20

University of California--Santa Barbara Santa Barbara, CA #21

University of Maryland--College Park (Clark) - A. James Clark School of Engineering College Park, MD #22

University of Pennsylvania - School of Engineering and Applied Science Philadelphia, PA #22

Virginia Tech - College of Engineering Blacksburg, VA #24

Pennsylvania State University--University Park - College of Engineering University Park, PA #25

Would it be possible for you to post the rankings of Chemical Engineering programs? Top 20 would do. (10-20 aren't accessible to "free users")

Really appreciate it.

Thanks