US World and News College Rankings 22/23

[hoopsfan22]

Wow surprised to see Mich St and Penn St below us. When I was looking at schools a little over a decade ago I think Penn St was in the high 40s and and now they are down to almost 80? Now that's a big drop off.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Wow surprised to see Mich St and Penn St below us. When I was looking at schools a little over a decade ago I think Penn St was in the high 40s and and now they are down to almost 80? Now that's a big drop off.

They crush UConn in research, but MSU in particular loses the top kids to Michigan and is a massive school that can't be nearly as selective as UConn is. I don't remember MSU ever ranking in the top 50, maybe they did.

 

[BigTenFan]

Herbst was around a while, and while I have a lot of complaints about her, most notably sitting on the beach in the Virgin Islands sipping piña colada‘s with Warde Manuel while Louisville was weaseling its way into our ACC slot, and deciding to get rid of 80 + years of mascot tradition because “there’s no such thing as a white husky“, she was at least reasonably competent.

The next guy was just an abysmally bad hire. I forgot his name but he vaguely looked like Scott Bakula. His first move as president was to unilaterally decide that UConn was going to giveaway tuition to low income families. A noble goal, I suppose, but we were already doing that via aid to qualified students, so the question would be to whom was his initiative aimed at? Unqualified students? In any event here’s a pro tip for future entity new presidents don’t publicly announce that you were going to give away your core product totally free of cost without consulting the board first. He was a dead man walking like two weeks into his tenure.

The next guy was an interim hire who got a really nice private offer. That happens. And now we have this new interim president who sows her own clothes and sports a bleached blonde fright wig perm from the 1980s.

So in answer to your question why we are having a lot of turnover I respectfully suggest that candidate selection may play a role.

100 percent of the blame falls on the shoulders of the board of trustees. Uconn is a public University but many of the decisions are made in the dark. Very little transparency
Taxpayers and students lose out when there is a constant churn on top

 

[McLovin]

Wow surprised to see Mich St and Penn St below us. When I was looking at schools a little over a decade ago I think Penn St was in the high 40s and and now they are down to almost 80? Now that's a big drop off.

Indiana too. I feel like they were always above us in these rankings

 

[uconnfan68]

There is a formula for this game and they all know it. UConn made a conscious decision to stop playing. They have paid the price. Florida at #5 and FSU at #19 are focused on winning at this game and have seen meteoric rises. You have to decide what you want to be.

I've long advocated for UConn to be a Top 100 national university and a Top 40 public and let the kids have some fun on campus. Maybe be more inclusive for the local B student that can't get in right now. If UConn is going to remain very serious and continue to crack down on parties and other fun stuff, they damn well better keep the academic rankings way up.

The state needs to eminent domain Mansfield and surrounding towns. Let UConn grow.

 

[McLovin]

And yet I don't remember a good word ever said about her.

I think I do

I did not like her, but there is no doubt she made some bold decisions during her tenure.

People who make bold decisions tend not be be liked by the masses, but they get way more accomplished than people who just want to placate the masses.

 

[aburks41]

Wow surprised to see Mich St and Penn St below us. When I was looking at schools a little over a decade ago I think Penn St was in the high 40s and and now they are down to almost 80? Now that's a big drop off.

Most people tend to think of IU, MSU, Penn St, Maryland, and Ohio State as very good schools regardless of where they are ranked. UConn being right in the middle of those is good, but we really should aim to be closer to the Ohio State/Maryland end of the scale than MSU/IU.

When I was applying to college in 2013 I applied to UConn and most BIG 10 schools except the top ones like NW and Michigan. I got in everywhere except Ohio State. We used to be right in line with them and pretty sure we were even above Maryland for a couple years.

I also find it hard to believe that Florida State is a better school than UConn. Come on now...

 

[goskis2018]

There seems to be a correlation with athletic success .
Men’s BB has won a NC since 2014
Football has been a complete disaster since 2012-13
and even women’s BB has dominated in the last few years
Correlation does not mean Causation however those things are light advertisements and could mean more willingness to invest .

I don’t think so, I graduated in 2018 and experienced 4 years of dire athletics. The dip in the rankings has occurred since then while the basketball program has been on the up. No doubt the rise of the mens program played a role in the school’s initial climb, especially in terms of the number of applications.

 

[BigTenFan]

Most people tend to think of IU, MSU, Penn St, Maryland, and Ohio State as very good schools regardless of where they are ranked. UConn being right in the middle of those is good, but we really should aim to be closer to the Ohio State/Maryland end of the scale than MSU/IU.

When I was applying to college in 2013 I applied to UConn and most BIG 10 schools except the top ones like NW and Michigan. I got in everywhere except Ohio State. We used to be right in line with them and pretty sure we were even above Maryland for a couple years.

I also find it hard to believe that Florida State is a better school than UConn. Come on now...

