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For those of you looking into engineering, give me the name of the school, and I'll give you the grade. Here's how I'll grade the college.

First part is general ranking:
First Tier (US News Top 50)=A
Second Tier=B
Third Tier=C
Fourth Tier=D
Not ranked because it's too bad=F

Next: Average SAT score
1300+=A
1100-1290=B
1000-1090=C
900-990=D
below 900=F

Next: US News Engineering Ranking
Top 25=A
Top 50=B
Top 75=C
On the list but below 75=D
Not on list because not good enough=F

Last: Avg SAT math score
90th percentile+ =A
75-89 =B
25-74 =C
10-24 =D
1-9 =F

Note: some colleges are specialty, so I cannot grade them this way, but I can tell you if it's worth or not.

By Flopsy (Flopsy) on Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 11:12 pm: Edit

Just for kicks... UCLA, UCSD, UC Berkeley?

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 11:55 pm: Edit

UC Berkeley: 93 (A-) ***** It's on the "A" list
UCLA: 89 (B+) ****
UCSD: 89 (B+) ****

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Sunday, August 08, 2004 - 11:59 pm: Edit

and while i'm at it there's one change:

for avg SAT math score, instead of giving avg score of 25-75 percentile a "C", 50-75 is now a "C", 25-49 is now a "D", and below 25 is an "F"

By Goodchocolate (Goodchocolate) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 12:31 am: Edit

The University of Florida and the University of Georgia?

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 12:35 am: Edit

UT-Austin and Texas Tech.

By Boomer01 (Boomer01) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 02:07 am: Edit

LSU A&M
Purdue
University of British columbia
UT-Austin
Bucknell

By Nabiilah (Nabiilah) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 03:59 am: Edit

Carleton University in Canada

By Bellevueteen (Bellevueteen) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 04:46 am: Edit

Duke.

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 06:06 am: Edit

Let us take this baby for a spin.

MIT
Stanford
Catech
Illinois-Urbana Champaign
Michigan-Ann Arbor
Cornell
Carnegie Mellon
Princeton
Northwestern
Johns Hopkins

By Voodoochile (Voodoochile) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 07:13 am: Edit

It also depends on whether you're talking about graduate or undergraduate school. Cal Grad School = A+. Undergrad maybe = A-.

By Pamvanw (Pamvanw) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 07:29 am: Edit

The other issue is that for engineering the math SAT is often much higher, bringing the overall SAT average for engineers up. Therefor you can't use a university's general SAT average to grade their engineering school. ie. Virginia Tech's average SAT is around 1200, but their E-School SAT average is around 1300.

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 02:52 pm: Edit

University of Florida: 89 (B+) ****
University of Georgia: 76 (C) ***

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 03:01 pm: Edit

UT-Austin: 88 (B+) ****
Texas Tech: 70 (C-) ***

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 03:17 pm: Edit

LSU: 66 (D) ** (didn't have any math score though)
Purdue: 86 (B) ****
Univ of British Columbia: nothing on Canada, sorry
UT-Austin: 88 (B+) ****
Bucknell: sorry cannot judge any school w/out doctorate, because I use the "Best programs which schools have a doctorate" ranking. But this would definitely be a top-tier school I cannot rate.

By Jaredthegreat (Jaredthegreat) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 03:21 pm: Edit

Time to put you into hyperdrive...my list for mechanical/aerospace before I narrowed it down (and before I said no to engineering), minus those already stated (Alexandre alone took out seven of them)

Cooper Union
Embry-Riddle, Florida
Emory
Florida Tech
GeorgiaTech
Harvey Mudd
Illinois Institute of Technology
Olin
Rice
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rose-Hulman
RPI
Tufts
UNC-Chapel Hill
University of Southern California
UPenn
Vanderbilt
Wake Forest
Wash U
WPI

Have fun!.....

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 03:42 pm: Edit

MIT: 98 (A+) ***** (On the "A" list)
Stanford: 97 (A+) ***** (On the "A" list)
Caltech: 98 (A+) ***** (On the "A" list)
UIUC: 92 (A-) ***** (On the "A" list)
UM-Ann Arbor: 93 (A-) ***** (On the "A" list)
Cornell: 93 (A-) ***** (On the "A" list)
CMU: 94 (A) ***** (On the "A" list)
Princeton: 96 (A) ***** (On the "A" list)
Northwestern: 94 (A) ***** (On the "A" list)
JHU: 94 (A) ***** (On the "A" list)

Wow, you're really looking for the A list/five star schools for engineering. You got quite a few of them. Not all of them though.

