Intellect

Rankings

This ranking attempts an impossible task – to order schools based on proxies targeting the intellectual capabilities of their students.

1. Yale University
2. Swarthmore College
3. Williams College
4. Harvard University
5. Princeton University
6. University of Chicago
7. Amherst College
8. Pomona College
9. Brown University
10. Duke University
11. Columbia University
12. Stanford University
13. Vassar College
14. Northwestern University
15. Wellesley College
16. Washington University in St. Louis
17. Cornell University
18. Grinnell College
19. Dartmouth College
20. Wesleyan University
21. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
22. Johns Hopkins University
23. Bryn Mawr College
24. Middlebury College
25. Carleton College
26. Georgetown University
27. Macalester College
28. Emory University
29. California Institute of Technology
30. Haverford College
31. University of Pennsylvania
32. Claremont McKenna College
33. Bates College
34. Colby College
35. Rice University
36. University of Notre Dame
37. University of California – Berkeley
38. Kenyon College
39. University of Michigan – Ann Arbor
40. Bowdoin College
41. Tufts University
42. College of William and Mary
43. Barnard College
44. Whitman College
45. University of Virginia – Charlottesville
46. Brandeis University
47. Hamilton College
48. Smith College
49. Harvey Mudd College
50. Boston College
51. Oberlin College
52. Connecticut College
53. Colgate University
54. Reed College
55. Vanderbilt University
56. Davidson College
57. St. Olaf College
58. Case Western Reserve University
59. Occidental College
60. College of the Holy Cross
61. New College of Florida
62. Scripps College
63. Knox College
64. Mount Holyoke College
65. Carnegie Mellon University
66. Villanova University
67. University of California – Los Angeles
68. University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill
69. University of Rochester
70. Washington and Lee University
71. Colorado College
72. University of Illinois – Urbana-Champaign
73. Lafayette College
74. Wake Forest University
75. University of Wisconsin – Madison
76. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
77. Agnes Scott College
78. St. John’s College (MD)
79. Furman University
80. Bucknell University
81. Wheaton College (IL)
82. Earlham College
83. Pitzer College
84. Kalamazoo College
85. Worcester Polytechnic Institute
86. George Washington University
87. Lehigh University
88. Boston University
89. Trinity College
90. University of Texas – Austin
91. Lawrence University
92. Rhodes College
93. University of Maryland – College Park
94. University of Florida – Gainesville
95. Spelman College
96. University of Southern California
97. University of Pittsburgh
98. Lewis and Clark College
99. University of California – San Diego
100. Allegheny College

Methodology: I made this ranking in November of 2012, highlighting several elements that I personally would pick as most important for me in a college, without touching any contextual elements. This ranking combines A) a pure ranking of schools based on the 75% SAT score of admitted students, B) Lumosity’s Smartest Colleges Ranking, C) Washington Monthly’s rank of Bachelor’s to PhD, D) a pure ranking of schools’ four-year graduation rate, E) the 2003 Wall Street Journal Feeder School rank, and F) the 2012 Fulbright Ranking.

Their assigned weights are:

A – 16.7%

B – 4.2%

C – 33.3%

D – 12.5%

E – 16.7%

F – 16.7%

For me, the highest achieving students in high school have the best grades, test scores, essays, activities, accomplishments, and recommendation letters. Since test scores are the only standardized element of that list, enabling easy comparison, they are given solid weight. I used the 75% score as exemplary of the score a non “hooked” student (someone who is not a recruited athlete, world-class oboist, daughter of Saudi oil baron, etc.) would ideally target for admission. Note: of that list above (grades, tests, essays, activities, accomplishments, and recommendation letters), I definitely think that SAT scores are the least indicative of talent. Such is the world of rankings.

I like the testing for smartness of Lumosity’s ranking and it fit with what I was going for. I gave it little weight though, as many schools were not included in the ranking, and I assume they didn’t participate.

For me, the truest testament to intellectual vitality at a school is the percentage of students who pursue the highest level of education in their field, and Washington Monthly’s ranking of BA or BS to PhD is the metric that best gauges this. Hence, I accorded it a full third of the weight.

I included the graduation rate as a small gesture to students’ ambition and happiness at a school, as well as a hint about the support of the administration. If students graduate in four years, they obviously didn’t transfer or drop out, and were able to take the classes they needed to graduate.

I gave the Wall Street Journal Feeder School ranking and the Fulbright Ranking equal weight. The former is a proxy for selectivity and practical ambition, and the latter is a proxy for theoretical ambition. Neither is as concrete and advanced as the BA/BS to PhD metric, but both are indicative of a highly ambitious, smart environment.

As with all rankings, there are numerous problems and biases here. I’d be surprised if someone didn’t look at this ranking and wonder how M.I.T. and Caltech are ranked as “low” as they are. This is mostly due to the weight accorded the Fulbright ranking. Neither M.I.T.’s or Caltech’s strengths fall in line with the mission and purpose of Fulbright awards, and thus these (and other vocational-focused – engineering and business – schools) have very weak scores in a category given strong weight. For those interested, if you remove the Fulbright category, M.I.T. and Caltech rank 6th and 14th respectively.