US News and World Report has UConn at # 58,

[CL82]

...tied with Syracuse. Pitt is 62. Yes I know the methodology is flawed but the list is a commonely used reference. The thing to take away from it is the Connecticut's steady climb upwards continues.

 

[specialisthusky]

What were we last year? I tried Google but found nothing but the recent rank. Also i didn't Google that hard.

 

[CL82]

What were we last year? I tried Google but found nothing but the recent rank. Also i didn't Google that hard.

I believe UConn was 59th last year but I didn't check. For what is worth MD ties Pitt at 62 and the State University of New Jersey is # 70.

 

[Sea Goat]

A better comparison is where we stand in the national public university rankings. We're at 19. The next 11 behind us and many thereafter are all in P-5 conferences. Then you get further down the list (keep going, on page 5) you'll find Louisville, behind Mississippi State and UMass-Lowell. What an joke.

 

[Dooley]

I'm surprised at Kansas being at #106. I had it in my head that they were ranked much higher. Granted, these rankings are about as reflective as preseason football polls.

 

[Hoophound]

I'm surprised at Florida continuing to catapult up the rankings. It is a good school but it is a fact that the overall student body at UConn is higher caliber. (UConn's lower end is better) The community college next to UF feeds them tons of marginal transfers. In fact, many members of their band, cheer squad and other groups aren't UF students, but community college students. It is a very odd set up but these people can participate in many UF groups and activities. I suspect that much like the SEC games the recruiting system, they are also gaming the US News system. They moved up like 10 spots after being tied with UConn last year. We need to learn how to play all these games, and quick.

 

[ScottBonz]

A better comparison is where we stand in the national public university rankings. We're at 19. The next 11 behind us and many thereafter are all in P-5 conferences. Then you get further down the list (keep going, on page 5) you'll find Louisville, behind Mississippi State and UMass-Lowell. What an joke.

Were we Top 20 last year for Public Schools? I think this a huge jump as I thought we fell to 26 if I remember correctly.

 

[Bill Sussman]

Were we Top 20 last year for Public Schools? I think this a huge jump as I thought we fell to 26 if I remember correctly.

We were 19 last year as well. We stayed the same.

 

[Hoophound]

We were 19 last year as well. We stayed the same.

Which is ridiculous considering the investments being made at UConn. We are making advances that are almost unprecedented yet we stay at #19. Odd.

 

[Husky25]

Were we Top 20 last year for Public Schools? I think this a huge jump as I thought we fell to 26 if I remember correctly.

The lowest We've been over the last 5 years or so was #21.

 

[ScottBonz]

Which is ridiculous considering the investments being made at UConn. We are making advances that are almost unprecedented yet we stay at #19. Odd.

I would say that it would be pretty hard to crack the Top 15. At this point, all that's ahead of us are like-minded Universities who are entrenched in those rankings. A lot of it is Dean's and Presidents who vote as well and they like to vote for the old standards. Although, a tie for 14th does bring us up 5 spots.

 

[Chuck]

Which is ridiculous considering the investments being made at UConn. We are making advances that are almost unprecedented yet we stay at #19. Odd.

Many people have major issues with USN rankings. UConn has moved up at a break-neck speed over the years. It should get difficult to move up at some point. If you look at the publics above us, I could question a few depending upon methodology (I'm not impressed with Ohio State as an undergrad institution and the Cals should take a hit with their budget problems), but there's nobody disgraceful placed ahead of us. Again, I didn't fully look at methodology, but I would think our paltry endowment will keep us grounded to a certain extent.

 

[Kolumbo]

...tied with Syracuse. Pitt is 62. Yes I know the methodology is flawed but the list is a commonely used reference. The thing to take away from it is the Connecticut's steady climb upwards continues.

Tied with SU and Fordham and SMU. Not bad company. This is an EXTREMELY impressive ranking for our Flagship U. The top 20 are pretty much untouchable and there are many others above us which are incredible schools. That's why I'd like to see some type of grade rather than a ranking. If you have an A, who cares how many A+'s are ahead of you.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I'm surprised at Kansas being at #106. I had it in my head that they were ranked much higher. Granted, these rankings are about as reflective as preseason football polls.

