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Top-10, Top-15, and Top-20 Departments


AbdulB

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Hi everyone, just wanted to ask a simple question. Are the top-5, top-10, ... etc. phrases refer to a well-established rankings? or is it simply referring to USNews ranking? I have seen different schools for different rankings and cannot seem to find a consensus on it. What is *really* top-20?
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I believe it's based on the most recent US News reports, probably taking into account at least the past few years since ranking spots can go up or down dramatically based on many latent factors. I'm very surprised about Rice University not making the top rankings though, aren't they a really prestigious program?
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Bluntly, no. Rice has invested heavily in its program in recent years and made some very good hires. Those moves have not yet paid off in terms of graduate student placement. I think the best recent placement was at Davis-ARE and the vast majority of recent Rice PhDs have had non-academic placements. They get good jobs, but not the sort associated with “a really prestigious program.” Placements may improve over time as more students are recruited and trained under the new system, or they may stagnate, especially if the newly hired faculty aren’t retained. But I think the US News rankings peg Rice correctly. Your perception that they are under ranked may be an artifact of getting a lot of your information from this website, where Rice has a more active and respected presence than in the profession writ large. I think very highly of many of the faculty who have recently moved to Rice, but it takes a long time to build a department.

 

I believe it's based on the most recent US News reports, probably taking into account at least the past few years since ranking spots can go up or down dramatically based on many latent factors. I'm very surprised about Rice University not making the top rankings though, aren't they a really prestigious program?
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Hi Prof,

 

It's just that my advisor-to-be for my master's program is a Rice PhD grad and he is brilliant in math & econ theory/mechanism design... teaches in Hawaii. I just thought maybe it was a reflection of the quality of the program. I also considered applying to Rice for my own undergrad, but ended up picking some smaller schools. Thanks for your 2 cents, it was good to learn!

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