Vague question. Your opinion?

[GraceEun00]

Hello all,

 

This is a fairly general question but one I wanted to gauge people's opinions on. I'm currently considering two programs that have similar components but are ranked differently and one is in the North and the other in a mid-size city in the South. On the condition that all things are equal (funding, research interests), is it accurate to expect that the school who is ranked the highest for "overall graduate school of education" is better/worse than one that is ranked the highest for the specific program I am interested in?

 

I'm just wondering what causes these programs to be differentiated in terms of rankings. I promise I'm not too caught up on rankings or what not, but it could be a way for me to choose between the two.

 

Thank you!

[danieleWrites]

Who is doing the rankings? If it's US News & World Report: part of the ranking is the collective ability of the students to score well on the GRE, part of the ranking is reputation based on surveys done by peer institutions, and part of it is things like how many are admitted, how many graduate, student-faculty ratio, and other statistics. A number of schools are opting out by not participating.

Anyway:

http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2013/03/11/about-the-best-graduate-schools-rankings

[Loric]

Try to buy groceries in either city.

 

Which one makes you want to throat punch kittens?

 

Don't go there.

[GraceEun00]

@Danielewrites--Thanks for the links! I'm definitely going to read those. 

Also, @Loric--Your response made me laugh haha. That's a good point though.