US News Top Schools with Wrestling

[Pinnum 840]

Since it is the off season and a lot of kids are in the middle of their search for schools, I thought I would put together a list of the top-20 schools from the 2015 US News and World Report rankings that offer wrestling.

 

It should be noted that there are many great schools with varsity wrestling outside of NCAA Division-I.

 

Wrestling Academic Rank / School / Division

1t Princeton I

1t Williams III

3 Harvard I

4t Chicago III

4t Columbia I

4t Stanford I

7t Duke I

7t Penn I

9 Davidson I

10 Johns Hopkins III

11t Northwestern I

11t US Naval Academy I

13 Washington & Lee III

14 Cornell I

15 Brown I

16 Wesleyan III

17 Virginia I

18 US Military Academy I

19 US Air Force Academy I

20 Michigan I

t=tie

 

EDIT: Thanks for correction NewJersey125

Edited September 9, 2014 by Pinnum

[buck 65]

That's an interesting stew you've cooked up.

[NewJersey125 1]

Grinnell Does not have a wrestling program

 

http://pioneers.grinnell.edu/

[Pinnum 840]

Grinnell Does not have a wrestling program

 

http://pioneers.grinnell.edu/

Thanks for pointing that out. I was thinking Grinnell was at the Iowa City Duals last year but I now realize it was Cornell College. You'd think I would have known...

[redblades 322]

Buck wrote: "That's an interesting stew you've cooked up."

 

Indeed - a little bit of slicing and dicing?

[Jaroslav Hasek 2,050]

US News still gives seperate ratings for "Universities" and "Liberal Arts Colleges" right? i think its just a coincidence but that list could pass as just a ranking of the top 20 schools in total. 

[Pinnum 840]

US News still gives seperate ratings for "Universities" and "Liberal Arts Colleges" right? i think its just a coincidence but that list could pass as just a ranking of the top 20 schools in total.

Yes, they do. I combined them for the purpose of this list. For instance, Williams (Liberal Arts) and Princeton (University) are both number one for their ranking.

 

Note: You have Division-I schools like Davidson and the Naval Academy in the Liberal Arts rankings and Division-III schools like Chicago and Johns Hopkins in the University rankings. I find some people just assume that Division-I or Division-III means they are a certain type of school, which is erroneous.

[BigRedMachine 210]

Yes, they do. I combined them for the purpose of this list. For instance, Williams (Liberal Arts) and Princeton (University) are both number one for their ranking.

I appreciate the work you've put into this, but the lists are separate for a reason. They lose significance when combined.

[Pinnum 840]

I appreciate the work you've put into this, but the lists are separate for a reason. They lose significance when combined.

I completely disagree.

 

For the purpose of this post, all of these schools are top academic options for wrestlers.

 

But even outside of this list, I get the feeling that you're trying to imply, or maybe explicitly say, that Liberal Arts Colleges are not on par with Universities in regard to undergraduate education. I don't know of anyone who knows of these schools that would ever imply such a thing. The distinction of the rankings is more important for students based on their learning styles and what they want from their undergraduate studies.

 

Do you have issue with Cornell being ranked lower than Washington & Lee? W&L has nearly a $1.5 Billion dollar endowment which is over $600,000 per student (or $375,000 per undergraduate). Cornell's endowment is $5.7 Billion which is about $275,000 per student (or $400,000 if you only count undergrads).

 

Yes, Cornell does have about a 10 point advantage on Middle 50% SAT ranges (and Cornell doesn't report their average) but all-in-all the schools attract a similar quality student with one doing better to attract students in the North and one attracting students from the South.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Pinnum

[Billyhoyle 2,480]

I completely disagree.

 

For the purpose of this post, all of these schools are top academic options for wrestlers.

 

But even outside of this list, I get the feeling that you're trying to imply, or maybe explicitly say, that Liberal Arts Colleges are not on par with Universities in regard to undergraduate education. I don't know of anyone who knows of these schools that would ever imply such a thing. The distinction of the rankings is more important for students based on their learning styles and what they want from their undergraduate studies.

