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USNWR 2009 Graduate School Rankings

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U.S. News & World Report’sProfessional School* Ranking, 2008 Edition
Total Rank (based on Mean Reputation Score) for Institutions with 4 or More Programs

1 Stanford 1 1 2 3 — 1.8
University (CA)

2 University of 7 3 2 8 5 5.0
California–Berkeley

3 University of 8 3 6 7 8 6.4
Michigan–Ann Arbor

4 Harvard 1 2 28 2 2 7.0
University (MA)

5 Northwestern 5 16 14 14 — 12.3
University (IL)

6 Columbia 8 7 23 4 21 12.6
University (NY)

7 Duke 8 — 23 11 10 13.0
University (NC)

8 University of 17 16 9 14 10 13.2
Texas–Austin

9 New York 12 25 -— 4 17 14.5
University

10 University of 12 9 17 14 21 14.6
California–Los Angeles

11 University of 26 3 11 19 17 15.2
Wisconsin–Madison

12 University of 12 11 35 8 — 16.5
Virginia

12 University of Illinois– 29 9 5 23 — 16.5
Urbana-Champaign

14 Indiana University– 21 12 — 33 3 17.3
Bloomington

15 University of 1 12 28 10 42 18.6
Pennsylvania

Source: U.S. News & World Report website, April 2007; table prepared by the Graduate Division, UC Berkeley.

http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/publications/pdf/usnews_rankings_2008.pdf

Reply 21

ILIGAN

U.S. News & World Report’s
Ph.D. Program Ranking, 2008 Edition
Total Rank (based on Mean Reputation Score) for Institutions with 9 or More Programs

Total Biological Computer Earth Political Mean
Rank Ph.D. Institution Sciences Chemistry Science Sciences Economics English History Mathematics Physics Science Psychology Sociology Rank

1 Stanford 4.9 4.9 5.0 4.8 4.9 4.8 4.7 4.9 5.0 4.9 4.8 4.5 4.8
University (CA)

1 University of 4.8 4.9 5.0 4.6 4.9 4.9 4.8 4.9 4.8 4.6 4.6 4.8 4.8
California–Berkeley

1 Massachusetts Institute 4.8 4.9 5.0 4.8 5.0 — — 5.0 5.0 4.2 4.1 — 4.8
of Technology

4 Princeton 4.4 4.0 4.4 4.0 4.9 4.8 4.8 4.9 4.8 4.7 4.4 4.5 4.6
University (NJ)

4 Harvard 4.7 4.8 3.9 4.1 4.9 4.9 4.7 4.9 4.8 5.0 4.4 4.4 4.6
University (MA)

6 Yale 4.5 4.1 3.8 4.0 4.8 4.9 4.9 4.6 4.2 4.6 4.5 3.7 4.4
University (CT)

6 University of 4.3 4.0 3.9 4.4 4.2 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.2 4.8 4.6 4.7 4.4
Michigan–Ann Arbor

8 University of 4.3 4.5 4.3 3.9 4.2 4.1 4.4 4.3 4.0 3.9 4.2 4.9 4.3
Wisconsin–Madison

8 University of 4.2 4.2 3.2 3.9 5.0 4.7 4.7 4.8 4.6 4.3 3.8 4.6 4.3
Chicago

8 Cornell 4.4 4.4 4.6 3.9 4.0 4.7 4.4 4.4 4.7 3.8 4.0 3.9 4.3
University (NY)

8 Columbia 4.3 4.3 3.8 4.4 4.2 4.6 4.6 4.5 4.3 4.2 4.0 4.1 4.3
University (NY)

12 University of 4.0 4.2 3.9 4.0 4.2 4.5 4.5 4.4 4.0 4.2 4.4 4.4 4.2
California–Los Angeles

13 University of 4.0 4.2 4.6 4.1 3.5 4.0 3.9 4.2 4.3 3.3 4.1 3.9 4.0
Texas–Austin

http://www.grad.berkeley.edu/publications/pdf/usnews_rankings_2008.pdf

Reply 22

DrAtomic

Shadey

ok no probs- any chance you can give me any more info on berkeleys grad schools in law, business and economics?

Certainly.

