UConn ranked #58 in USNWR

[nelsonmuntz]

I'm pretty sure nobody outside of academia actually cares about pretty much any of this.

Do you have kids in high school? These rankings are life and death for kids and their parents applying to schools. These rankings are also literally life and death for the prestige privates who sell "exclusivity" to desperate achievers. The point where that patina of exclusivity wears off, many of these schools are dead, because without it, no one would pay $80,000 a year for a recycled curriculum from the 1960's.

 

[husky429]

I'm pretty sure nobody outside of academia actually cares about pretty much any of this.

No one in academia does either. It's basically a ranking made to make rich parents feel better about themselves when they spend 300k for their kid to get an art history degree.

Every field has its own rankings, and honestly, that doesn't matter half the time anyway. People are looking for grad schools or for jobs in academia based on the specific research and faculty at the school.

If you're doing the college search right (like @upstater ), you're looking into class sizes, % of full-time faculty, job outcomes, etc.

 

[superjohn]

A lot of these "elite" schools, and U Chicago and Brown are among the worst, accept so many rich kids that they must be pulling credit checks on the parents during the admissions process.

It is weird that Upstater is so anti-changes to the rankings. The changing rankings are an existential threat to the prestige privates, but are actually a good outcome for many other universities, and most importantly, many more kids. The traditional university ranking system was designed to tell rich kids how smart they were for having rich parents. Any change to that system is welcome.

There's a whole lot of kids who don't belong at the "elite" schools. Some are kids with rich daddies, some are the right skin color. They simply aren't getting the best of the best, it's a club and it doesn't seem to matter what they do.

It's even like that getting into the high schools out where I live. It simply doesn't matter what your grades and scores are for some kids.

 

[BlueMAB]

Comm college is the hack to all of this. I know a kid who went to CCRI, URI, and then to Brown for Medical school--just enrolled this year. If you put in the work anywhere, the opportunities are abundant.

I expect over the next 30 years, we'll see comm college enrollment skyrocket. People are way more aware of the financial risk of student loans now than they were even 10 years ago.

This is the way.

 

[StllH8L8ner]

Comm college is the hack to all of this. I know a kid who went to CCRI, URI, and then to Brown for Medical school--just enrolled this year. If you put in the work anywhere, the opportunities are abundant.

I expect over the next 30 years, we'll see comm college enrollment skyrocket. People are way more aware of the financial risk of student loans now than they were even 10 years ago.

100%. If my kids want to go to college but aren’t great students, community college for two years will be my answer, then transfer and graduate from somewhere better in two years assuming they have the grades. Lower cost and Naugatuck Valley Community College won’t be anywhere on the resume.

 

[BigTenFan]

It's all about the outcome v investment. Doesn't matter if you attend school #5 or #500. If your kid comes out with a marketable degree that doesn't bankrupt the family it's a huge win!

I love college sports as much as anyone on this board and support Uconn and my alma mater....but at the end of the day- I have to justify the dollars I spend for my kids to get a degree that makes sense in this crazy world

 

[Scrutineer]

No, that's not why it happened. It happened because of the decisions by administrators to prostate themselves to USNWR were causing damage to the schools. And it happened not in the Liebral Arts or the Scienvces, but in the professional schools.

It was Medicine, Business and especially Law that objected to USNWR and opted out.

That's where the changes came in. The things USNWR valued were upending the functioning of Law schools.

I know it's just a typo, but it made me laugh to visualize "administrators prostating themselves". Hopefully all were men.

Also, the name on the diploma helps with the first job but after that the only thing that really matters is what you bring to the job in the forms of experience and accomplishments.

 

[Punkbo]

A lot of these "elite" schools, and U Chicago and Brown are among the worst, accept so many rich kids that they must be pulling credit checks on the parents during the admissions process.

It is weird that Upstater is so anti-changes to the rankings. The changing rankings are an existential threat to the prestige privates, but are actually a good outcome for many other universities, and most importantly, many more kids. The traditional university ranking system was designed to tell rich kids how smart they were for having rich parents. Any change to that system is welcome.

Wow. Lay off the drugs dude. What’s your point? I understand that some schools, like U of Chicago, moved down in the rankings, but Brown moved up from 13 to 9. Please make your arguments coherent if you want any semblance of credibility.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Do you have kids in high school? These rankings are life and death for kids and their parents applying to schools. These rankings are also literally life and death for the prestige privates who sell "exclusivity" to desperate achievers. The point where that patina of exclusivity wears off, many of these schools are dead, because without it, no one would pay $80,000 a year for a recycled curriculum from the 1960's.

No, my kids are 3 and 1, lol. I think by the time they are potentially going to college things are going to look quite differently than they do now.

These schools should be dead, selling $80K a year educations with no stipulations or commitments from the school beyond assigning out credit hours.

 

[superjohn]

Do you have kids in high school? These rankings are life and death for kids and their parents applying to schools. These rankings are also literally life and death for the prestige privates who sell "exclusivity" to desperate achievers. The point where that patina of exclusivity wears off, many of these schools are dead, because without it, no one would pay $80,000 a year for a recycled curriculum from the 1960's.

If this is life or death to anyone the parents really need to reevaluate and get a life. It's really not that important and it's incredibly unhealthy for kids to have that pressure on them.

 

[upstater]

A lot of these "elite" schools, and U Chicago and Brown are among the worst, accept so many rich kids that they must be pulling credit checks on the parents during the admissions process.

It is weird that Upstater is so anti-changes to the rankings. The changing rankings are an existential threat to the prestige privates, but are actually a good outcome for many other universities, and most importantly, many more kids. The traditional university ranking system was designed to tell rich kids how smart they were for having rich parents. Any change to that system is welcome.