 

Do you have issue with Cornell being ranked lower than Washington & Lee? W&L has nearly a $1.5 Billion dollar endowment which is over $600,000 per student. Cornell's endowment is $5.7 Billion which is about $275,000 per student (or $400,000 if you only count undergrads). Cornell does have about a 10 point advantage on Middle 50% SAT ranges but all-in-all the schools attract a similar quality student with one doing better with students in the North and one attracting students in the South.

This is true if you are interested in a liberal arts education. There are not nearly the same opportunities as far as science, engineering, and medicine...Not to say that you can't go into these fields from a small school and do well..There are just not as many resources.

 

With that said, I am not a fan of this topic in general.  Mainly because I don't like ranking schools in a defined order, implying that there is a significant difference in the quality of education available between a school ranked #30 and #50 or #2 and #20 (there isn't).  The other reason is it jumbles schools together that are completely different...For example, why would you ever put the military academies in the same list as the others when they serve unique purposes.  

[Pinnum 840]

This is true if you are interested in a liberal arts education. There are not nearly the same opportunities as far as science, engineering, and medicine...Not to say that you can't go into these fields from a small school and do well..There are just not as many resources.

 

With that said, I am not a fan of this topic in general.  Mainly because I don't like ranking schools in a defined order, implying that there is a significant difference in the quality of education available between a school ranked #30 and #50 or #2 and #20 (there isn't).  The other reason is it jumbles schools together that are completely different...For example, why would you ever put the military academies in the same list as the others when they serve unique purposes.

I agree with you about the rankings. Which is why I listed the top-20. I consider these schools to be largely interchangeable. The real differences come on a student by student basis. No school is everything to everyone so it is a matter of finding the right school for an individual student.

 

My point of this post was partly for entertainment purposes but also to educate high school students. This is for the wrestlers that have the grades for a Cornell, Stanford, Davidson, or Northwestern but maybe not the ability on the mat. The point was that they could get just as fine an education at Johns Hopkins, Chicago, or Williams without having to give up wrestling. This is important, IMO.

 

As for pre-professional studies, all the schools in these lists are interchangeable.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Pinnum

[knox 1]

One can get a superior education at any number of top-ranked liberal arts colleges.  The issue is that the rankings aren't meant to be compared to each other -- and when they're combined it implies that the lists can be directly compared ranking-to-ranking.  The #15 school on one list isn't being graded better or worse than the #16 school on the other list.

 

That said, if your intention is to highlight the fact that these schools offer strong wrestling opportunities, the point is well taken.

[IronChef 1,101]

It is misleading to combine the lists, and not difficult to list them separately. You can't say that two schools are tied if they aren't being compared on identical criteria or appear on the same list.

 

Also, your list is either wrong or out of date. 2015 lists here: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges

[Pinnum 840]

It is misleading to combine the lists, and not difficult to list them separately. You can't say that two schools are tied if they aren't being compared on identical criteria or appear on the same list.

 

Also, your list is either wrong or out of date. 2015 lists here: http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges

That was the data I used. I removed non wrestling schools. and listed them in order.

[Jaroslav Hasek 2,050]

W&L is easily the top ranked school in the nation ranked by number of Robert E Lees interred on campus. It is also tops in number of RE Lee's horses buried. a lot of people forget that. 

[Jaroslav Hasek 2,050]

My point of this post was partly for entertainment purposes but also to educate high school students. This is for the wrestlers that have the grades for a Cornell, Stanford, Davidson, or Northwestern but maybe not the ability on the mat. The point was that they could get just as fine an education at Johns Hopkins, Chicago, or Williams without having to give up wrestling. This is important, IMO.

well said!

[BigRedMachine 210]

But even outside of this list, I get the feeling that you're trying to imply, or maybe explicitly say, that Liberal Arts Colleges are not on par with Universities in regard to undergraduate education. I don't know of anyone who knows of these schools that would ever imply such a thing.

I attended a liberal arts college...