KU has a challenge due to a law in KS that says that they must accept any graduate of a KS high school hitting a certain GPA and ACT score. That reduces selectivity and causes their flunk out rate for freshmen to be higher. They are AAU due to grad school/research.

 

[Kolumbo]

KU has a challenge due to a law in KS that says that they must accept any graduate of a KS high school hitting a certain GPA and ACT score. That reduces selectivity and causes their flunk our rate for freshmen to be higher. They are AAU due to grad school/research.

I thought UCONN had a similar policy at one time, which is why it was everyone's safety school. Now the average SAT's are over 1,200!

 

[Dooley]

KU has a challenge due to a law in KS that says that they must accept any graduate of a KS high school hitting a certain GPA and ACT score. That reduces selectivity and causes their flunk out rate for freshmen to be higher. They are AAU due to grad school/research.

Ah okay. That would help explain it then. I was just surprised at the ranking, that's all. I know these ranking are as silly as preseason football polls but was still surprised.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Ah okay. That would help explain it then. I was just surprised at the ranking, that's all. I know these ranking are as silly as preseason football polls but was still surprised.

It was ridiculously easy. 2.0 GPA from a qualified HS and 21 ACT or 980 SAT. It does change in 2016, as I think the legislature realized it was killing KU's reputation. So the GPA and test score requirements will go up. Most of those lower end kids don't go there anyway, and head to Emporia State or similar because it is cheaper and KU has long shown willingness to flunk lots of them.

I think all these schools know the tricks to game the USNews scores anyway, many of which are based on silly things. For example, the Law School scores always factored in the library size. In the age of the internet, that's pointless, but even before that, when I was at Kansas law (which had a lesser law library), it was three full floors and 300,000 plus volumes. There was nothing missing that could matter to anyone.

 

[billybud]

"I'm surprised at Florida continuing to catapult up the rankings. It is a good school but it is a fact that the overall student body at UConn is higher caliber. (UConn's lower end is better) The community college next to UF feeds them tons of marginal transfers. In fact, many members of their band, cheer squad and other groups aren't UF students, but community college students. It is a very odd set up but these people can participate in many UF groups and activities. I suspect that much like the SEC games the recruiting system, they are also gaming the US News system. They moved up like 10 spots after being tied with UConn last year. We need to learn how to play all these games, and quick'

As much as I rag on the Gators...they are a good academic school.

....Florida

• Students admitted for the fall 2014 freshman class had an average 4.4 GPA and an average SAT score of 1960 (up from 1876 in 2011

compares favorably to...UCONN...Storrs average SAT...1845

 

[Hoophound]

"I'm surprised at Florida continuing to catapult up the rankings. It is a good school but it is a fact that the overall student body at UConn is higher caliber. (UConn's lower end is better) The community college next to UF feeds them tons of marginal transfers. In fact, many members of their band, cheer squad and other groups aren't UF students, but community college students. It is a very odd set up but these people can participate in many UF groups and activities. I suspect that much like the SEC games the recruiting system, they are also gaming the US News system. They moved up like 10 spots after being tied with UConn last year. We need to learn how to play all these games, and quick' As much as I rag on the Gators...they are a good academic school. ....Florida [*]Students admitted for the fall 2014 freshman class had an average 4.4 GPA and an average SAT score of 1960 (up from 1876 in 2011 compares favorably to...UCONN...Storrs average SAT...1845

You are proving my point. UF is jobbing the system by taking the very best freshmen and then filling out the student body with a huge number of community college transfers from their affiliate, Santa Fe Community College. The system is silly "Spend two semesters at Santa Fe then come to UF. Meanwhile, you can participate in UF student activities, Greek life, party and live the Gainesville lifestyle all while helping make it look like UF is full of geniuses". Meanwhile, UConn has no such feeder program and the bottom of its incoming freshman class has way higher SAT scores than UF's deluge of Santa Fe transfers. I live in Florida, I think UF is a good school too. However, if UF is #14 then UConn is no worse than #13. That's all I'm saying.

 

[Sportsman5]

What were we last year? I tried Google but found nothing but the recent rank. Also i didn't Google that hard.

