Penn hits No. 6 in `U.S. News' ranking

It is often said that you are judged by the company you keep. And given Penn's ranking in U.S. News & World Report, the school is socializing in a very prestigious circle. Penn moved up to share sixth place with Stanford University this year in the magazine's 14th annual rankings, which were released in the September 11 issue. For the second consecutive year, the University holds the fourth-highest position among Ivy League schools, with Princeton University holding the top slot and Harvard and Yale universities tied for second. The Ivies round out the top 10 with Dartmouth College at ninth and Columbia and Cornell universities sharing 10th, while Brown University sits at 15th place. The California Institute of Technology -- last year's No. 1 -- dropped to fourth position this year. "To be number six and tied with Stanford is great," Admissions Dean Lee Stetson explained. Some say that Penn has essentially plateaued in the rankings and might not be able to make it to a higher spot. "When you see Harvard, Yale, Princeton well entrenched in one, two, three, and MIT up there as well, it's hard to visualize us moving much further," Stetson said. "We could move a bit, but I think we are in a great place and should be pleased to be there." "The problem is that the higher you are, the harder it is to move up again," Engineering Dean Eduardo Glandt added. "You have to run twice as fast." And University President Judith Rodin said in a press statement that while Penn's sixth-place ranking is good news, it should be taken with a grain of salt. "While the U.S. News and other rankings should not be taken too seriously, this affirmation by the editors of the magazine, now for the fourth consecutive year, that Penn is among the top 10 universities in America is very encouraging," Rodin said. But many admissions offices across the country are not entirely supportive of the numerical rankings used by the magazine. "The admissions community has been inclined to downplay the rankings," Stetson said. "It's hard to be that specific in rating institutions." The University steadily rose in the rankings over the past 10 years. Penn was ranked 16th in 1994 and did not break into the top 10 until 1997. In 1998 Penn came in sixth and in 1999 the University was seventh. U.S. News uses 16 indicators to measure the quality of a school, examining everything from reputation to retention rates to faculty resources. The magazine transforms these factors into a numerical ranking, with Penn scoring 94 out of a possible 100 this year. To Glandt, this year's move to sixth place was expected. "We are not surprised," he said. "That is a number that is to be a metric of the quality and selectivity of the undergraduate experience." He also said that the growing size of the campus tours he's seen pass his window was, for him, a great indicator that potential applicants are looking favorably upon Penn. But Stetson said that a high rating might not necessarily increase the number of high school seniors applying to Penn. However, he added, it might increase Penn's yield rate -- the percentage of those accepted who attend. The Wharton School was also recognized in the U.S. News rankings, with Penn coming out on top nationally for its undergraduate business program