Top. Universities. In the World.
We know how much everybody loves rankings. By now, everybody has had time to digest the new law school pecking order — even George Washington Law School students.
But true prestige whoring begins much earlier than law school. U.S. News has just released (hat tip: Tax Prof Blog) a list of the top 400 colleges and universities in the world.
I’m not sure how useful these rankings are, to anybody, anywhere, ever. But I’m sure they will make some people feel good about themselves — and other people mercilessly attack the schools that are more highly ranked than their alma maters.
Of course, U.S. News just did this eight months ago. We posted about it and everything. How many different ways can this magazine come up with to slobber all over Harvard and Yale?
In any event, this time U.S. News is ranking the top 400 universities, instead of the top 200.
After the jump, take a look at the top 10.
It doesn’t look like the magazine bothered to make any changes at the top:
1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Cambridge
4. Oxford
5. Cal Tech
6. Imperial College London
7. University College London
8. University of Chicago
9. MIT
10. Columbia
But now that the list has been expanded from 200 to 400, which schools can now be recognized?
Well, apparently Michigan State students (#203) now officially know that they are way more prestigious than students at Sciences Po Paris (#207). And surely University of Miami students (#237) wouldn’t be seen in the same room as Bandung Institute of Technology students (#315). Unless there was coke in that room. In which case Miami, Bandung, and even Florida State (#300) students could probably find common ground.
But the biggest winners of this new list are Bangor “I Hardly Knew Her” University (U.K.) and Kasetsart University (Thailand). Those are two schools most Americans would have never heard of, but for the yeoman’s work done by the people of U.S. News.
Find your schools and laugh at your rivals. Happy Friday everybody.
World’s Best Colleges: Top 400 [U.S. News and World Report]
Earlier: Brand New U.S. News Rankings: Colleges and Universities of the World
U.S. News 2010 Law School Rankings
(154) 
Comments
Everyone knows that fordham is firsty
Cal Tech is short for Calcutta Tech, right? Right?
And SMU is secondy
My top schools were I want to apply to are Oxford and the Sorbonne. My safety's Harvard.
Is this a good time to mention Emory?
Love and hugs,
Emory Troll
The Johns Hopkins University is about 12 spots too low.
Is this a good time to mention Emory?
Love and hugs,
Emory Troll
Is this a good time to mention Emory?
Love and hugs,
Emory Troll
This ranking is retarded! According to USNews UCLA is better than Berkeley, when ranked against international schools. Yet, when it is just ranking US schools, it is the other way around? Yeah, awesome, that makes sense.
Where is Suffolk University Ranked?
Penn > Princeton? Cornell > Stanford? Michigan > Brown? UCLA > Berkeley? NYU > Dartmouth? Yeah, not exactly buying these rankings.
Well, we all know the top 2 will never change. If you went to either of those you should be eternally proud. Maricopa County Public Records
University of Texas at Austin, bitches. Suck it, Nanyang Tech.
Nanyang TTTech
Princeton is # 2 and Yale is # 3 in the U.S. rankings, but somehow Princeton falls to # 12 in the world rankings and gets beat out by a slew of U.S. schools.
These rankings are lies. I lies I tells ya!
These rankings are lies. Lies I tells ya!
Finally, UCLA beats Berkeley in some (random) ranking!!!1!1!!1
At least it isn't totally arbitrary... oh, wait
Why do I see first years walking out with boxes crying?
-scared Latham NY SA
PENN STATE >>>>>>>>>>>>>> PRINCETTTON
Go Cornell.
Suck it Dartmouth.
HUMBOLDT STATE AND DAMN PROUD OF IT
I used to care about petty things like rankings. But now that my career has been ruined -- I mean, deferred -- I only care about being able to put food on the table.
This depression is never going to end.
Have all of you considered that maybe the domestic rankings are based on different metrics?
Of course, I'll disagree with the top 3. No way the fake Cambridge beats the real one.
This is the dumbest list ever. It is ranking the schools on size
UGA, U South Carolina, Bama > the elite liberal colleges...
HAHAHAHAHAHA
True rank:
Tier 1: HYP, Cambridge, Oxford, Williams
Tier 2: Rest of Ivies and NESCAC; LSE; Tech schools
the rest.
9 and 15, i think these rankings may be different because they are "ranking" the entire university rather than a specific program. this would explain why princeton takes a hit.
Just got out of conference call at the NY office of a V10. Expect big things on Monday. BIG. The calls will begin this weekend.
