UCSD is the seventh-best public university in the nation, according to a U.S. News & World Report college survey in the publication’s Sept. 23 issue.
UC campuses at Berkeley, Los Angeles and Davis were ranked first, third and 11th, respectively, in the public university rankings.
When including private universities, UCSD ranks 31st, behind UC Berkeley at 20th and UCLA at 25th.
“”Students [at UCSD] work so hard academically and extracurricularly,”” said A.S. President Jenn Brown. “”The quality really shows in our university.””
The U.S. News and World Report survey is based on seven weighted factors, which include the assessment of a university by top officials at peer institutions (25 percent), graduation and freshman retention rates (20 percent), student to professor ratio and faculty salary and qualifications (20 percent), competitiveness of the application process (15 percent), the financial resources of the university (10 percent), the percent of alumni that gives to the university (5 percent), and how much the university has “”increased”” the graduation rate over a calculated base value (5 percent).
A U.S. News and World Report spokesman was unavailable for comment.
“”[The ranking is] a nice prestige factor, ranked against other schools of our size and in our system,”” said UCSD spokeswoman Pat Jacoby. “”It doesn’t influence too many people.””
Brown said that although UCSD’s ranking is unchanged since last year, the school is improving. The new Chicana/Chicano Studies major, business school and pharmacy school will make UCSD a better university, according to Brown.
“”It will be good for the university to have a national understanding of the education available at UCSD,”” Brown said. “”I think that 31st seems like it’s a fairly accurate assessment of UCSD.””
John Muir College freshman Helen Shin said that she looked at a college ranking system when deciding where to go to college.
“”I got into Davis also,”” Shin said. “”I compared [UC Davis and UCSD] and [UCSD] was considerably higher.””
Revelle college freshman Gordon Ho said that he chose UCSD over Stanford University because of the programs offered here.
“”Those kind of things don’t show in the rankings,”” Ho said.
Several students said that they did not look at a national college ranking system when deciding where to go to college.
“”You’re pretty much going to get whatever education you want,”” said Muir freshman Amanda Della Mora. “”It just depends on how much you put in your own education.””