美国的名校不仅数量众多而且各有特点。这一方面给报考大学的考生和家长更大的择校自由度,另一方面,选择太多了也实在增添了很多烦恼。多年来美国新闻和世界报道(US News and World Report, 简称 US News)发布的年度美国大学排名通俗易懂,一直是相当多考生和家长依赖的择校指南。然而每次US News年度排名公布后都会有很多人因为不喜欢一些大学的排名变化而对整个排名表示质疑。
一个大学的水平是各方面多年积淀的结果,一般情况下不会在年与年之间大起大落。但是一些大学的US News年度排名却上蹿下跳,很有些像上市公司的股值。虽然一个上市公司的运营状况一般不会在短期内出现剧烈的变化,然而在股票市场上,公司的股值却随时在上下波动。为了过滤掉这些无意义的短期波动,股票市场上常常用股票的移动平均值(moving average)来更可靠的代表股值的动向。移动平均值是将一个特定时间窗口内一组上下波动的数值与以平均,然后将时间窗口前后移动,用这些平均值作图。
运用移动平均值的原理,我们可以将大学最近数年的平均排名作为更靠谱的考量。笔者收集了2020年度前五十名大学的最近五年US News排名结果,将其平均之后得到如下的排名以供参考:
College |
Five Year Avg |
2020 |
2019 |
2018 |
2017 |
2016 |
Princeton University |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
Harvard University |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
Yale University |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
University of Chicago |
4 |
6 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
4 |
Columbia University |
4 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
MIT |
5 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
7 |
Stanford University |
5 |
6 |
7 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
University of Pennsylvania |
8 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
9 |
Duke University |
9 |
10 |
8 |
9 |
8 |
8 |
Johns Hopkins University |
10 |
10 |
10 |
11 |
10 |
10 |
Northwestern University |
11 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
12 |
12 |
California Institute of Technology |
11 |
12 |
12 |
10 |
12 |
10 |
Dartmouth College |
12 |
12 |
12 |
11 |
11 |
12 |
Brown University |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
14 |
Vanderbilt University |
15 |
15 |
14 |
14 |
15 |
15 |
Cornell University |
15 |
17 |
16 |
14 |
15 |
15 |
Rice University |
16 |
17 |
16 |
14 |
15 |
18 |
University of Notre Dame |
17 |
15 |
18 |
18 |
15 |
18 |
Washington University in St. Louis |
18 |
19 |
19 |
18 |
19 |
15 |
Emory University |
21 |
21 |
21 |
21 |
20 |
21 |
University of California–Berkeley |
21 |
22 |
22 |
21 |
20 |
20 |
University of California–Los Angeles |
21 |
20 |
19 |
21 |
24 |
23 |
Georgetown University |
21 |
24 |
22 |
20 |
20 |
21 |
University of Southern California |
22 |
22 |
22 |
21 |
23 |
23 |
Carnegie Mellon University |
24 |
25 |
25 |
25 |
24 |
23 |
University of Virginia |
26 |
28 |
25 |
25 |
24 |
26 |
Wake Forest University |
27 |
27 |
27 |
27 |
27 |
27 |
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor |
27 |
25 |
27 |
28 |
27 |
29 |
Tufts University |
28 |
29 |
27 |
29 |
27 |
27 |
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill |
30 |
29 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
30 |
New York University |
31 |
29 |
30 |
30 |
36 |
32 |
University of Rochester |
32 |
29 |
33 |
34 |
32 |
33 |
Georgia Institute of Technology |
34 |
29 |
35 |
34 |
34 |
36 |
Boston College |
34 |
37 |
38 |
32 |
31 |
30 |
University of California–Santa Barbara |
35 |
34 |
30 |
37 |
37 |
37 |
College of William and Mary |
35 |
40 |
38 |
32 |
32 |
34 |
Brandeis University |
35 |
40 |
35 |
34 |
34 |
34 |
University of California–Irvine |
38 |
36 |
33 |
42 |
39 |
39 |
Case Western Reserve University |
39 |
40 |
42 |
37 |
37 |
37 |
Boston University |
40 |
40 |
42 |
37 |
39 |
41 |
University of California–San Diego |
41 |
37 |
41 |
42 |
44 |
39 |
Tulane University |
41 |
40 |
44 |
40 |
39 |
|
University of Florida |
42 |
34 |
35 |
42 |
50 |
47 |
University of California–Davis |
42 |
39 |
38 |
46 |
44 |
41 |
Northeastern University |
42 |
40 |
44 |
40 |
39 |
47 |
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute |
44 |
50 |
49 |
42 |
39 |
41 |
University of Wisconsin–Madison |
45 |
46 |
49 |
46 |
44 |
41 |
University of Illinois–Urbana-Champaign |
46 |
48 |
46 |
52 |
44 |
41 |
Villanova University |
48 |
46 |
49 |
46 |
50 |
|
Pepperdine University |
48 |
50 |
46 |
46 |
50 |
|
Lehigh University |
48 |
50 |
53 |
46 |
44 |
47 |
University of Georgia |
50 |
50 |
46 |
54 |
||
University of Texas–Austin |
51 |
48 |
49 |
56 |
比尔老师是人大附中校友,1984年北京大学生物系毕业,在北京医科大学(北大医学部)任教五年后经CUSBEA项目于1989年来美留学工作。他博览群书,倾心观察,对青少年心理,美国大学教育,以及美国社会经济政治颇有心得。
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