UC Berkeley Business School (Haas)
In-State Tuition: $26,880 (full time); $32,901 (part time)
Out of State Tuition: $37,949 (full time)
Room/Board: $22,512
College-funded aid: Yes
International student aid: Yes
Average student indebtedness at graduation: $54,254
Full Time Enrollment: 504
Part Time Enrollment: 763
Acceptance Rate (full time): 14%
Avg GMAT (full time): 710
Avg GMAT (part time): 697
Avg GPA (full time): 3.57
Avg Age of Entrants: 29
Avg months of prior work experience: 65
TOEFL Req: Yes
Minimum TOEFL Score: 570
Mean starting base salary from 2007 full time grads: $101,859

Also, UC Berkeley is ranked #8 in entrepreneurship program, #8 in executive MBA program, #9 in finance, #10 in international business, #9 in management, #8 in marketing, #3 in nonprofit, #6 in public affairs, #4 in environmental policy/management, #5 in health policy/management, #8 in information and technology management, #2 in public policy analysis, and #6 in social policy.

UC Berkeley Law School
In-State Tuition: $26,896
Out of State Tuition: $39,141
Room/Board: $21,507
Percent receiving grants: 69%
Median Grant: $8,300
Avg Student Indebtedness at graduation: $74,802
Enrollment: 864
Acceptance rate: 12%
Midrange LSAT: 163-170
Midrange undergrad GPA: 3.64-3.90
Midrange of full-time private-sector salaries of 2006 grads: $135,000
2006 grad employed in: law firms (67%); business/industry (3%); government (5%); public interest (11%); judicial clerk (14%).

Also, UC Berkeley is ranked #1 in intellectual property law, and #9 in international law.

UC Berkeley Economics Programs
#3 in Economics overall
#2 in Development Economics
#4 in Econometrics
#5 in Industrial Organization
#4 in International Economics
#5 in Labor Economics
#8 in Macroeconomics
#5 in Microeconomics
#3 in Public Finance

They don't give any specifics regarding admissions to their economics programs.

Reply 23

Shadey

forgot to say thanks regarding the above!

Thanks!

PS. might be an obvious question but is a graduate university more likely to take students that have studied in their undergraduate schools?

Reply 24

ILIGAN

Shadey

forgot to say thanks regarding the above!

Thanks!

PS. might be an obvious question but is a graduate university more likely to take students that have studied in their undergraduate schools?

There probably is a preference / favor for postgrad professional schools such as Law and Medicine in some top US schools to accept their own grads. However, the best students still tend to matriculate at top professional schools such as Harvard Law & Harvard Med, Yale Law, Stanford Law, Stanford Med, Stanford Engineering, MIT Engineering, MIT Science, Berkeley Engineering, Berkeley Sciences, Caltech Sciences and Caltech Engineering.

Reply 25

DrAtomic

Graduate divisions know what students in the undergrad program at their school experienced during undergrad, so that's a slight advantage. However, grad programs do want to take the best students, so they probably just take the best students that apply. That said, however, there is politics involved in everything... so it is likely that students who went to an undergrad program do have some advantage over students who went to the grad program when all things are said and done.

Bottom line is, just do your best and hope for the best in your admissions results.

Reply 26

devil09

Shadey

might be an obvious question but is a graduate university more likely to take students that have studied in their undergraduate schools?

The answer is NO. As a general rule, you are expected to pursue a graduate degree at another university. Doing undergrad and grad at the same university is known as academic inbreeding and is frowned on. The reasoning behind this is that each department/program has a different philosophy, so doing degrees at different universities exposes you to different trains of thought and provides you with a larger network of professors to draw upon. Relatively few programs will accept their own undergraduates, although this is less strict in the sciences than in the humanities.

MIT is the exception; it's relatively well-known for inbreeding. In fact, such students are known as "MIT-cubed" (BS/MS/PhD).

If you're asking about professional schools (med/law/biz) rather than graduate schools, yes, universities do prefer their own undergraduates to an extent.

Reply 27

Shadey

sorry wasnt specific enough...i mean Law and Business

Reply 28

ILIGAN

The top three law schools in the US are Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Together, they're often called as: trinity, Big-3, troika, triumvirate, etc. All these 3 law schools are known for "inbreeding". All the rest are not... even at universities with excellent law schools such as Columbia, Berkeley, UPenn, NYU, Chicago, Northwestern, Duke and Michigan.

For MBA, I think only Harvard and Stanford are known for inbreeding. You can verify from the alumni data of both schools that the majority of their MBA alumni (and current students) have undergrad from their own college. Wharton, Haas, Sloan, Kellogg, Chicago, Columbia, Tuck, Ross (all in the top 10) and all the rest are not known for inbreeding. But take note that MBA requires a good amount of solid work experience -- ideally between 4 and 5 years.

Reply 29

DrAtomic

Regarding work experience, on schools' websites (and in the USNWR book) it says how much work experience is average for students accepted to their school. You aren't required to have work experience before applying, and I can't say if they prefer it or not having no experience with grad programs myself.

