Hopkins ranked 13th by U.S. News report

nked as the 13th best university in America, based on the annual U.S. News College Rankings after tying for 13th in last year's listings.

The U.S. News and World Report College rankings for 2012 were released on Sept. 13th. Hopkins has been consistently in the top 15 for private institutions, and was ranked at 13 for the year of 2012.

Last year, Hopkins was tied at 13 with Washington University in St. Louis last year, and now stands alone at 13, after Washington University in St. Louis moved to 14.

"While the rankings aren't really that important, it's nice to see Hopkins get higher and higher in the rankings," freshman Andrew Austin said.

"We definitely should be higher. My hope is that we'll make number 10 by my senior year."

As a result of the acceptance rates playing a major role in the ranking system, it may be difficult for Hopkins to surpass the Ivies, as they usually have the lowest acceptance rates.

"We are already ahead of Brown and Cornell, and I definitely believe that we should move past Northwestern at some point," Austin said.

"Northwestern is a great university, but I just believe [Hopkins] is more prestigious."

Regardless, the University views its rank as merely a measuring stick of Hopkins's growth as an educational community.

"We work very hard every day to improve the quality and impact of our educational and research programs," Nicolas Jones, Dean of the Whiting School of Engineering wrote in an email to The  News-Letter.

"This is what is most important for us and will remain our focus; rankings are a trailing indicator."   

Every university in the top 15 is well respected and the Hopkins community recognizes this honor.

"[The ranking] tells me that we are considered in the top few percent of engineering programs in the country, and that we are being recognized for the impact on engineering education and research," Jones wrote.

"Given our size, this is quite remarkable; we are in excellent company with many other first-rate schools."

The U.S. News Guide first decided to base their assessments not on the people who graduate from a given university, but on its reputation.

They began by categorizing about 200 colleges and universities by region and size.

Then 1,300 college presidents were surveyed to name the top 10 schools in their respective categories.

The scope of the rankings has increased dramatically, with approximately 1,400 colleges and universities ranked, and rankings for different graduate schools as well.

In 1988, U.S. News shifted its criteria from being based solely on reputation to taking into account SAT scores, acceptance rates, matriculation rates and many other statistics that govern a school's selectivity.

Since 1989, the formula that determines these rankings has shifted slightly, with the editors of the rankings placing more or less weight on certain characteristics.

The Ivy League has shined for quite some time, based on this formula.

Since the first release of the rankings, the same schools have basically dominated the top five.

Harvard, Princeton, Yale and Columbia were ranked 1,2,3 and 4, respectively, this year.  

"The fact of the matter is that [Hopkins] is a really, really great school anyway, so its placing on a website doesn't matter in the end," freshman Jess Fong said.

This sentiment, rather than where Hopkins ranks on a list, is what defines the quality of life on campus and among the student body.

"People put too much on the rankings; it's not that big of a deal." sophomore Jackie Heath said.

"You are here because it is the right school for you, whether it's #13 or #113."