Top Tier Admissions
For the first time in fifteen years, Princeton has been dethroned as the top-ranked national university in U.S. News & World Report’s rankings (USNWR), ceding the No. 1 spot to MIT. Princeton now sits at No. 2, followed by Harvard at No. 3 and Yale at No. 4, while Stanford and Caltech tie for No. […]
Every admissions cycle, families search for shorthand ways to understand prestige. One phrase appears again and again in Google queries and parent conversations alike: “the Harvard of the South.” It’s an unofficial and hotly contested title often used to describe elite Southern universities with rigorous academics, selective admissions, and national (or global) reputations. But which […]
As a young teen, I often went on family outings to the now nonexistent bookstore, Borders. While my siblings wandered off to peruse the fiction and sports sections, I usually found myself wandering in the direction of the college guidebooks and U.S. News & World Report college rankings list (perhaps I was always headed in […]
A new billboard welcomes students driving into Boston for college visits: “Bentley University – Top 1% in ROI.” In a city dominated by some of the most sought-after schools in country— Harvard, MIT, Northeastern, Tufts, and Wellesley—Bentley’s declaration reflects a national trend that prioritizes the return on investment (ROI) of college over more nebulous qualities […]
Every fall, families across the country scramble to interpret the latest college rankings, treating them as if they were gospel. But here’s the truth: rankings, including those from U.S. News & World Report, are not definitive roadmaps to educational quality. They’re built on formulas that often prioritize prestige, selectivity, and future earnings over other critical […]
The Senior Year Roadmap
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