27 is hilarious
26, this actually makes sense. In terms of a school's impact on the WORLD, bigger would generally mean better. They're not focusing only on quality of education.
I can confirm what 29 said. Offers are going to be revoked next week at MANY NY firms. They just can't wait any longer.
29, That is brilliant for firms. Revoke offers when the pre-associates are studying for the bar so they end up failing. That way they not only won't they have the cushy firm job, but they cannot get any legal job
How the hell do Princeton and Stanford fall off the map. What a garbage ranking...
How the hell do Princeton and Stanford fall off the map. What a garbage ranking...
33 - firms don't give a fuck about incoming associates right now. they probably want them all to fail so they don't have to deal with them.
class of 2009 is so very fucked.
US News is in serious trouble these days. Anything to boost interest in their "magazine" (do they even publish a print edition anymore?)
U.Wash > Wash.U
????
How long until US News comes out with a ranking for all their various arbitrary rankings?
Jesus christ guys.
This ranks entire universities, not just their undergraduate colleges. Princeton has a great undergrad, but has no law school, no med school, and a relatively small grad school. Berkeley has some of the best grad programs in the country which explains why it's ranked higher than UCLA. UWash has perhaps the best medical school in the country (for primary care).
Attention morons- these rankings concern the entire university, not just the undergraduate institution. That's why Princeton (no medical school, law school, business school, etc.) falls behind Penn, with a good medical school, etc.). Why are you people so dense?
In what world is University of Chicago ranked above MIT?
I dont see Devry. They tol me i would be presitigous and employers would love me.
WHERES DEVRY, DAMMIT?!
That list is fucking junk. UCLA beats Berkeley? Lame.
Why the preference for private schools (Penn and Michigan are the only two public US schools among the top 25)?
It is not the container--
it is what is inside.
Tweak any questionable variable a bit--
and guess what very different distribution.
OH MY GOD
Egypt has beaten Italy in soccer.!!!
Uppsala University over Lund University WTF? Everybody knows Lund pwns Uppsala!
Maybe Cal stole USNWR's girlfriend or something. As I understand, USNWR used to rank Cal consistently in the top 5. Then, for some reason, back in the 1990s, it start treating Cal shabbily. UCLA beats Cal? Carnegie Mellon beats Cal? What a joke . . . .
WHAT!?
What about WESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW?
That school is pretty prestigious due to its great moot court team.
Plus, "CHEYANNA JAFFKE" is a faculty member. That must count for something!!!
good one 45
Speaking of "WESTERN STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF LAW," I toured that school once.
I remember going to the library and some tall, blonde, creepy, weirdo guy whose voice sounds like Buffalo Bill from "Silence of the Lambs," kept on bragging about his good grades and how he accomplished so much.
That, along with the many "rubes" (lots of students from middle america) and "ringers" (students who were 30+ years old) made me decide on another school.
51 - no takers so far, though.
- 45
47,
Soccer!? You foreigner!
Go Blue!
55-
Baseball is the dumbest sport in the world. It's boring and anyone with a brain would rather watch flies shit.
Only a person with no athletic ability and no testosterone in their body would like a dull game like baseball. This explains why lawyers love this crappy game.
What is even more amazing are the people in law school and lawyers in practice who can care less about baseball, but started to "like" it because others in those fields prefer this brain-dead game.
52-
The ringer comment reminds me of a joke.
A first grader goes into the bathroom and uses the urinals. He peeks over at the other boys and notices that his penis was bigger than the other boys.
Feeling good about himself, later that day, he tells his dad, "Dad, my dick is bigger than all the other students!"
The Dad says, "Of course you do son; it's because you're 20 and never passed the first grade!"
Sometimes it is as if this applies to the ringers in law school. If they are so smart, shouldn't they be years ahead of the other students with a good job and all? But instead they are on equal grounds as people half their age.
We 3L's are so fucked.
nice story 57!
50...
WesTTTern STTTtatTTTe University College of Law.
Yeah, I've heard of it.
52,
People from Western State usually brag about their grades and/or "achievements" a lot. It's because they are from a TTT, so they have to compensate for it (natural process).
It's like saying, "Sure, I'm from a crap school, but on the other hand, I did get good grades and make law review."
I remember a person from Western talking about how he was so great because he had GOOD GRADES and "OUT-COMPETED" his classmates because his classmates were stupid.
A guy heard him and said that since he is the top student among other stupid students, wouldn't that make him "King of the Stupids."
