The most updated USNews Best Colleges Rankings are available (here) since September 9th 2014. 51UStudy would give you first-hand insight into what changes in this year’s release and what effects these changes would make.
2015 USNews Best Colleges Rankings
| Rank | +/- | School | Acceptance% | SAT/ACT 25%-75% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 | Princeton University | 7.4% | 1410-1600 |
| 2 | 0 | Harvard University | 5.8% | 1410-1600 |
| 3 | 0 | Yale University | 6.9% | 1420-1590 |
| 4 | 0 | Columbia University | 6.9% | 1400-1570 |
| 4 | 1 | Stanford University | 5.7% | 1380-1570 |
| 4 | 1 | University of Chicago | 8.8% | 1440-1590 |
| 7 | 0 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | 8.2% | 1430-1570 |
| 8 | -1 | Duke University | 12.4% | 1360-1550 |
| 8 | 1 | University of Pennsylvania | 12.2% | 1360-1540 |
| 10 | 0 | California Institute of Technology | 10.6% | 1490-1600 |
| 11 | -1 | Dartmouth College | 10.4% | 1360-1560 |
| 12 | 0 | Johns Hopkins University | 17.1% | 1340-1520 |
| 13 | -1 | Northwestern University | 14% | 1390-1550 |
| 14 | 0 | Washington University in St. Louis | 15.6% | 32-34 |
| 15 | 1 | Cornell University | 15.6% | 1320-1520 |
| 16 | -2 | Brown University | 9.2% | 1330-1540 |
| 16 | 2 | University of Notre Dame | 22.3% | 32-34 |
| 16 | 1 | Vanderbilt University | 12.7% | 32-34 |
| 19 | -1 | Rice University | 16.7% | 1370-1550 |
| 20 | 0 | University of California—Berkeley | 17.7% | 1250-1500 |
| 21 | -1 | Emory University | 26.5% | 1260-1470 |
| 21 | -1 | Georgetown University | 17.1% | 1320-1500 |
| 23 | 0 | University of California—Los Angeles | 20.4% | 1190-1450 |
| 23 | 0 | University of Virginia | 30.1% | 1250-1460 |
| 25 | -2 | Carnegie Mellon University | 25.5% | 1340-1530 |
| 25 | -2 | University of Southern California | 19.8% | 1280-1480 |
| 27 | 1 | Tufts University | 18.9% | 1370-1520 |
| 27 | -4 | Wake Forest University | 35.2% | 1230-1420 |
| 29 | -1 | University of Michigan—Ann Arbor | 33.3% | 28-32 |
| 30 | 0 | University of North Carolina—Chapel Hill | 26.7% | 1200-1410 |
| 31 | 0 | Boston College | 32.2% | 1270-1450 |
| 32 | 0 | New York University | 32.4% | 1260-1460 |
| 33 | -1 | College of William and Mary | 33.2% | 1270-1460 |
| 33 | -1 | University of Rochester | 35.7% | 1250-1450 |
| 35 | -3 | Brandeis University | 37% | 1230-1470 |
| 35 | 1 | Georgia Institute of Technology | 41.1% | 1290-1480 |
| 37 | 2 | University of California—San Diego | 36.8% | 1180-1400 |
| 38 | -1 | Case Western Reserve University | 41.9% | 1270-1480 |
| 38 | 1 | University of California—Davis | 41.3% | 1080-1340 |
| 40 | 1 | Lehigh University | 30.8% | 1220-1410 |
| 40 | 1 | University of California—Santa Barbara | 39.8% | 1130-1370 |
| 42 | -1 | Boston University | 36.9% | 1190-1390 |
| 42 | 7 | Northeastern University | 32.3% | 1300-1480 |
| 42 | -1 | Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute | 41.2% | 1290-1488 |
| 42 | 7 | University of California—Irvine | 41.1% | 1040-1290 |
| 42 | -1 | University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign | 62.4% | 26-31 |
Comments of 51UStudy:
The first thing to notice is that the Writing score of SAT has been neglected by the new release. For several years, many top schools have shown more interest in applicants’ scores in Critical Reading and Math. The change in the USNews rankings confirms this attitude. Therefore, please give less weight on your Writingwhen you evaluate the competitiveness of your SAT score.
Secondly, the admission rates of most top schools are dropping, reflecting the harsher competition in the admission process.
In terms of the detailed changes in rankings:
- Princeton holds its No.1 position, with Harvard, Yale in the 2nd and 3rd.
- University of Chicago and Stanford University both rise one place and are now tied in 4th with Columbia University
- University of Pennsylvania is back to 8th and Dartmouth College dropped one place to 11th. Caltech still holds the last position in the Top Ten.
- For the two remaining Ivies, Cornell University enters into Top Fifteen and Brown University falls two places to 16th, which it shares with Notre Dame University and Vanderbilt that is up two and one respectively.
- Emory University and Georgetown University slide to 21st, leaving the last Top Twenty seat to University of California, Berkeley, which is also the top ranked public school.
- Carnegie Mellon University and University of Southern California are listed in 25 instead of 23 in last year; Wake Forest University is the biggest loser in ranking this year and loses 4 places.
- New York University now enjoys 32nd place by itself, with College of William and Mary, University of Rochester, and Brandeis University ranked in 33rd, 33rd and 35th respectively.
- University of California San Diego rises to 37th and Northeastern University keeps its strong trend and jumps 7 t0 No. 42 this year.
- University of Irvine soars to 42nd and Pennsylvania State University dropped to 46th.
