Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

Georgetown University’s Newspaper of Record since 1920

The Hoya

GU Jumps to No. 21 in Rankings

Georgetown University and the McDonough School of Business each moved up in the U.S. News and World Report’s 2013 college rankings, which were announced Tuesday.

Georgetown rose one spot to No. 21 in the national university category, tying with the University of California at Berkeley. This category encompasses schools that conduct large-scale research and offer a full range of undergraduate majors as well as master’s and Ph.D. programs.

Despite Georgetown’s improved placement, Dean of Admissions Charles Deacon said that the university does not place much value on rankings.

“It is no big deal and really of no influence on admissions,” Deacon wrote in an email. “Everyone tends to overrate the importance of these ratings.”

According to the publication’s website, U.S. News bases its rankings on a metric that considers peer evaluations, high school counselor ratings, freshman retention rate, six-year graduation rate, class sizes, faculty pay and credentials, admissions selectivity and financial resources.

The MSB experienced a more sizeable improvement in rank this year: The school rose three places in the best undergraduate business list to No. 17 and tied for fourth in the international business school category.

U.S. News forms its business school rankings by surveying deans and senior faculty at undergraduate business programs and asking peer schools to rate other programs.

MSB Dean David Thomas said that the new ranking will increase awareness of Georgetown’s business school.

“I think [the ranking change] is a result of making our peers more informed about what we are doing,” he said.

Unlike Deacon, Thomas said the magazine’s rankings have the potential to affect applicant interest in the MSB.

“There are a lot of students … for whom U.S. News and World Report is almost like a bible in terms of judging the quality of schools and [how they will] influence where students are going to work,” Thomas said. “So there’s no question in my mind that those reports and rankings have a huge influence on applicants and applicants’ parents.”

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