Kiwi Camara's Top 10 Jury Skills
10. A huge hit with teenage graduates of Harvard Law School.
9. An expert on Batson challenges.
8. Not afraid to lose more of his client's money than anyone thought possible.
7. Arrogant, rude, and insulting--what's not to like?
6. Works pro bono, the only kind of lawyer his clients can afford after he's done with them.
5. Likes to show the common folk how much smarter he is.
4. Friends with Charles Nesson, the pulse of America.
3. Took a really useful bankruptcy class once.
2. Knows how to appeal his losses.
1. He's incredibly sexy.
61, LOL!!!!
cal ranks in the top 5 (top 2 in all but biomed...they don't even have a med school) in all of the "rank by subject" lists, and yet isn't top 20 in the overall ranking? i don't understand their ranking system.
Chicago is clearly superior to MIT in every respect. Well, MIT might sport prettier women.
Mine ranks quite high up, I'm very surprised.
Young Guns-
The fact that anyone cares about this ridiculous survey only further proves that none of you are worthy of a position with a growing firm.
You all seem to base your lives on fear and loathing: you fear that you will not be good enough to make it with a big firm (which is 50/50 based on what I've seen), and you loath the folks who provide you with the opportunity to work in the profession that you have chosen (partners). I shall offer one (1) tip:
1: Always include the partner you work for in anything you are doing. You are not going to get in good with the client and somehow steal him from the guy who has known him for xx Years. I know, you are much smarter, but realize the world which surrounds you...
This is to my friend, who has reminded me of my first sexual experience:
"Thank you, Dr. Malcolm, but I think things are a little
different than you and I feared.
MALCOLM
Yes, I know. They're a lot worse."
Good luck summers!
My hours suck for the year, so you might get some work from me.
mm
I didn't know Boston was such a big college town.
UCLA has a solid medical school, while Berkeley has, well...an Optometry school. Haven't looked at the criteria for the rankings, but that could play into the rankings, at least in terms of the breadth of academic impact.
Where would Suffolk Law be in ranked in the US NEWS Top 400 Community Colleges of the World?
CravaTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTh
11-
Penn > Princeton is correct. Unless for some reason you think princeton undergrad has enough nut to match up against Penn's top 3 B school, top 3 med school, and top 10 law school. We are talking about UNIVERSITIES here. look at the bigger picture.
I'll admit-- the stanford thing is puzzling as fuk. stanford should be top 5 with harvard, yale, oxford and cambridge.
As a graduate of UW-Madison, I've always thought of my degree as about equal to Dartmouth.
Strangely, employers have viewed them differently.
Anyone with any knowledge of non-American schools can see this list is nonsense. Undoubtedly, the relative rankings of many British and Canadian schools are way of the mark. The laughable suggestions that UCL,Manchester, and Bristol are 7th, 29th, and 32nd in the world. McGill and UBC ranked higher than UofT?
Hey Ellie,
What school would you have gone to if you weren't black?
Indiana lawyer found asleep in trash can
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/ODD_LAWYER_IN_TRASH_CAN?SITE=FLTAM&SECTION=ENTERTAINMENT
74 =UofT troll. Get over it -- McGill has a better international reputation than UofT.
77
Pete, is that you?
Nice find 76. If only Kash had posted on that yesterday . . .
http://abovethelaw.com/2009/06/lawyer_of_the_day_larry_wilder.php
UBC > UofT
Sorry
Chicago > MIT in a world where having a medical school and law school count for something.
UF>FSU. In everything.
Cal Tech is a pimple on the ass of MIT. What a joke.
University of Toronto is better regarded inside of canada.
But McGill is recognized internationally. People in europe/asia/USA think of University of Toronto like University of Phoenix- some kind of knockoff regional school.
80,
No one has heard of UBC either.
"Bangor (I Hardly Knew Her)." Sophomoric, perhaps, but well done.
Oh, like, yah, fer sure, yer Harvard or Yale B.A. makes you like, so kewl!
We'll save a spot for you in the bread line.
Bwa-ha-ha-ha-ha!
Stanford's ranking undoubtedly suffered because of its indictment in that unfortunate Antigua thing this week..
Sorry 77, but 74 is absolutely right. I cringe every time I see rankings of schools outside the US. There is no doubt that U of T is the best school in Canada. McGill is an impoverished school with very little academic contributions compared to U of T. I can't believe McGill is still around based on its 19th Century "prestige."