 

 

Do you have issue with Cornell being ranked lower than Washington & Lee? 

No I dont.

 

 

 

 

 

My point is that these are two separate lists created using completely different datasets and somewhat different methodologies with no intention of them ever being combined. A ranking on one list was never intended to correspond in any way to a ranking on the other list.

 

With that said, all schools listed are fine schools and they all have wrestling. In that sense I think the thread has merit.

 

 

 

 

I agree with you about the rankings. Which is why I listed the top-20. I consider these schools to be largely interchangeable. The real differences come on a student by student basis. No school is everything to everyone so it is a matter of finding the right school for an individual student.

 

My point of this post was partly for entertainment purposes but also to educate high school students. This is for the wrestlers that have the grades for a Cornell, Stanford, Davidson, or Northwestern but maybe not the ability on the mat. The point was that they could get just as fine an education at Johns Hopkins, Chicago, or Williams without having to give up wrestling. This is important, IMO.

 

As for pre-professional studies, all the schools in these lists are interchangeable.

 

 

Fair enough

Edited September 9, 2014 by BigRedMachine

[Pinnum 840]

BigRedMachine - Allow me the opportunity to apologize for making some erroneous assumptions about your positions.  (I wrongly, it would seem, assumed due to your chosen name, that you were a Cornell undergrad alum.)

 

If US News and World Report put out a ranking of the best Technical and Trade Schools and it included the likes of the Apprentice School, Alfred State, Rochester CTC, and others I would have included them and given them equal weight in the rankings.

 

I consider this list to be similar to a ranking of coaches performances in their conference.  They all have different criteria for which they are judged but are compared based on how they compete within their conference.  Or in the same way that coaches from Division I, II, III, and NAIA are compared on their number of National Championships, despite having different focuses and different criteria.

 

The purpose of this list is to show some of the top options for students.  Just as I would include the technical schools in the list, if I could.  Not because they are the most prestigious and widely accepted as being the best schools, but because, just like the Division-III coaches that win national titles--they are the best at what they aim to do and are the best amongst their peers.  I would like to see wrestlers directed to the best schools in their peer groups--I don't care what kids have an ambition to do in their career.  What I want to see is more wrestlers doing well: in their chosen career, for their families, and in their communities.

 

It is the student's job to due their due diligence and determine if these schools are right for them.  And it is for these reasons that I have no issue with putting different rankings on equal footing.

[Pinnum 840]

Since some people wanted combined lists that compared schools and a lot of people only care about college career prospects...

 

Graduate Salary Reports: http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2014/full-list-of-schools

 

Forbes College Rankings: http://www.forbes.com/top-colleges/list/

 

Personally, I like the Forbes rankings the best of all the rankings out there since they try to account for things like student debt and ROI which I think are critical metrics for most families.

Edited September 10, 2014 by Pinnum

[IronChef 1,101]

If US News and World Report put out a ranking of the best Technical and Trade Schools and it included the likes of the Apprentice School, Alfred State, Rochester CTC, and others I would have included them and given them equal weight in the rankings.

 

Which would have only compounded your error

[Jaroslav Hasek 2,050]

Which would have only compounded your error

what error? its a list of good schools that have NCAA wrestling programs. its fine as it is. 

[wrestlingnerd 3,004]

Any list that has Williams tied with Princeton and ahead of Harvard and Davidson ahead of a slew of schools it shouldn't be ahead of is a joke. Sorry. Does not pass the smell test.

 

The overarching point that all those are good academic schools with good wrestling is fine. 

 

The actual forced ranking that combines larger universities with smaller schools that get ranked by themselves is a flawed methodology.

 

One of my close relatives went to Williams and he would never take issue with me saying this. He would've punched out of Williams to go to Princeton, where he got rejected, 10 times out of 10.

 

Sorry if this sounds a little tough, not intended to be offensive.

Edited September 14, 2014 by wrestlingnerd

[Jaroslav Hasek 2,050]

its just a list of schools with the US News rankings next to them. is not a new ranking. calm down everyone.