57 last year. So a 1 place decrease that is statistically insignificant. The biggest weighted categories are 6 year grad rate at 18% of total score and reputation ranking at 22.5%. These take time to increase. The 6 year grad rate is based on freshman entering classes from 2004-2007. So even though the freshman the last few years have been smarter and more studious than in the past that will not help graduation rate performance for a few more years. However the 6 year grad rate is at an all time high and has been climbing steadily. The minority retention rate and 6 year grad rate have also been getting a lot better. Due to minority students increasing greatly as a percent of total freshman enrollment on campus this is very important.

 

[Stinger92860]

Which is ridiculous considering the investments being made at UConn. We are making advances that are almost unprecedented yet we stay at #19. Odd.

Were we not tied at 19 with a few schools last year?

 

[Ha Who]

Which is ridiculous considering the investments being made at UConn. We are making advances that are almost unprecedented yet we stay at #19. Odd.

Think about the source of the investments. 20 managers (appointees) to 25 employees.

 

[Stinger92860]

Think about the source of the investments. 20 managers (appointees) to 25 employees.

Please explain in more detail.

 

[Ha Who]

Please explain in more detail.

Just sarcasm about state spending and management.

 

[UConn9604]

57 last year. So a 1 place decrease that is statistically insignificant. The biggest weighted categories are 6 year grad rate at 18% of total score and reputation ranking at 22.5%. These take time to increase. The 6 year grad rate is based on freshman entering classes from 2004-2007. So even though the freshman the last few years have been smarter and more studious than in the past that will not help graduation rate performance for a few more years. However the 6 year grad rate is at an all time high and has been climbing steadily. The minority retention rate and 6 year grad rate have also been getting a lot better. Due to minority students increasing greatly as a percent of total freshman enrollment on campus this is very important.

I think you picked the wrong place to complain about overemphasizing six-year graduation rates of freshman classes that entered in 2004-2007.

Just saying.

 

[Sportsman5]

I think you picked the wrong place to complain about overemphasizing six-year graduation rates of freshman classes that entered in 2004-2007.

Just saying.

It appears you are making an APR reference, but I don't see how I was complaining about anything.

 

[UConn9604]

It appears you are making an APR reference, but I don't see how I was complaining about anything.

Sorry - I read through your post too quickly and thought you were making a defense of Syracuse in the rankings. It's late, my fault. I simply didn't read what you wrote (but yes, I was referring to APR).

You touched on one important point that is seemingly overlooked: last year, 27% of our students claimed to be of diverse backgrounds (or about 2 in 7). This year, that percent is up to 33% (or 1 in 3). Consider that in 1986, the same percent -- of a much smaller university, by the way -- was just 7% (or about 1 in 14). We are making very large strides in this regard.

 

[Waquoit]

What were we last year? I tried Google but found nothing but the recent rank. Also i didn't Google that hard.

If you must Google, you gotta Google hard. No excuses.

 

[Sportsman5]

Sorry - I read through your post too quickly and thought you were making a defense of Syracuse in the rankings. It's late, my fault. I simply didn't read what you wrote (but yes, I was referring to APR).

You touched on one important point that is seemingly overlooked: last year, 27% of our students claimed to be of diverse backgrounds (or about 2 in 7). This year, that percent is up to 33% (or 1 in 3). Consider that in 1986, the same percent -- of a much smaller university, by the way -- was just 7% (or about 1 in 14). We are making very large strides in this regard.

Yes. There is a very big emphasis on admitting students who are the first in their family to go to college. Many of these students are labeled minority in the u.s. the issue is that these students for many different reasons drop out of school at a higher rate, take longer to graduate, and have low sat scores than non first generation students It is commendable what uconn is doing, but it clearly hurts certain numbers such as freshman retention rate, 4 year graduation rates, and average sat score of freshman. First generation college students also typically do not have strong family connections to white collar jobs, so first generation college students will struggle more to find a job out of school. Schools who do not have this mission will have better numbers in these key categories. There are good arguments from both sides about whether or not it is fair to admit students based upon things like race or country of origin or the education of parents, but whether anyone likes it or not uconn has chose to put a huge emphasis on it recently.