What happens with a minor change in calculation? Just for the heck of it, I tried ranking each category separately, then combining for a total rank. Every other calculation was made exactly as USNWR reports it. This method of calculation has one major benefit; it removes the skewing that occurs when USNews forces data onto a bell curve. I'm sure it interjects other problems, but at least it solves that one.
Here are the top 50 schools according to that calculation:
| school | rep | pl | Sel | $$ | Tot. | Rank |
| Yale | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1.5 | 1 |
| Stanford | 2 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 2.8 | 2 |
| Columbia | 4 | 6 | 4 | 21 | 4.4 | 3 |
| Chicago | 4 | 6 | 7 | 2 | 4.6 | 4 |
| Harvard | 1 | 3 | 2 | 107 | 4.7 | 5 |
| NYU | 7 | 3 | 5 | 11 | 5.0 | 6 |
| Cal-Berkeley | 7 | 3 | 6 | 58 | 6.6 | 7 |
| Michigan | 6 | 6 | 17 | 23 | 8.5 | 8 |
| Virginia | 9 | 11 | 10 | 37 | 9.4 | 9 |
| Penn | 10 | 6 | 14 | 44 | 10.0 | 10 |
| Cornell | 12 | 14 | 12 | 3 | 10.7 | 11 |
| Northwestern | 15 | 11 | 8 | 22 | 10.9 | 12 |
| Duke | 11 | 6 | 15 | 60 | 11.2 | 13 |
| Georgetown | 13 | 11 | 11 | 57 | 11.9 | 14 |
| Cal-UCLA | 16 | 14 | 9 | 64 | 13.4 | 15 |
| Vanderbilt | 17 | 14 | 20 | 87 | 17.2 | 16 |
| Texas | 13 | 24 | 26 | 98 | 19.4 | 17 |
| Boston College | 27 | 24 | 16 | 17 | 20.1 | 18 |
| Southern Cal. | 22 | 33 | 13 | 50 | 20.2 | 19 |
| N. Carolina | 19 | 28 | 21 | 71 | 20.6 | 20 |
| George Wash. | 24 | 14 | 25 | 97 | 21.6 | 21 |
| Minnesota | 18 | 33 | 33 | 33 | 23.0 | 22 |
| Wash & Lee | 27 | 33 | 24 | 4 | 23.5 | 23 |
| Illinois | 24 | 28 | 36 | 72 | 26.4 | 24 |
| Iowa | 20 | 28 | 52 | 12 | 27.0 | 25 |
| Fordham | 38 | 24 | 18 | 83 | 27.0 | 26 |
| Cal-Hastings | 22 | 44 | 27 | 124 | 28.1 | 27 |
| Notre Dame | 31 | 41 | 22 | 66 | 28.1 | 28 |
| William & Mary | 31 | 28 | 30 | 88 | 28.1 | 29 |
| Boston U. | 27 | 36 | 38 | 84 | 30.0 | 30 |
| Brigham Young | 42 | 20 | 29 | 81 | 30.5 | 31 |
| Washington | 35 | 58 | 19 | 7 | 30.6 | 32 |
| Georgia | 38 | 44 | 23 | 80 | 32.2 | 33 |
| Wash. U. | 27 | 36 | 55 | 49 | 33.2 | 34 |
| Emory | 26 | 58 | 40 | 61 | 33.8 | 35 |
| Arizona | 38 | 58 | 32 | 18 | 35.3 | 36 |
| Wisconsin | 20 | 53 | 59 | 74 | 35.6 | 37 |
| Utah | 46 | 36 | 41 | 34 | 36.9 | 38 |
| Wake Forest | 42 | 44 | 48 | 28 | 38.4 | 39 |
| Ohio State | 36 | 70 | 42 | 30 | 39.8 | 40 |
| Ind. Bloomington | 31 | 80 | 44 | 35 | 40.5 | 41 |
| Connecticut | 52 | 41 | 46 | 9 | 40.8 | 42 |
| George Mason | 66 | 14 | 54 | 62 | 44.6 | 43 |
| Rutgers-Newark | 52 | 41 | 56 | 67 | 45.0 | 44 |
| Cal-Davis | 31 | 110 | 37 | 47 | 45.1 | 45 |
| Tennessee | 52 | 58 | 47 | 42 | 45.4 | 46 |
| Arizona St. | 52 | 80 | 35 | 16 | 46.0 | 47 |
| Tulane | 36 | 58 | 69 | 120 | 46.9 | 48 |
| Alabama | 62 | 28 | 61 | 112 | 49.0 | 49 |
| Maryland | 52 | 58 | 63 | 45 | 49.5 | 50 |