US World and News College Rankings 22/23

[aburks41]

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

Our career services are so useless. The business school has it’s own career services only for b-school kids and it’s equally as bad. Each major should have multiple “recruiters” whose job is to facilitate networking with students and alumni.

I’d give up 30 minutes a week to have a chat with a different student to tell them about what I do and introduce them to people in my industry. There’s so much more they could be doing to help grow those types of connections but they either have no clue how to do it or they just don’t care

For example, the official UConn Boston alumni twitter have been inactive since 2016! Like what are we doing here?

 

[superjohn]

Our career services are so useless. The business school has it’s own career services only for b-school kids and it’s equally as bad. Each major should have multiple “recruiters” whose job is to facilitate networking with students and alumni.

I’d give up 30 minutes a week to have a chat with a different student to tell them about what I do and introduce them to people in my industry. There’s so much more they could be doing to help grow those types of connections but they either have no clue how to do it or they just don’t care

For example, the official UConn Boston alumni twitter have been inactive since 2016! Like what are we doing here?

Why not take the initiative and make yourself available?

 

[mrl2016]

Our career services are so useless. The business school has it’s own career services only for b-school kids and it’s equally as bad. Each major should have multiple “recruiters” whose job is to facilitate networking with students and alumni.

I’d give up 30 minutes a week to have a chat with a different student to tell them about what I do and introduce them to people in my industry. There’s so much more they could be doing to help grow those types of connections but they either have no clue how to do it or they just don’t care

Could they do more, absolutely. And I agree with your sentiment if the university reached out to me to support something like that I would.

With that being said tough to do at scale. Would be interesting if they could partner with the UConn foundation to ask for donations of time for these types of conversations as a follow up after they ask for a monetary contributions

 

[aburks41]

Why not take the initiative and make yourself available?

I will send the business school an email. Whether or not it gets in front of the right people is an entirely different story. But it shouldn’t be up to an individual alumni to have to reach out to UConn to set this up, UConn has to be more proactive in their efforts to connect alumni and students.

UConn spending money and resources to try to build a more cohesive alumni network would probably pay 10x back in increased donations in the future.

 

[Guapo]

I will send the business school an email. Whether or not it gets in front of the right people is an entirely different story. But it shouldn’t be up to an individual alumni to have to reach out to UConn to set this up, UConn has to be more proactive in their efforts to connect alumni and students.

UConn spending money and resources to try to build a more cohesive alumni network would probably pay 10x back in increased donations in the future.

And credit where credit is due; we are seeing progress. Donations are up, both to athletics and to the school as a whole. The endowment is up to $800 million. It was in the 400’s not too long ago. Work to be done, but work has been done

 

[mussels]

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.

This.

You make your own college experience, and get the education that you work for (I got an engineering degree, but the biggest overarching thing I learned at UConn was how to teach myself) So, if educators think that USN&WR rankings are goosed, and meaningless, why get in the game ?

Folks here have made valid criticisms about UConn's failure to generate a sense of community at the school that translates into a big endowment, and great alumni network, but if that's a problem (it is) we should devote energy to fixing that rather than gaming the USN&WR rankings.

 

[mussels]

And credit where credit is due; we are seeing progress. Donations are up, both to athletics and to the school as a whole. The endowment is up to $800 million. It was in the 400’s not too long ago. Work to be done, but work has been done

LOL. Just after I posted mine, decrying the state of alumni engagement, I saw this, and well.... guess things are getting better. Good.

On the work still to be done front, will observe that my daughter went to a NESAC school, and having paid the bills figured I was entitled to wear a school tee shirt. Also have several UConn shirts that I wear around town (Philly). It has been absolutely eye opening in that never once has someone commented on my UConn shirt. My daughter's school shirt? In LA, in NYC by a foreign delegation of Chinese students, in Philly all over ( I'm an old fart and some young guy gave me a friendly arm punch in Trader Joe's; a young co-ed stopped me on the street and just wanted to talk about how much she loved the school. Has been eye opening. Who knew?