Each Public Big Ten University has a top specialty but Michigan, Wisconsin, Purdue, Ohio State, and Illinois lead the way

 

[Chin Diesel]

Herbst was around a while, and while I have a lot of complaints about her, most notably sitting on the beach in the Virgin Islands sipping piña colada‘s with Warde Manuel while Louisville was weaseling its way into our ACC slot, and deciding to get rid of 80 + years of mascot tradition because “there’s no such thing as a white husky“, she was at least reasonably competent.

The next guy was just an abysmally bad hire. I forgot his name but he vaguely looked like Scott Bakula. His first move as president was to unilaterally decide that UConn was going to giveaway tuition to low income families. A noble goal, I suppose, but we were already doing that via aid to qualified students, so the question would be to whom was his initiative aimed at? Unqualified students? In any event here’s a pro tip for future entity new presidents don’t publicly announce that you were going to give away your core product totally free of cost without consulting the board first. He was a dead man walking like two weeks into his tenure.

The next guy was an interim hire who got a really nice private offer. That happens. And now we have this new interim president who sows her own clothes and sports a bleached blonde fright wig perm from the 1980s.

So in answer to your question why we are having a lot of turnover I respectfully suggest that candidate selection may play a role.

100 percent of the blame falls on the shoulders of the board of trustees. Uconn is a public University but many of the decisions are made in the dark. Very little transparency
Taxpayers and students lose out when there is a constant churn on top

Seems like if the same people keep bringing in the same agencies to vet candidates and then the same BoT keeps making final decisions, there's the common link.

 

[husky429]

Most people tend to think of IU, MSU, Penn St, Maryland, and Ohio State as very good schools regardless of where they are ranked. UConn being right in the middle of those is good, but we really should aim to be closer to the Ohio State/Maryland end of the scale than MSU/IU.

When I was applying to college in 2013 I applied to UConn and most BIG 10 schools except the top ones like NW and Michigan. I got in everywhere except Ohio State. We used to be right in line with them and pretty sure we were even above Maryland for a couple years.

I also find it hard to believe that Florida State is a better school than UConn. Come on now...

Southern State Us boost their rankings a bit by having such low out of state vs in-state admissions rate. UConn will never benefit from that because of how small and close states are up here.

More space. Better big-time athletics doesn't hurt either.

Plus down south there's more loyalty to state schools. My wife went to UNC and it's basically assumed that if you're a smart kid in your school, you go to UNC. And if you aren't going there, you go to Duke if you have the money. I can see why, she graduated undergrad and law school from UNC with 0 debt working as a barista

Up here, the bright kids in a class have all sorts of options between the ivies, nescac schools, everything around Boston and NY. Plenty of smart kids go to UConn, but it isn't an assumption like it is down south.

Just my 2 cents. I'm sure there's other factors too.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Most people tend to think of IU, MSU, Penn St, Maryland, and Ohio State as very good schools regardless of where they are ranked. UConn being right in the middle of those is good, but we really should aim to be closer to the Ohio State/Maryland end of the scale than MSU/IU.

When I was applying to college in 2013 I applied to UConn and most BIG 10 schools except the top ones like NW and Michigan. I got in everywhere except Ohio State. We used to be right in line with them and pretty sure we were even above Maryland for a couple years.

I also find it hard to believe that Florida State is a better school than UConn. Come on now...

Florida and FSU are getting loads of applicants. I got into Florida State law school (the letter came fast) and it now sits at #47. Same as Maryland (where I also got in), which was much higher at the time. UConn waitlisted me and is #64. KU is #67 so it's all a wash really.

Those flagship state schools across the south are recruiting northern kids at a higher rate, mostly using cost. Florida State out of state and UConn in-state are roughly the same. Add a little merit money and it's cheaper.

Two of my daughter's classmates went to Auburn. Look at the merit money. Auburn out of state is about $28k and if you have a decent ACT score you get $15k a year in merit. So $13k. Clemson does something similar. I was astonished to see all the kids from a metro Boston Catholic HS headed to big southern state universities. I can only imagine public school kids see the value to an even greater extent.

 

[uconnfan68]

Florida and FSU are getting loads of applicants. I got into Florida State law school (the letter came fast) and it now sits at #47. Same as Maryland (where I also got in), which was much higher at the time. UConn waitlisted me and is #64. KU is #67 so it's all a wash really.

Those flagship state schools across the south are recruiting northern kids at a higher rate, mostly using cost. Florida State out of state and UConn in-state are roughly the same. Add a little merit money and it's cheaper.

Two of my daughter's classmates went to Auburn. Look at the merit money. Auburn out of state is about $28k and if you have a decent ACT score you get $15k a year in merit. So $13k. Clemson does something similar. I was astonished to see all the kids from a metro Boston Catholic HS headed to big southern state universities. I can only imagine public school kids see the value to an even greater extent.

