Graduate school rankings are difficult to evaluate, and choosing a graduate school may be one of the most important decisions you ever make. When I decided to continue my education, I expected graduate ranking to be much like undergraduate school ranking. With undergraduate colleges, everything is simple. There are a few choices you have to make, of course. You have to decide, for example, whether you want to go to a small school or a large one, a private institution or a public one, and whether you want an emphasis in science or liberal arts. After that, however, it is relatively easy. No one knows what they want to study, after all, so the important thing is to select a school with good college rankings. If you can do that, one way or another you will find your way to where you need to be.
With graduate school rating, however, it is not nearly so simple. You see, graduate school ranking is not an absolute. In undergrad, no matter what you are studying, you have to take a wide variety of different classes with different professors. In graduate school, however, you study under a principal adviser with a comparatively small community of fellow academics. This is why graduate school rankings tell you so little. The important detail is not how good the graduate school is, but whether that particular program is right for you. Sometimes it comes down to one or two professors. As a matter of fact, it can be almost impossible to make an informed decision.
Whether you are looking to go to graduate medical school, law school, or some other program, I recommend that you don't put too much reliance on ranking. Don't get me wrong – graduate school rankings are important for the first stage of decision-making. After all, you want to go to a reputable institution! Nonetheless, a higher ranking graduate school is not necessarily better than a lower one. The important thing is to find a school that emphasizes what you want to learn.
In my case, going to anthropology graduate school, it came down to choosing a particular professor I wanted to study with. Although I wasn't particularly crazy about the school she taught at, I had read many of her writings and was quite impressed with the work she was doing. I through graduate school rankings to the wind and applied to that program. I have never regretted it.
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