US National Universities Ranking: Top 25

Now the time of year has come around. The one you fear or terribly enjoy (it really depends on how big your wallet is at this point). You're starting to freak out about your class schedules and how you KNOW that your Geography lab teacher is sent from Hell, how your pissed about each of your books is over $105, and how your wardrobe is sooooo bad, that if you encounter anyone from last semester they will definately say "Um....havent you worn that shirt out already?"

Oh yes....the sweet aroma of Back To School.....shoot me now please.

So if you are like me, a sophmore in college and it's the last semester of it (thank god), you are searching for Universities to apply to for Fall 2009. It's a pain isn't it? I swear i have used the College MatchMaker search on Collegeboard.com so much, i should know the name of every Uni in America. But for those not using a search engine and basically want a place to start (which is the top hahahaha), thanks to USNews.com you can get crackin'.

Now how these schools are graded are by this:

• Peer Assessment- The presidents, deans, and anyone up there in the school who you basically hear the name of (but never seen the face of) rate the schools academic programs and faculty teaching dedication.


• Retention- This is based on two things: First is the six year graduation. Thats an easy way of saying the students graduate with a degree in six years or less. The second part is how many freshmans go back for the fall semester.


• Faculty Resources- This is graded in 6 parts: The proportion with classes with 20 or less students, the proportion of classes with 50 or less students, faculty salary, the proportion of professors with the highest degree, Student-Faculty ratio, and the amount of professors who work full time.


• Student Selectivity- Now this is an important thing and great to know. It basically helps you cut out which universities don't fit ya lol. This catergory is based on the Critical Reading and Math scores of your ACT and SAT, the proportion of enrolled freshman who graduated in the Top 10% of their highschool and the Top 25% of their highschool, and the acceptance rate.


• Financial Resources- This is stated to be "the average spending per student on instruction, research, student services, and related educational expenditures". Dorms, Sports and all that good stuff don't qualify. Only the parts where the school's budget help your "edumacation".


• Graduation Rate- This was a tricky one. It's kind of like a bonus point for Universities. They took the data of 2001 and calculated your "supposed to be" six year graduation rate. Now, if the schools graduation rate is lower than their "supposed to be" rate, that's basically kissing the extra points goodbye. Plus, i don't think that's a good thing to admit either lol.


• Alumni Giving Rate- Speaks for itself really. It based on the amount of Alumni who graduated 05-06 and 06-07 who gave money to their school.

Bring on the list!!!!

1. Harvard Univeristy ~ Location: Cambridge, MA

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,173
2007 Total enrollment: 19,257
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 9 %

2. Princeton University ~ Location: Princeton, NJ

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $34,290
2007 Total enrollment: 7,334
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 10 %







3. Yale University ~ Location: New Haven, CT

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $35,300
2007 Total enrollment: 11,454
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 10 %

4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology ~ Location: Cambridge, MA

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,390
2007 Total enrollment: 10,220
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 12 %



5. Stanford University ~ Location: Stanford, CA

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $36,030
2007 Total enrollment: 19,782
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 10 %


6. California Institute of Technology ~ Location: Pasadena, CA

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $34,437
2007 Total enrollment: 2,133
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 17 %



7. University of Pennsylvania ~ Location: Philadelphia, PA

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,526
2007 Total enrollment: 18,916
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 16 %

8. Columbia University ~ Location: New York, NY

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $39,326
2007 Total enrollment: 22,655
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 11 %


9. Duke University ~ Location: Durham, NC

Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,525
2007 Total enrollment: 13,598
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 23 %

10. University of Chicago ~ Location: Chicago, IL


Costs: 2008-2009 Tuition and Fees: $37,632
2007 Total enrollment: 12,336
Fall 2007 Acceptance rate: 35 %

11-25

11. Dartmouth College
12. Northwestern University
13. Washington University in St. Louis
14. Cornell University
15. John Hopkins University
16. Brown University
17. Rice University
18. Emory University
19. University of Notre Dame
20. Vanderbilt University
21. University of California-Berkley
22. Carnegie Mellon University
23. Georgetown University
24. University of Virginia
25. University of California--Los Angeles