Harvard Ranked First Again in Annual Survey

Make that four in a row.

Four years in a row, that is, that U.S. News and World Report has named Harvard the top university in the country.

Out of the 204 national universities that were ranked in the magazine's annual survey, "America's Best Colleges," Harvard beat out Princeton and Yale, which came in second and third place respectively.

"It's no surprise at all," said Howard Steyn '97.

"One is always pleased to be among the best schools," said Dean of the College L. Fred Jewett '57.

Harvard finished first in three categories surveyed by the magazine: academic reputation, student selectivity and graduation rate. The University was ranked third in faculty resources and sixth in financial resources.

Harvard fared less well in other categories, placing 29th in alumni satisfaction and posting a ratio of 12 students to one faculty member that was surpassed by numerous schools, including five Ivies.

After the top three of Harvard, Princeton and Yale, Dartmouth finished eighth, Cornell 10th, Columbia 11th, Brown 12th and the University of Pennsylvania 16th.

Despite the report's thorough analysis of various attributes, many students and faculty alike feel it is an inaccurate method of selecting or rating colleges.

"It is very difficult to make distinctions between so many outstanding institutions," said Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid William R. Fitzsimmons '67. "It might be preferable to have perhaps a top ten."

Fitzsimmons also said that the report's numerical ratings do not necessarily indicate whether a given university meets the needs of an individual student.

"People can lose the message that the important thing is the match between the individual and the institution," the dean said.

Fitzsimmons said he does not care whether the magazine's report will increase the number of applicants to Harvard or not.

"It isn't so important how many applications you have rather than the quality of the application," Fitzsimmons said.

Some students felt the report was useful in determining to which schools they should apply.

"That's why I came here," Ryan A. Hackney '97 said.

But other students said the magazine report does not offer a reliable way of selecting a college.

"You really can't judge a college by the numbers," said Joshua E. Green-field '97. "I came here because of the great people."

And Matthew Mayers '97 joked that the report "is very useful for making fun of people at Yale."

The U.S. News poll is based on a comprehensive survey of such complex and varying statistics as admissions yield, expenditures on academic research and the number of faculty with doctorates.

In the national liberal arts college category, Amherst College bested Williams College for the top spot. Swarthmore College placed third.