We're #12, We're #12!

The latest US News and World Report Ratings have Michigan at #12.

These rankings, of course, disguise a fair amount of variation across sub-fields that potential graduate students should pay attention to. For example, Michigan is stronger in labor and public finance than its overall ranking suggests. Students who have a strong sense of their likely sub-field should choose on that basis rather than on the aggregate ratings. On the other hand, a student who is not sure about their likely sub-field should choose a department that is strong in a variety of sub-fields rather than just one or two. This too requires information beyond that provided by the overall rankings.