An MIT Alumni Association Publication
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MIT is near the top of many 2015 college rankings.

Update: On August 17, Business Insider named MIT the best college in America

One sure sign that the academic year is near: college rankings—and it seems the number of rankings and categories grow each year.

The most well-known list maker, U.S. News & World Report, will release their annual undergraduate college rankings in mid-September but many other organization have unveiled their lists during the summer.

The merit and value of these rankings are always up for debate, and  Slice of MIT is not endorsing any of these lists. Our goal is to generate conversation among the MIT community, and given our readers’ past reactions to MIT-related lists, we expect many different viewpoints to be shared.

Take a look at the categories—and MIT’s spot in the rankings—then let us know your take in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter. Information on each category’s methodology can be found at the bottom of this article.

Business Insider

Center for World University Rankings (CWUR) via Business Insider Forbes (in partnership with the Center for College Affordability and Productivity) Money Magazine Niche PayScale via Business Insider Methodologies

Comments

Ron Haupt

Mon, 08/24/2015 8:08pm

Being probably one of the most academically challenged students ever to attend graduate school, I gratefully thank Dr. Holly for rewarding nothing but persistence on my part. 1964 thru 1966 was truly the greatest period of my engineering career. The Department of Civil Engineering was in a ferment of creativity. ICES, the Integrated Civil Engineering System, was being developed, a concept well ahead of even the present day. And it was being developed on a computer, the size of which could be smaller than my cell phone today. Working on one small portion of ICES allowed me to project that experience into a rewarding lifetime career in engineering, not even including having the privilege of hearing Dr. Biggs explain structural dynamics (concepts I still use) and further having the privilege of hearing Dr. Cornell introduce the concepts of reliability (which was at the time in the germinative stage). There is no question in my mind that, while I can't vouch for other departments, the Department of Civil Engineering at that time was the best and greatest engineering department. My current experience with the MIT alumni association suggests that the excellence I experienced in the 1960s continues.

Kenneth Katz '85

Fri, 08/14/2015 12:40am

By and large, I find these rankings to be assinine. What does it mean to be #1 or #3 or #10? You can get a fine education at MIT; you can get a fine education elsewhere, including at institutions that are ranked much lower. Despite its high ranking, I wouldn't send my child to MIT if they wanted to become a nurse or an artist.

The rankings are part of the ridiculous status game that American higher education has become, divorced from any connection to any of the pragmatic or more lofty objectives of education.

Ancilla Akayezu

Sat, 04/02/2016 8:01am

MIT is without a doubt the best college academically,culturally and socially. My son has been privileged and honoured to study at MIT and is expected to graduate in June 2016. I know what I know from him and a compatriot whose son graduated from MIT in 2015 what I am talking about!

No bias believe me. MIT is indeed AWESOME and the best!
I just ADORE it for its all round education and its contribution to latest , useful technologies besides excellence in various other disciplines, producing extremely brilliant brains really who are global citizens.

BRAVO MIT!! Just stay up there at the top, yes let that MIT dome keep on towering above all!!!!

Anu Sood

Tue, 08/25/2015 5:53pm

Hi Ron, as far as I know, I hold the distinction of the lowest undergraduate GPA for anyone admitted to MIT grad schools through 1986 - 2.70 (B-/C+). And this was with pass/fail freshman year and various incompletes on my transcript. But somehow I completed my undergrad at MIT and my professor felt sorry for me and got the department to let me in for grad school!

In reply to by Ron Haupt

Lester Nathan

Thu, 12/31/2015 2:28am

Kenneth, I agree with most of what you wrote. MIT is good at what it does, but cannot be good at everything. Trying to give an overall ranking to all the universities, rather than one that narrows in on something specific, like architecture or mathematics, is a status game for the admissions depts.

In reply to by Kenneth Katz '85

Denis Poussart

Sun, 08/23/2015 1:35pm

In my 70+ years, I was lucky enough to make a few decisions that turned out to be truly transformative. Choosing MIT for my graduate studies was one of them.

Anu Sood

Sat, 08/22/2015 9:48pm

what happened to the comment that i tried posting a few hours ago?

Anu Sood

Sat, 08/22/2015 3:40pm

I have seen many rankings and this is fine. Ken,I understand you but don't agree. Why not MIT for art or nursing? The MIT community is a very creative space and actually an art major may have a great time matching up their passion with some cool real-world applications including architecture, materials, art history and forensics, graphic arts, cognitive science. I'm not particularly familiar with nursing curriculum but I would imagine that biology, brain science, and nutritional science may be great background areas that could lead to a great career in nursing.

My opinion is that college is an experience and learning is not limited to the major. For me it was academics plus the overall environment including social setting, classmates, research opportunities, extracurriculars, etc. I changed majors 4 times before settling into chemical engineering. After practicing that for 20+ years I am now making a slow move into the music industry, following a true passion. I would say that MIT has uniquely positioned me for everything that I have done professionally, and taught me how to approach and solve problems.

Ada Lopez

Wed, 08/05/2015 2:33am

My son will be a freshman this year at MIT. He is so committed and excited to attend this great school. We found it to be academically phenomenal and cutural and socially out of the box. We are very proud and happy for him.