What I can say though, is that if you let me know what schools you're thinking of, I can tell you want the USNWR says regarding the average amount of work applicants have who are accepted.

Reply 30

ILIGAN

^ That's only true for Law (and med) school application, but not from MBA. MBA applicants' previous work experience is heavily looked into. MBA admissions' committee would need to know if you can contribute immensely to classroom discussions. Post-MBA jobs are also traceable to pre-MBA experiences. For example, you won't be a likely candidate for Google mores so for McKinsey if you have BA History as undergrad, got only 2 years work experience as an English teacher and graduated at the bottom 20 of the whole class. You, however, would be an ideal candidate for McKinsey if your undergrad is Economics/Math/IT/Engineering with 5 years of solid work experience as a Financial Analyst of HSBC and graduated in the top 10 of you class.

Again, work experience is vital for getting into postgrad business school. The number of work experience could vary but the ideal is between 4 and 8, average 5/6.

Reply 31

Bismarck

DrAtomic

I know that grad schools (not the specialized ones) expect you to have some work experience. They'll make an exception if you're an uber-candidate, but you shouldn't count on it. From what I've been told, around 1-3 years is sufficient. A majority come with more work experience, but I don't think it really matters once you got a few years under your belt.

Reply 32

ILIGAN

The top 10 b-schools in the world have an average work experience of between 4 and 6. The lesser known ones accept applicants with measly 2 years. But the younger MBA students, in general, have always had the burden of doubling their efforts to get the respect of their classmates at the business school. How can you follow the discussion inside the classroom when all you've got are theories, no real experience of the applications in the corporate world?

If you want to get a postgrad degree straight out from undergrad, you better take up MS Finance or MS Economics. MBA is designed for experienced candidates.

Reply 33

nofo

ILIGAN

The top three law schools in the US are Harvard, Yale and Stanford. Together, they're often called as: trinity, Big-3, troika, triumvirate, etc. All these 3 law schools are known for "inbreeding".

You're having a laugh if you think that Stanford Law compares anywhere close to Harvard Law.

Stanford seems to be the butt of many jokes at Harvard. I have heard so many stories from people about their 'idiot' friends/siblings getting into Stanford.

Reply 34

ILIGAN

Don't get me wrong my friend. Stanford Law may not be as prestigious as Harvard Law (and I did not say that it is), but it is the 3rd BEST Law School in the US. In fact, USNews & World Report ranked it number 2 this year, tie with HLS. But you're right, HLS is more prestigious than Stanford Law, no contest there.

http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/law/search
1. Yale
2. Stanford
2. Harvard
4. Columbia
5. NYU
6. UC Berkeley
7. Chicago
7. UPenn

Reply 35

Shadey

So i assume that Harvard Stanford Yale Law schools are majorly populated with Harvard Stanford Yale Undergrads...just muddled up

Reply 36

ILIGAN

^ That's correct, Shadey, based on these 3 Law Schools' enrollment profile and alumni data. If you're really interested in taking up Law, visit this site: http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/search_schools.php?cycle=5&school_code=4704&action=search It provides info about the applicants and the school's selectiveness. You'd know who gets into where, etc...

Reply 37

DrAtomic

nofo

Stanford seems to be the butt of many jokes at Harvard. I have heard so many stories from people about their 'idiot' friends/siblings getting into Stanford.

Wow, if that's the case, than Harvard students are more obnoxious than I thought. Stanford's an amazing school and can compete with Harvard in every way academically.

Reply 38

ILIGAN

Berkeley Law - http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/search_schools.php?cycle=5&school_code=4833&action=search

NYU - http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/search_schools.php?cycle=5&school_code=0011&action=search

Harvard - http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/search_schools.php?cycle=5&school_code=0008&action=search

Yale - http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/search_schools.php?cycle=5&school_code=0031&action=search

Stanford - http://www.lawschoolnumbers.com/search_schools.php?cycle=5&school_code=4704&action=search

Reply 39

ILIGAN

DrAtomic

Wow, if that's the case, than Harvard students are more obnoxious than I thought. Stanford's an amazing school and can compete with Harvard in every way academically.

DrAtomic,

If there's one school in the world whose name transcends above all others it's Harvard. The Harvard name is the most famous and the most prestigious name in all academia. So, when nofo says it has more prestige than has Stanford Law, I did not contest right away because I knew I wouldn't win if I ever engage in a debate with him about this particular topic. But I would stand by what I said that Stanford Law is the 3rd best Law School in the US. I mean, which law school is more famous than Stanford Law other than Harvard and Yale?