By Bellevueteen (Bellevueteen) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 03:51 pm: Edit

hey, you didnt grade duke

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 03:55 pm: Edit

So far, your rating seems quite good. I think Cal-Berkeley and Illinois are a little too low at 93 and 92 respectively, and I think JHU, CMU, Northwestern and Florida are a little high. Otherwise, your rating seems to be pretty accurate. Interesting equation.

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 04:28 pm: Edit

Cooper Union: specialty (top tier though)
Embry-Riddle: specialty (go for it if you like aviation)
Emory: 83 (B-) ****
FIT: 72 (C-) ***
GA Tech: 93 (A-) ***** (On the "A" list)
Harvey Mudd: specialty (top tier like Caltech)
IIT: 85 (B) ****
Olin: specialty (mad hard to get into, so prob first tier)
Rice: 94 (A) ***** (On the "A" list)
RIT: 78 (C+) *** (I didn't have overall ranking, so I gave it a "B" for U-Masters #7 plus similarity w/ other schools w/ a "B".
Rose-Hulman: specialty (top tier, go for it)
RPI: 91 (A-) ***** (It's on the "A" list)
Tufts: 88 (B+) ****
Chapel Hill: 80 (B-) ****
USC: 91 (A-) ***** (On the "A" list)
UPenn: 93 (A-) ***** (On the "A" list)
Vanderbilt: 90 (A-) ***** (On the "A" list)
Wake Forest: 81 (B-) ****
Wash U: 88 (B+) ****
WPI: 86 (B) ****

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 04:34 pm: Edit

Duke: 94 (A) ***** (It's on the "A" list)

The "A" Five Star List So far:
UC Berkley
MIT
Stanford
Caltech
UIUC
Ann-Arbor
Cornell
CMU
Princeton
Northwestern
JHU
GA Tech
Rice
Rensselaer Polytech
USC
UPenn
Vanderbilt

Top Tier, but not graded:
Harvey Mudd
Olin
Rose-Hulman

By Arthurd (Arthurd) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 04:39 pm: Edit

RIT should have at least a B rating. It's certainly not on a lower level than WPI or IIT. RIT doesn't even offer PhDs in the various engineering disciplines, so how can it be evaluated with the other universities that do?

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 04:47 pm: Edit

No state school in the top 10. Cal-Berkeley, Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Michigan-Ann Arbor and Georgia Tech are not ranked in the top 10 according to your equation. Neither is Cornell. On the other hand, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Rice and Penn are ranked among your top 10. That seems a little strange. Few people would argue that the latter four are as god as the former five in Engineering.

By Seleucus26 (Seleucus26) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 05:04 pm: Edit

penn state
Boston U.
Lehigh

i htink SATII scores would help a lot in making these grades more engineering specific if they were available (Math, physics and chem)

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 05:08 pm: Edit

for RIT, look at the quotation that says "I gave it a B for being in U Masters..." that one isn't too valid, but RIT isn't in the top 80 in engineering

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 05:10 pm: Edit

one more thing, i believe that distinction in the "A" list is a little blurry; this rating can tell you if the school is an "A" five star, a "B" 4 star, a "C" 3 star, a "D" 2 star, or an "F" 1 star; distinction among each grade level is quite blurry I'll admit

By Arthurd (Arthurd) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 05:14 pm: Edit

In and prior to 2003, RIT was ranked 6th for overall engineering and top 5 for electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering. This was on the list of schools whose highest degree is Masters (same list as Rose-Hulman). In 2004, somehow RIT was transplanted to the doctorate list, although they still only offer up to Masters degrees in these programs. I don't know what they were smoking or who fell asleep on the keyboard, but RIT should still be ranked as highly as Cooper Union and Harvey Mudd (since it was ranked higher than them just a year ago and nothing has changed).

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 07:12 pm: Edit

wait, i just revised all of them, and RIT is no.78 under the doctorate rankings (which is the one I use to grade). I'm revising the grade w/out using overall school ranking, and it still comes out as a C+. I'm sure it'd have been a B- had it been ranked under the National Universities Doctoral. So let's just leave RIT ungraded for now.

Penn State: 88 (B+) ****
BU: 85 (B) ****
Lehigh: 89 (B+) ****

By Alongfortheride (Alongfortheride) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 07:41 pm: Edit

I think it's interesting that Emory scored an 83 since they don't offer engineering.

