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Question for those who know about universities in the States...

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smiles

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Hi!
I live in Canada so I am not overly familiar with universities/colleges in the states and how to know if they are good or not. I applied to a master''s level program at a school in the states and have been accepted. I have heard a lot about the school and am familiar with it and they claim to be ranked among the top 50 schools in the States. Is this good? Is there information anywhere about the reputation of a school? (I would rather not identify the specific school here). How many universities/colleges are there in the States to suggest that the top 50 is considered good?

Any info would be fantastic! Thanks!
 
Smiles, it''s almost impossible to say without knowing the type of program and the school. There are general rankings for colleges and universities, but when it comes to graduate programs, a "top" school in one discipline may not rank well in another. For example, if you plan to study archaeology, the list of schools with highly reputable programs would be very different than if you''re a molecular biologist. I suggest using google to get some background information, and maybe trying to see if there is a forum for students in your discipline where they talk about the grad programs available. Unfortunately, any info we can give you here is probably too general to be of any real help.

Congrats on getting into the program, though, and I hope everything works out well for you!
 
Thanks Octavia!
I have tried googling before but the sites that I got seemed to be wierd and vague and not very "official". And since PS seems to be filled with such a variety of people I though it might be worth a try.
The program is an MSW (Master''s in Social Work) program if that helps anyone provide info. :)
I am now going to go back to google and try different wording for my searches....
 
When a school claims a certain ranking, it usually refers to their US News and World Report ranking. The top 50 schools are considered "Tier 1." Any Tier 1 school is worth going to. There are several different categories of rankings. For example, I went to UCLA, which is 24th on the National Universities list.

For a graduate program, the status of the department is a bit more important than the reputation of the school overall.
 
Maybe ask where the ranking is from? Then you can find the criteria they used. US News and World Reports does a pretty extensive review of colleges that I believe is available online. It might be worth a look. Overall, it has been my experience so far that as long as the degree is from a reputable college, it is not the degree on the paper, but who you meet and how you network that really opens doors.
 
Here is the link for the US News Rankings for MSW programs.

ETA Lucy & I must have been posting at the same time sorry!
 
Edit: link to USNWR already posted by others! It looks like there are tons of other rankings, though. And the type of social work you want to do is probably equally relevant, since some schools are more academic/theory-oriented, while others are more clinical/therapy-oriented.
 
Looking through the Graduate School rankings for Social Work, the top 25 schools are all enjoy a very good overall reputation in the states. After that, there's a mix of smaller and lesser known schools as well as big state schools.
 
It depends what list you are talking about.

Is it on the list for the top party schools (like LSU)? Just joking... it does matter which list it''s on.
 
Julie, Morgie, LucyandRoger and Octavia...
THANK you again for your help it has given me a lot to consider. I only applied to one school in the States so I am having difficulty comparing how good the school there would be compared to the one''s I have applied to here.
The school''s ranking is not in the top 25 out of 50 and from what I understand about their school the MSW program in particular is one of their biggest strengths so it may not be an "overall" top 25 school.
Regardless, I am ranting now!
 
Date: 2/26/2010 5:20:20 PM
Author: terceslil
It depends what list you are talking about.


Is it on the list for the top party schools (like LSU)? Just joking... it does matter which list it''s on.
Click to expand...

Ah, right. That reminds me there is also the Princeton Review rankings.
 
There are hundreds of accredited colleges and universities here, so top 50 sounds great! I would imagine that you can google "top US universities" or something like that, and read about various schools.
 
You've gotten some good info from the ladies already, so I'll just add my two cents.

I would try to arrange a school visit if it's possible for you, to find out the department climate overall. Are the grad students who are already in the program happy with it? Does your research line up with that of the faculty? Sure, you can do research as long as you have one professor that matches your area of interest, but it would be desirable to go to a school with a strong interest in your subfield. You get more seminars, conference info, opportunities, course options. How long does it usually take to finish? What percentage of each class makes it to graduation? How are students funded? Do you get a livable stipend from fellowships/grants/assistantships? What's the financial situation of the school? I find it easier to go to a school with lots of money (are those around these days?) than one that's struggling to make ends meet. Constantly having to worry about budget cuts is really counterproductive.

I really hate saying this, but depending on the potential job you're interested in for after graduation, top 50 may not be enough to guarantee a good job, especially if you're after a tenure-track academic position. But I'm sure you've heard this across the board, so good luck!


ETA: Since you're from Canada I didn't say it before, but I still think it's worth mentioning: Do consider the weather of where you're applying! I find it affects people more than you'd think :)

+ I'm sure you've talked to your professors about this???
 
Tuckins and Onvacation thank you for chiming in.
Onvacation you had some great insights! Though I know some things can change as of now I have no interest in acedemia especially as my only job... but who knows? I also am unlikely to stay in the States after graduation.
Also, I have been to the campus and I did have an in-person interview. Everything I have heard matches up with what I saw and I do know and have met quite a few current and past students. The weather is very similar to where I already am and I am in the middle of working through all the financial info as school in the states is generally significantly more expensive than in Canada. I have briefly spoken to some professors about this as I had some reference letters come from professors but I do not think the conversations are over yet. I guess my main concern is that it is difficult to compare the schools because they are quite different. Even among the "streams" to pick one would be casework, one is children and their families and one is individuals, families and groups.
Anyways thanks again for the input!! You guys are really helping me work through this by providing me with more food for thought.
 
I looked at the list and although I don''t know every school on it, I am familiar with enough of them-going down below number 50 (which I don''t think is even on the list)-to say that most of the graduate schools of social work listed there look highly respectable! I don''t think there is a heck of a lot of difference in graduate schools of social work (although I could be wrong). All must meet the standards of the CSWE (Council on Social Work Education) which has social workers studying pretty much the same things in schools eveywhere.

I have an MSW from a school among the top 25 and got my certificate as a field instructor so that I could have a student from another school among the top 25. While in field placements myself I met students from many of the othe graduate schools of social work. There were good students at every school....

AGBF
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