Has Above the Law suddenly stopped teaming up with Lawshucks?
89=McGill reject
1 & 3 - What's with all the Fordham and SMU references? I likeyyyy
Sorry about your tiny pink career Latham 1st years.
ps. I was just joking when I told you at 1st year academy that there's a place for you at the firm. Tehe!
- Bob D.
i wish i was balck becasue then i coudl get into schoolz like harvrad desipte the fact thta i butchre the langage on a daily bsais
I went to SMU law and now I work at Locke Lord Houston. Rankings mean nothing.
i'm calling BS on 29 and 33. If either of you were actually in a position to know such things, I doubt you'd be spilling the beans in the comments section of an unrelated article on ATL. Shame on you both!
These rankings are idiotic.
The reason why these rankings make little sense is because the only variables with significant variation are student:faculty ratio, proportion of international students, and proportion of international faculty. Since for some reasons almost all the American schools in the top 50 have perfect peer reviews and employer ratings, this ranking basically orders schools based on how many international students and faculty they host.
Most of you idiots complaining about these rankings confuse the difficulty of admission into a school with other qualities, such as academic peer review or quality of research, etc.
They are different things. Lay person prestige tends to focus on selectivity when it comes to schools; that's not what these rankings intend to show.
Carnegie Mellon in the top 25...I love this list. It's pretty much meaningless but I love it anyway.
If UCLA is so much better than Berkeley, why is it filled with Berkeley rejects?
Check out this d-bag of a HLS professor: http://dailyahole.com/2009/06/21/harvard-law-professors-are-assholes/
I always say with all school rankings, they should give you a general idea of the quality of a school, but never choose a school based on whether it is #1 or #9 or even #15.
I assume the comment: Michigan State students (#203) now officially know that they are way more prestigious than students at Sciences Po Paris (#207). -- was meant to be tongue-in-cheek. You definitely have to look at the rankings with a grain of salt. That being said, they provide a small amount of useful information (and a large amount of aggravation for schools I'm sure).
Get over yourselves. These weren't created to guide students and employers in making wise decisions, they were created to generate controversy and sell magazines and online ad space.
Mission accomplished.
The fact that Berkeley isn't in the top 10 makes this list a joke.
BU > Dartmouth? In what fucking universe did this list come from?
BU > 111 points higher than Tufts???
And is it just me, or was BC not even on the list?
I must say, though, as a graduate who spent nearly two years unable to even get a retail job, Bates College is rightly excluded from the Top 400. Suck it, Bobcats!
Okay it's not UofT, but Canada made it into the top 20.
20. McGill University (Canada) (89.7).
Captain Canuck is taking a road trip down to Carnegie Mellon (21) to laugh in their faces, I am calling the dean on Monday to make an appointment (to do otherwise would simply be uncanadian).
For those that are not feeling Carnegie, McGill also beat out NYU/Brown/Berkeley
-Bay Street is Awesome!
107: That's not going to help your bid for statehood.
And what do the Vols have to do with this?
108 -- in case you haven't noticed, Canada is fairing MUCH better than the US in this economy. We want nothing to do with you right now.
University of Florida is better than brandeis?
105 --- You're wrong ... a bunch of people at my high school who got rejected from UCLA were admitted to Berkeley ... many who got into both (myself among them) chose UCLA
Additionally, many of the Berkeley undergrads who I met at my law school were HIGHLY unimpressive
Anyways, California needs to make sure that both of these schools don't tank when the state stops funding them (maybe the UC Regents shouldn't open a new law school in Irvine ... WTF?)
Berkeley - Filled with Stanford rejects & transfers who received fantastic 3.0's in both high school and junior college
How is BC not on the list? Also, what makes G-Town so damn low?
All the Brown, Northwestern, and Wash U people are just salty because Michigan is finally being recognized for being a public Ivy. Suck it! Num num num. Go Blue!
No. 45: Umm, Penn is not a "public" school.
Anyhow, all of this is completely, utterly irrelevant. A bachelor's in a hard science from just about anywhere could, possibly, advance one's career prospects. By contrast, a liberal arts education from the highest echelons, standing alone, is worthless.
The sad fact is that we churn out far too many unemployable college grads in this country. We need more vocational education.
more information from 29, please
Michigan should be ranked #1. Best professors, best campus, best undergraduate experience, keeps every door open.
Any of you Ivy Prestige whores missed out on a hell of a lot of fun, while the Wolverines were getting awesome and then joined you at your prestigious law school and law firm.
