New US News University Rankings are out

[WoodyHayes1951]

I love when your degree appreciates after you leave.



Top Public Schools | Rankings | Top National Universities | US News

 

[goDAWGSsicem]

Well, at least UGA is top 25 in something.

 

[Huetrang]

Re:

Well, Duke's raw rating of 92 is an improvement from the 90 from last year. We just needed one more point to get a 6-way tie for 5th place at 93 points. With rounding, the difference between 92 and 93 could be very small.

 

[UTVolCountry]

University of California

 

[IrishFutbol]

Wow, USC has been flying up the rankings in recent years. They might even pass Cal next year.

 

[LSUfanFloridaAlumni]

Irishfutbol, that is because these rankings are a joke. There is no way US News can do a thorough research of over 500 schools in a year.

It is mostly based on perception. USC is probably going up in the rankings because they are more known to the voters due to athletics. That is sad but true. It is pretty much, if I have heard of the school, I am going to put them above a school I haven't heard of lately.

 

[eaterfan]

There isn't a voting system as far as I'm aware (I haven't read all the rules of the system for a long time). It's a ranking system based on certain criteria such as average admissions scores, selectivity and other factors. USC is rising because about 15 years ago their president decided academics matter and have a giant endowment and are great at fund raising so they started spending money on academics.

These rankings aren't a great indicator of things though, especially among the academic community. The US News rankings are just the most famous. There are many more ranking systems so you can check those out for yourself.

 

[HuskerCradle2Grave]

This list is only public schools. That skews your school higher than it actually is. U.C.- Irvine, No. 1? Um, no...

 

[Smart]

There isn't a voting system as far as I'm aware (I haven't read all the rules of the system for a long time). It's a ranking system based on certain criteria such as average admissions scores, selectivity and other factors. USC is rising because about 15 years ago their president decided academics matter and have a giant endowment and are great at fund raising so they started spending money on academics.

Starting last year, high school counselors were given voting rights, which accounted for 25% of the ratings. Not surprisingly, private schools which attract students (and counselors) from all over the country climbed in the rankings while public schools that mostly get applications from a few states fell. When you read the rankings, private schools rankings are completely inflated. Within the private and public schools, though, the rankings are pretty good.

 

[Smart]

Also, schools with fancy sounding names like William and Mary, Purdue, and Auburn all climbed when counselors got to vote. I think that shows how little the counselors know.

 

[IrishFutbol]

Irishfutbol, that is because these rankings are a joke. There is no way US News can do a thorough research of over 500 schools in a year.

It is mostly based on perception. USC is probably going up in the rankings because they are more known to the voters due to athletics. That is sad but true. It is pretty much, if I have heard of the school, I am going to put them above a school I haven't heard of lately.

Yes, perception is part of it. Doesn't explain a lot though, as they've continued to rise after their teams went down. Nor does it explain the SEC/B12/BE. USC has also been improving the quality of their students / money spent on education. A lot of USC fans are starting to wonder (re: worry) if theyll start bumping up their standards for admitting athletes.

And the rankings aren't perfect, but they are a very good indicator of what school is better.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

There are some other global rankings that take into account publication impact and patent impact and graduate income and stuff. Those are pretty interesting.

 

[LSUfanFloridaAlumni]

Well the Big12 and SEC get a bad rep because of the Northern view of the South being dumb, racist, etc. I honestly think schools in Texas, Southeast, Oklahoma, etc. get downgraded simply because they are in the south. Add the problem that people see these universities as football factories. In fact the more the SEC wins on the field, the more they will likely take hits on Academic rankings.

 

[LSUfanFloridaAlumni]

There are some other global rankings that take into account publication impact and patent impact and graduate income and stuff. Those are pretty interesting.

I love those, one of them had two SEC Universities in the top ten.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

I love those, one of them had two SEC Universities in the top ten.

Yeah, they grade universities more on their real world application status. The US News still uses prestige and name rec, to some degree.

 

[IrishFutbol]

The US News rankings don't differ too much from the salary rankings, and patent/publications are 99.99% irrelevant in an undergrad ranking. At almost every school, the professors handling that either don't have to teach, or do one token class a year.

 

[Forty_Sixand2]

Ah, these are undergrad....i see now....i remember undergrad.....

 

[JuiceTheGator]

Florida always gets fucked in the USNews & WR issue. I see Texas got ranked much lower than in most others too.

 

[goDAWGSsicem]

Also, schools with fancy sounding names like William and Mary, Purdue, and Auburn all climbed when counselors got to vote. I think that shows how little the counselors know.

LMFAO!

 

[eaterfan]

Well the Big12 and SEC get a bad rep because of the Northern view of the South being dumb, racist, etc. I honestly think schools in Texas, Southeast, Oklahoma, etc. get downgraded simply because they are in the south. Add the problem that people see these universities as football factories. In fact the more the SEC wins on the field, the more they will likely take hits on Academic rankings.

Earlier in this thread you argued Usc was helped by its football and athletics programs but now you are arguing that the big 12 and sec are hurt by them. Do football programs help out hurt?

Why does the acc have the most top 50 schools despite being largely southern?

Why were sec schools so poorly ranked even before any element of human perception (voting) introduced into the formula?