Don’t Georgia in-state kids go to UGA for free? Or very low tuition? I’m sure that would persuade a lot of families.

 

[Guapo]

Don’t Georgia in-state kids go to UGA for free? Or very low tuition? I’m sure that would persuade a lot of families.

The Hope Scholarship; if you graduate High School with a 3.0 GPA (and maintain it in college) you can go to any instate school for no tuition* (not room and board). It’s made UGA extraordinarily difficult to get into (GT has always been hard to get into) and has had the trickle down effect of making Georgia State, Kennesaw State and Georgia Southern etc significantly more competitive. It’s a great program.

 

[husky429]

The Hope Scholarship; if you graduate High School with a 3.0 GPA (and maintain it in college) you can go to any instate school for no tuition* (not room and board). It’s made UGA extraordinarily difficult to get into (GT has always been hard to get into) and has had the trickle down effect of making Georgia State, Kennesaw State and Georgia Southern etc significantly more competitive. It’s a great program.

A 3.0 is shockingly easy to get in high school, and not particularly difficult in college if you actually choose to act like a student. Lucky kids.

 

[Guapo]

And as others have said, the culture is just different. If you’re an old money kid who went to fancy private school in Atlanta or wherever; it’s perfectly acceptable - even encouraged - to go to UGA or Tech. Whereas no kid from Choat is going to UConn

 

[Guapo]

Anyway, all schools goose their numbers - including UConn. It’s a shame kids put so much stock in these. It’s maybe useful shorthand but thinking theres any real difference between the #70 ranked school and the number #55 ranked school or something is ridiculous

 

[HooperScooper]

Two of my daughter's classmates went to Auburn. Look at the merit money. Auburn out of state is about $28k and if you have a decent ACT score you get $15k a year in merit. So $13k. Clemson does something similar. I was astonished to see all the kids from a metro Boston Catholic HS headed to big southern state universities. I can only imagine public school kids see the value to an even greater extent.

Auburn is trash. If you want to party your way through 4 years having fun and easily skating by in classes then go to Auburn. Northeastern kids who are getting a good high school education (way better than Alabama schools) and are serious students have much better options than Auburn.

 

[8893]

Perception is reality.

Most people think it matters, which means it matters.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Auburn is trash. If you want to party your way through 4 years having fun and easily skating by in classes then go to Auburn. Northeastern kids who are getting a good high school education (way better than Alabama schools) and are serious students have much better options than Auburn.

LOL, this is just northeastern arrogance. It comes in at #97. UConn was the #6 party school when I attended. I used to work with a good patent lawyer who went to Auburn, it's perfectly fine. Yes, you get the frats and sororities and football. Some kids up north want that. Most college students nationwide are going to schools like CCSU and Western Michigan, Auburn is way above average even if nobody will confuse it with Yale. It's vastly better than URI, UNH & Maine.

But you're right about the High Schools, which is why Auburn, Bama, Ole Miss, Clemson etc. are recruiting the hell out of New England kids and offering them merit money they won't get in the northeast. It's a winning strategy.

 

[Guapo]

LOL, this is just northeastern arrogance. It comes in at #97. UConn was the #6 party school when I attended. I used to work with a good patent lawyer who went to Auburn, it's perfectly fine. Yes, you get the frats and sororities and football. Some kids up north want that. Most college students nationwide are going to schools like CCSU and Western Michigan, Auburn is way above average even if nobody will confuse it with Yale. It's vastly better than URI, UNH & Maine.

But you're right about the High Schools, which is why Auburn, Bama, Ole Miss, Clemson etc. are recruiting the hell out of New England kids and offering them merit money they won't get in the northeast. It's a winning strategy.

It also comes down to what you want. If you’re ok with going to Atlanta or Nashville after graduating, you’ll be fine going to Auburn. If you’re goal is to work on Wall Street, maybe not

 

[HooperScooper]

LOL, this is just northeastern arrogance. It comes in at #97. UConn was the #6 party school when I attended. I used to work with a good patent lawyer who went to Auburn, it's perfectly fine. Yes, you get the frats and sororities and football. Some kids up north want that. Most college students nationwide are going to schools like CCSU and Western Michigan, Auburn is way above average even if nobody will confuse it with Yale. It's vastly better than URI, UNH & Maine.

But you're right about the High Schools, which is why Auburn, Bama, Ole Miss, Clemson etc. are recruiting the hell out of New England kids and offering them merit money they won't get in the northeast. It's a winning strategy.

Just telling you what multiple students from our high school who go there have told me. Have you spoken to anyone who goes there now? You can ask the 2 students from your daughter's high school who go there. As with any big public school there are some very smart students there. But in general the school is not great academically and the overall student population is not the best. I will stand by that.

