Re: Ranking Virginia's Universities (UPDATED FOR 2018)
Posted by:
Final List is WRONG
()
Date: April 02, 2018 02:50PM
The OP's rankings are probably reasonably accurate when viewed from a Virginia or a regional perspective. On a national level they would be different.
I think many in this country would find it laughable to speak of UVa as in the same league as Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Duke or Stanford, or as tech giants such as MIT and Cal Tech. William & Mary is competitive with UVa among Northern Virginians, and even among Virginians generally. On a national level it would probably be closer to Washington & Lee. Both schools suffer from being seen as liberal arts schools at a time when people no longer assign the same value to a liberal arts education. Plus they are both small.
The only people who see Virginia Tech as close to the same overall league as UVa are people who went to Virginia Tech. Virginia Tech's national exposure is higher than any other Virginia school except UVa. That is based on sports, not educational quality. Virginia Tech's tech program overall is second in the state, with certain tech programs beating UVa. If you are not going to study tech though, don't bother with Virginia Tech. That Virginia Tech business school degree isn't as good as JMU or Richmond. If you studied liberal arts the list is longer.
Much of it comes down to what you are looking for. JMU is good for business, fine arts and education. Richmond has a good business program. VCU is good for fine arts and pre-Med, thanks to its affiliation with MCV. Mason has internship potential with companies in the DC area.