Have no idea where you get that stuff about me from. I think you made it up somehow. I'm against USNWR in total because they don't measure academic quality; and the middle managers that try to play a never ending game of catch up with the rankings inevitably end up wasting dollars to the detriment of academic quality.

 

[upstater]

I'm pretty sure nobody outside of academia actually cares about pretty much any of this.

I wish it were true about these rankings, but apparently not. Parents and students think they are the be-all and end-all.

It is much harder to get into Northeastern than it is to get into Boston College.

Why?

 

[upstater]

No one in academia does either. It's basically a ranking made to make rich parents feel better about themselves when they spend 300k for their kid to get an art history degree.

Every field has its own rankings, and honestly, that doesn't matter half the time anyway. People are looking for grad schools or for jobs in academia based on the specific research and faculty at the school.

If you're doing the college search right (like @upstater ), you're looking into class sizes, % of full-time faculty, job outcomes, etc.

Also DOE data on who actually funds sophomores with financial aid. Watch out for your bait-and-switch my friends--can't believe I'm talking about universities and bait and switch.

Simple math: take total grant in aid for freshman, then divide by number of freshman. Then take total grant in aid for sophomores and divide by number of sophomores.

The data is in those tables. GOOOOODDDD LUCK!

 

[Excalibur]

I wish it were true about these rankings, but apparently not. Parents and students think they are the be-all and end-all.

It is much harder to get into Northeastern than it is to get into Boston College.

Why?

It's important before you get there, but not at all once you are done.

I guess that is the overall point. Parents and students are willingly wasting money by paying more for the commodity that is undergraduate education.

 

[upstater]

100%. If my kids want to go to college but aren’t great students, community college for two years will be my answer, then transfer and graduate from somewhere better in two years assuming they have the grades. Lower cost and Naugatuck Valley Community College won’t be anywhere on the resume.

If you can get a good financial deal at the 4 yr institution, try that instead. We have so many CC transfers behind the 8-ball. As a director of programs I deal with transfer credits all the time. It's not an arbitrary decision anymore since we have technical / digital systems that require us to check boxes for skills assessments, and if the previous class at a CC or some other school doesn't have them, they don't get taken.

 

[upstater]

It's important before you get there, but not at all once you are done.

I guess that is the overall point. Parents and students are willingly wasting money by paying more for the commodity that is undergraduate education.

I'm just making the point that the cost is the same between those 2 schools, but one is much better at gaming the USNWR rankings than the other is, which has increased the reputation of the one over the other.

 

[upstater]

It's all about the outcome v investment. Doesn't matter if you attend school #5 or #500. If your kid comes out with a marketable degree that doesn't bankrupt the family it's a huge win!

I love college sports as much as anyone on this board and support Uconn and my alma mater....but at the end of the day- I have to justify the dollars I spend for my kids to get a degree that makes sense in this crazy world

What degree would that be? If you say nursing or engineering, then yes, but don't say computer science or mathematics, because I saw a presentation yesterday by someone who advised Philosophy over both and others.

 

[upstater]

No, my kids are 3 and 1, lol. I think by the time they are potentially going to college things are going to look quite differently than they do now.

These schools should be dead, selling $80K a year educations with no stipulations or commitments from the school beyond assigning out credit hours.

It's $90k now, but almost no one is worried about that. Those who have to pay $90k do it without a second thought.

 

[BigTenFan]

In my kids case -Engineering but no matter what degree -you shouldn't spend a disproportionate amount on roi unless money is no object

 

[August_West]

It's $90k now, but almost no one is worried about that. Those who have to pay $90k do it without a second thought.

True. and it's dumb. As the post you were replying to states.

 

[Excalibur]

It's $90k now, but almost no one is worried about that. Those who have to pay $90k do it without a second thought.

Because people tend not to make efficient decisions (economically speaking). Colleges are counting on the fact that their customers are morons.

 

[Excalibur]

I'm just making the point that the cost is the same between those 2 schools, but one is much better at gaming the USNWR rankings than the other is, which has increased the reputation of the one over the other.

And my point is that you can have the same product sold by both BC and Northeastern for much less elsewhere. But humans (especially 18 year-olds and their enabling parents) are not rational.

 

[August_West]

And my point is that you can have the same product sold by both BC and Northeastern for much less elsewhere. But humans (especially 18 year-olds and their enabling parents) are not rational.

My daughter wanted to be a nurse. Her 3 final accepted options were Southern, UConn, and Salve Regina. Guess where I sent her for that exact reason? It wasn't pretty to be disappointing her, but she came around. The lowest cost actually offered the best placement!

 

[Excalibur]

My daughter wanted to be a nurse. Her 3 final accepted options were Southern, UConn, and Salve Regina. Guess where I sent her for that exact reason? It wasn't pretty disappointing her, but she came around. The lowest cost actually offered the best placement!

Our friends faced a similar situation with their daughter, made easier by the full scholarship available at Southern. I can't remember what the other options were but they were all one of the million private schools in the northeast. They did the same thing I would -- offered to give the kid half of the difference in cost when they graduated (or to put it towards graduate school).

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Wow. Lay off the drugs dude. What’s your point? I understand that some schools, like U of Chicago, moved down in the rankings, but Brown moved up from 13 to 9. Please make your arguments coherent if you want any semblance of credibility.

You shouldn't advertise that you can't keep up with the conversation. If you don't know the point, then just shut up if you want any semblance of credibility.

For other slow people like Punkbo, I was simply pointing out that U Chicago and Brown load up on rich kids. Punk decided to conflate that statement with some other argument, which actually did make it incoherent.