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 09:12 pm: Edit

hmmm.....then there needs to be an adjustment

I only go by the engineering ranking, and if it's not on the page, I give it a 50. Tell me beforehand if the school actually has engineering.

By Alongfortheride (Alongfortheride) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 10:04 pm: Edit

It was a deep plot from somewhere Benz...!

By Benzinspeicher (Benzinspeicher) on Monday, August 09, 2004 - 10:29 pm: Edit

suh???????

By Xiggi (Xiggi) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 01:09 am: Edit

Duke, Rice, JHU and ... University of Florida higher than UT-Austin in Engineering?

Time to fuel up with unleaded, your gauge is a bit erratic!

By Im_Blue (Im_Blue) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 01:42 am: Edit

"In and prior to 2003, RIT was ranked 6th for overall engineering"

And now it's #77 in Engineering institutions granting doctoral degrees. This should give you some idea of the quality of institutions that don't offer doctorates.

By Nabiilah (Nabiilah) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 03:02 am: Edit

u cannot rate canadian universities? Can u rate Carleton University in ottawa?

By Mwamwa (Mwamwa) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 09:16 am: Edit

hey u. of waterloo has excellent engineering program..

By Kissy (Kissy) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 10:06 am: Edit

Arthurd- RIT has added one PhD. program this year (can't remember which engineering discipline it's in). They realized that doing this will significantly affect their rankings due to their change of category to "schools with PhD programs". That's a pretty brave move in these days of ranking obsessions but speaks to the school's committment for improvement.

By Treas (Treas) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 11:00 am: Edit

hello..you guys post a lot so i'm hoping you can help me out..
I'm a senior..live in Northeast akransas..and I'm planning on going into engineering.. I'm lost in a college selection though .. My counselor is telling me to go to U of A in fayettville..but I want to go to good college...I'm just confused because I can't seem to even get any colleges in mind ...can ya help me out...I need to find one that isn't too awfully expensive because I've only made a 25 on my ACT..and I need scholarships :|..anyhow thanks

By Alexandre (Alexandre) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 11:08 am: Edit

Whats your unweighed GPA? How about your class rank? Are you taking any AP classes? Any specific kind of Engineering?

By Ariesathena (Ariesathena) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 11:30 am: Edit

Tufts should be more than a B+: you are most likely using the wrong math SAT scores. There is a liberal arts college which has lower math SAT scores and an engineering school with higher ones - the average is a poor measure of these.

General ranking: top 50 (at #27 or so)
Average SAT score of enrolled freshman this year: 1380 (A)
Average SAT math score is always well into the 700s for SOE. (A)
Not sure about overall USNews engin. ranking... but how do you figure a B+ from that?

By Mudbutt (Mudbutt) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 11:39 am: Edit

This thread is utterly retarded.

By Boomer01 (Boomer01) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 01:18 pm: Edit

I agree with mudbutt, all schools which are ABET accredited meet the standards of becoming a engineer. Although a degree from MIT will be more respected than a degree from Drexel, the person will still be a engineer. Nowadays, employers don't really look at the name of the school although it is advantageous to get your foot in the door, if you don't have co-op or internship experience, you can kiss your chances to getting job goodbye.

By Arthurd (Arthurd) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 01:22 pm: Edit

That's the truth.

By Treas (Treas) on Tuesday, August 10, 2004 - 05:47 pm: Edit

my gpa is 3.96...and my class rank is 3 ..and i've taken.. College Algebra, College Trig, College Psychology, AP English Comp., AP US History, and this year I'm taking AP English Lit. and AP Calculus..

By Treas (Treas) on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 01:22 am: Edit

hmm well i dono if that's good or not but those are all the college/AP classes my school offers... except for... Ap environmental science and i'm not taking that

By Dionjuan2004 (Dionjuan2004) on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 05:39 am: Edit

i really do not know how does overall ranking of a uni. help one decide?? does it not imply that it is equally strong in all the fields in which it offers degrees?

i would rather like to know top ten uni. in civil engineering for graduates, if u can manage this. and if u can give atleast a rough estimate of CGPA and GRE scores for getting admitetd with scholarship/TA/RA nothing like it.

i know its tough(& boring as well), but plz help..

By Fonzie (Fonzie) on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 09:53 am: Edit

University of Minnesota
University of Wisconsin
Swarthmore College

By Streetlight (Streetlight) on Thursday, August 12, 2004 - 06:21 pm: Edit

Yale Univ
Columbia Univ