 

[8893]

It's vastly better than URI, UNH & Maine.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss any of those, either. I know recent URI grads, and current students at and graduates from UNH who have had good educational experiences. URI has a particularly strong Aquaculture and Fisheries program..

Friend from high school went to UMaine on a pitching scholarship. That's all I know about that.

But I am sure there is a good education to be had at any flagship state university, for those interested and motivated enough to pursue it.

 

[aburks41]

LOL, this is just northeastern arrogance. It comes in at #97. UConn was the #6 party school when I attended. I used to work with a good patent lawyer who went to Auburn, it's perfectly fine. Yes, you get the frats and sororities and football. Some kids up north want that. Most college students nationwide are going to schools like CCSU and Western Michigan, Auburn is way above average even if nobody will confuse it with Yale. It's vastly better than URI, UNH & Maine.

But you're right about the High Schools, which is why Auburn, Bama, Ole Miss, Clemson etc. are recruiting the hell out of New England kids and offering them merit money they won't get in the northeast. It's a winning strategy.

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this but a lot of these BIG 10 and SEC schools seem to have alumni networks that always always always look out for their own, and it feels like UConn doesn’t do a great job of building that type of thinking in our alumni base. Maybe it’s because those schools have 100 years of football and athletic traditions so there’s some sort of deeper connection with their alumni network, idk.

The most obvious one is Penn State. Their alumni are still obsessed with everything Penn State, but I don’t get that vibe from any UConn grads unless they’re also basketball fans. It’s kinda sad, I wish we had that type of culture.

 

[Guapo]

Not sure if anyone else has noticed this but a lot of these BIG 10 and SEC schools seem to have alumni networks that always always always look out for their own, and it feels like UConn doesn’t do a great job of building that type of thinking in our alumni base. Maybe it’s because those schools have 100 years of football and athletic traditions so there’s some sort of deeper connection with their alumni network, idk.

The most obvious one is Penn State. Their alumni are still obsessed with everything Penn State, but I don’t get that vibe from any UConn grads unless they’re also basketball fans. It’s kinda sad, I wish we had that type of culture.

Yeah I was going to reply with this to @8893 ‘s post; he’s absolutely right about Maine, UNH and those schools but I do tend to suggest to people to think of alumni networks etc. and that’s something that those sorts of schools lack in comparison

 

[Guapo]

Yeah I was going to reply with this to @8893 ‘s post; he’s absolutely right about Maine, UNH and those schools but I do tend to suggest to people to think of alumni networks etc. and that’s something that those sorts of schools lack in comparison

And tbf to UConn alum, I do think we look out for our own. The issue is the school does a terrible job of facilitating those connections

 

[Waquoit]

LOL, this is just northeastern arrogance.

Baloney. Auburn is trash.

 

[aburks41]

And tbf to UConn alum, I do think we look out for our own. The issue is the school does a terrible job of facilitating those connections

That’s exactly right and that’s the point I was trying to make. I had a UConn resume come across my desk a month ago and I pushed to get the kid in for an interview, so I will always try to do my part whenever it happens. But the school itself doesn’t do a good job at all of connecting students to alumni. Whether it’s students not understanding how to network, or a chunk of the alumni base being done with UConn the second they graduate, or a mix of both…who knows.

If UConn business school called me up tomorrow and asked if I could talk to a group of students about what I do in consulting, I would be there. And if any of them would be interested in interviewing with the firm I work for, they would get an interview next week.

 

[Guapo]

That’s exactly right and that’s the point I was trying to make. I had a UConn resume come across my desk a month ago and I pushed to get the kid in for an interview, so I will always try to do my part whenever it happens. But the school itself doesn’t do a good job at all of connecting students to alumni. Whether it’s students not understanding how to network, or a chunk of the alumni base being done with UConn the second they graduate, or a mix of both…who knows.

If UConn business school called me up tomorrow and asked if I could talk to a group of students about what I do in consulting, I would be there. And if any of them would be interested in interviewing with the firm I work for, they would get an interview next week.

My wife went to UGA. She wanted to move to DC after graduation. There was a guy in the career services department who’s job it was to work the alumni network and find her a job in DC - and did!

The most I got from the UConn career services department was an undergrad English major looking over my resume for typos

 

[mrl2016]

I did not like her, but there is no doubt she made some bold decisions during her tenure.

People who make bold decisions tend not be be liked by the masses, but they get way more accomplished than people who just want to placate the masses.

Herbst had a horrible reputation among the students while I was at school. Notably I remember the frequent #ThanksSusan comments

With that being said after graduating she came to speak to UConn alumni at my company and did a fantastic job representing the University.

That among the increase in rankings and avg accepted SAT during her tenure made me change my tune on her. Seeing us drop in those rankings only reinforces that.

Right wrong or indifferent perception is shaped through this type of rankings based PR