Hi,
I am going through the university programs to finalize the list of universities I will apply to. The general idea recommended is to select approx. 2-3 programs from each bracket (i.e: 0-10, 10-20, etc) using the UT Dallas ranking. However, what I am concerned about is that Stanford, for example, is ranked 13th while University of North Carolina is ranked 9th but I am sure the admission at Stanford would be much more competitive. How much should I factor in the ranking or the general reputation of the university when selecting universities to apply to? Can you have a universities like Yale ranked at 38 or Georgetown ranked 56 as you back up?
Thanks