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Bridges: 7. COLLEGE RANKINGS

Bridges
7. COLLEGE RANKINGS
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table of contents
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. Table of Contents
  6. Acknowledgments
  7. Who Is This Book For?
  8. Why “Bridges”?
  9. For Students: Some Important Definitions
  10. For Instructors: Some Important Considerations
  11. Getting In
    1. 1. Accreditation and Types of Institutions
    2. 2. International United States College Campuses
    3. 3. Study Abroad in the United States
    4. 4. College Fairs
    5. 5. Outreach Services
    6. 6. Community Serving Colleges and Universities
      1. American Indian Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities
      2. Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions
      3. First-Generation Forward Institutions
      4. Hispanic-Serving Institutions
      5. Historically Black Colleges and Universities
      6. Online Institutions
      7. Veteran-Serving Institutions
      8. Women’s Colleges and Universities
    7. 7. College Rankings
    8. 8. Campus Visits
    9. 9. College Websites and Other Internet Resources
    10. 10. Applications
      1. Undergraduate School
      2. Graduate School
  12. Getting Through
    1. 11. Common Challenges
      1. General Problem Solving
      2. Money
      3. Warning About Predatory Loans
      4. Getting Involved
      5. Time Management
      6. Dormmates/Roommates
      7. So Many Questions–Whom to Ask?
      8. Goal Setting
    2. 12. Academic Advising
    3. 13. Credentials, Majors, and Requirements
    4. 14. Instructors and Professors
      1. Job Titles and Pronouns
      2. Office Hours
      3. Letters of Recommendation
    5. 15. Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity
    6. 16. Rights and Responsibilities
    7. 17. More Quotes From the Field
  13. Appendix
    1. 18. Twenty Academic Jargon Words You Might Need to Know
    2. 19. Grammar for Composition Resources and Review
      1. Components of a Sentence
      2. Subjects
      3. Prepositional Phrases
      4. Verbs
      5. Sentence Structure
      6. Collective Nouns
      7. Sentence Combining: Conjunctive Adverbs
      8. Sentence Combining: Subordination
      9. Sentence Combining: Run-on Sentences
      10. Parallelism
      11. Good Paragraphs
      12. Topic Sentences
      13. Supporting Sentences
      14. Concluding Sentences
      15. Transitions
      16. Academic Paragraphs
      17. Thesis Statements
      18. Audience
      19. Introduction Paragraphs
      20. Body Paragraphs
      21. Conclusion Paragraphs
    3. 20. Academic Situations and Scripts
      1. In Emails
      2. In the Classroom
      3. In Office Hours
    4. 21. Pop Culture Index
      1. Best African American Films
      2. Best Asian American Films
      3. Best International Feature Film Winners
      4. Best Hispanic and Latinx American Films
      5. The EGOT List
      6. The Literary List
      7. The Kennedy Center Honor List
      8. The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
  14. About the Author

7. COLLEGE RANKINGS

Popular publications such as U.S. News & World Report, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal publish rankings of United States colleges and universities each year. However, there are many ways to rank an institution; there is no clear “champion” university.

For example, taking the most recent 2020 rankings from the U.S. News & World Report, here are the “top” colleges and universities, sorted by different criteria.

CRITERIA

#1

#2

#3

National University

Princeton Univ.

Harvard Univ.

Columbia Univ.

Public Schools

Univ. of California, Los Angeles

Univ. of California, Berkeley

Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor

Best Value Schools

Princeton Univ.

Harvard Univ.

Yale Univ.

Most Innovative

Arizona State Univ. Tempe

Georgia State University

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Social Mobility

Univ. of California, Riverside

Univ. of California, Santa Cruz

Univ. of California, Irvine

Undergraduate Teaching

Princeton Univ.

Elon Univ.

Brown Univ.

Colleges for Veterans

Stanford Univ.

Dartmouth College

Cornell Univ.

Other popular ranking criteria include:

•Best Four-Year Graduation Rates

•Best Business Programs

•Best Commuting Campuses

•Best Economic Diversity

•Best Engineering Programs

•Best Ethnic Diversity on Campus

•Best First-Year Experiences

•Best Fraternities

•Best Freshman Retention Rate

•Best Housing on Campus

•Best International Student Support Programs

•Best Internship Programs

•Best Learning Communities

•Best Liberal Arts Colleges

•Best Private Universities

•Best Public Universities

•Best Outcomes for Graduates

•Best Regional School

•Best Scholarship Programs

•Best School by Size (small/medium/large)

•Best Senior Capstone Projects

•Best Service Learning Programs

•Best Sororities

•Best Student Engagement

•Best Study Abroad Programs

•Best Transfer Programs

•Best Undergraduate Research/Creative Projects

•Best Value Schools

•Best Writing Programs

When considering which institution you would like to attend, go beyond the simple “national university” standard. Of course, having a degree from Princeton, Harvard, or Columbia would do you well because of the universities’ fame and exclusivity. However, is that really the right school for you? Columbia University, for example, is right in the middle of Manhattan. Is that where you want to live for four years? Unless you qualify for a full scholarship, this school and the other national leaders cost a lot of money. Are you comfortable with graduating with loans? Perhaps you answer “yes” to both of these. In that case, you should definitely apply. However, if you answer “no,” it might be good for you to consider other ways to evaluate institutions. Perhaps social justice matters a lot to you. Some institutions are much more engaged in ethical practices and social justice than others are. Perhaps class size and the quality and quantity of professor-student interactions is a key deciding factor for you. If so, then a large university might not be the right fit. In any case, you should spend as much time as possible researching institutions and evaluating them on the criteria that matter to you.

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8. CAMPUS VISITS
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