Suck it, world!
Go Blue!
Hey 116, 29 is full of dog poo. don't let it get you down.
[comment removed by an obese clown]
[comment removed by an obese illiterate clown ... nice to see Elie is working on Sunday nights...]
109,
Are you retarded? The Canadian economy is wholly dependent upon the Americans.
A fellow Canuck
McCarthy's Toronto office, first of the Sisters to defer start dates for current articling (class of 2008) students.
The suck is moving north.
Captain Canuck - enjoy Torkin Manes, you twit.
29 please give names.
[comment removed by a lazy, disgusting, obese retard]
122 - CDDF?
122 here. No I am not CDDF Lawbuzz sucks.
wtf does CDDF mean?
I am pounding a Canadian secretary who went to McGill in her ass right now.
29 -
Why would any firm rescind offers right now in the middle of the summer program? That's going to be great PR for them.
Unless of course:
1) they have no summer program;
2) they aren't participating in fall OCIs; or
3) they are just going to cancel their summer program.
Please advise.
Lawbuzz sucks
CDDF
I had to say. This is a really great article!!!
Thanks
Richard
http://www.InsideRater.com
I had to say. This is a really great article!!!
Thanks
Richard
http://www.InsideRater.com
I had to say. This is a really great article!!!
Thanks
Richard
http://www.InsideRater.com
LATHAM NY sucks. Man... I never thought they are that bad!!
135
Don't you just hate those 1:00am phone calls rescinding your offer?
Oh wait, they don't exist.
Soon US News will be ranking the States of the Union. CA = 1, NY = 2, and RI = 3, just ahead of the Dakotas.
US News needs to rank my poo
110: Yes. Eat it. Go Gators.
Enjoy the loan payments. I went to UF undergrad for free.
Minnesota pwns VanderbilTTT and GeorgeTTTown. Truth.
The international rankings are based purely on research output. The larger the school, the more output.
It has nothing to do with prestige, education, or quality of the students. It has everything to do with having as many academics as possible, cranking out as much research as they can.
You will see no liberal arts colleges. Universities that are prestigious and selective, but put an emphasis on undergraduate education will be ranked low. Those that are huge and put an emphasis on graduate programs will be ranked high.
The international rankings are based purely on research output. The larger the school, the more output.
It has nothing to do with prestige, education, or quality of the students. It has everything to do with having as many academics as possible, cranking out as much research as they can.
You will see no liberal arts colleges. Universities that are prestigious and selective, but put an emphasis on undergraduate education will be ranked low. Those that are huge and put an emphasis on graduate programs will be ranked high.
27= Lord Jeff :)
142 = nailed it
The Chinese government does not read comments on this website.
The United States has a disproportionate number of schools on this list and, yet, our populace is markedly less educated than most of the other countries represented. Sad.
Is the article title from Countdown? That's what it reminded me of.
Heidelberg Universität > Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München???
What is this???
Highly dubious...
Heidelberg Universität > Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München???
What is this???
Highly dubious...
Heidelberg Universität > Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München???
What is this???
Highly dubious...
Heidelberg Universität > Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München???
What is this???
Highly dubious...
Ridiculous. Including proportions of foreign faculty and foreign students as measures of quality inherently favors universities in small nations, explaining the higher number of British universities at the top than in better-conceived international rankings.
Also, comparing faculty to student ratios at schools that have medical schools with those that don't yields predictable - and meaningless - results. This score is the reason that this survey ranks UCLA over Berkeley. Even the chancellor at UCLA would find that odd.
Ridiculous. Including proportions of foreign faculty and foreign students as measures of quality inherently favors universities in small nations, explaining the higher number of British universities at the top than in better-conceived international rankings.
Also, comparing faculty to student ratios at schools that have medical schools with those that don't yields predictable - and meaningless - results. This score is the reason that this survey ranks UCLA over Berkeley. Even the chancellor at UCLA would find that odd.
61,
That is so true. When law students brag about themselves in job interviews and talk about how they out-compete their classmates, they are actually sticking their foot in their mouths. What they end up doing is they degrade their school and as a result, the employer will go, "Why should I hire your mongrul ass, if you came from such a crappy school!?"
52,
Yeah the students at THAT SCHOOL are weird. I noticed that they like to speak really loud (so that others can hear) when they are on the subject of grades and law review.
I toured the library at that school once and the students look like a bunch of smart-alecks. If you really want to impress some people, go own a business and make real money!
ColumTTTbia