 

[superjohn]

Also have several UConn shirts that I wear around town (Philly). It has been absolutely eye opening in that never once has someone commented on my UConn shirt. My daughter's school shirt? In LA, in NYC by a foreign delegation of Chinese students, in Philly all over ( I'm an old fart and some young guy gave me a friendly arm punch in Trader Joe's; a young co-ed stopped me on the street and just wanted to talk about how much she loved the school. Has been eye opening. Who knew?

That's pretty weird, I always get people making comments if I wear any UConn gear. The comments are always about the basketball program.

 

[HuskyHawk]

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.

Your last sentence is the point really. They are fine. We exaggerate the differences. I know lots of very smart and very successful people who went to KU and K-State. They score terribly in part because they have to accept in state kids with certain GPAs. You can do fine at any of these schools. Cost is a factor and right now it puts UConn at a disadvantage.

 

[CTFAN4LIFE]

For the record, USN&WR has been a rag for decades and remains one to this day.

 

[8893]

@HuskyHawk , I'm guessing you've probably heard about this already. Scary stuff. I hope your daughter (and you and your wife) aren't too freaked out about it. I'm am guessing they will increase their package-screening procedures.

Northeastern on edge as report of package explosion raises questions - The Boston Globe

A Northeastern University employee who said he was injured when a pressurized storage case exploded in his office Tuesday fiercely denied that he staged the incident, even as law enforcement officials told the Globe they are scrutinizing his version of events.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[McLovin]

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

We probably were students around the same time. My issues with her was she killed spring weekend, did the rebrand of the classic logo and was woefully unprepared for conference realignment.

Her work on improving the school from an academic standpoint (and ugh, even the rebrand and killing the fun stuff) clearly was good for the national perception of the school. If she didn’t drop the ball on realignment, from an outsiders point of view, it could be said she was a great president.

Oh, and she went to Duke.

 

[MU in MKE]

I think the comments on the quality of the alumni network are spot on. This is something I had not realized until after I went to Marquette for grad school. The alumni network from my decently well respected regional undergrad university did not have nearly the passion or emotional connection to the school or fellow alumni that Marquette does and the results of that are stark.

This has come into play in a remarkable array of areas in Life. Personally I’ve benefited in such ways as job hunting, business networking, house hunting, buying a car, finding a good baby sitter, making connections for entertainment events, discount on a new water softener because the sales person's son was going there, opening lines of communication with other parents at my kid’s school, and many more. Being a Marquette grad has enriched my life in ways that these USNews rankings just does not account for and high school kids, for the most part, are completely unaware that some schools have these types of intangible benefits. It is very unfortunate.



One small note on the ability for any kid to get a good education at a State Flagship university if they wanted; can we strike Arizona and ASU as exceptions from that? Woof! My experiences with any alumni and students from either Arizona school has been… let’s call them, “less than stellar.” Maybe I’ll make an exception for ASU’s engineering school though.

 

[husky429]

We probably were students around the same time. My issues with her was she killed spring weekend, did the rebrand of the classic logo and was woefully unprepared for conference realignment.

Her work on improving the school from an academic standpoint (and ugh, even the rebrand and killing the fun stuff) clearly was good for the national perception of the school. If she didn’t drop the ball on realignment, from an outsiders point of view, it could be said she was a great president.

Oh, and she went to Duke.

I don't think many people actually care that she killed spring weekend. Most people like the new logo--it was time for an update. I didn't like it at the time... I get it now.

Being unprepared for conference realignment was a disappointment. Biggest failure of the school in its history IMO.

Tom Kat was a very good president IMO. Too bad what went down with him and the Board.

 

[husky429]

That's pretty weird, I always get people making comments if I wear any UConn gear. The comments are always about the basketball program.

Same. I get comments about my UConn gear all over the country, even the world. Basketball fans all know UConn if they're over the age of 20.

 

[Hungryhusky99]

I don't think many people actually care that she killed spring weekend. Most people like the new logo--it was time for an update. I didn't like it at the time... I get it now.

Being unprepared for conference realignment was a disappointment. Biggest failure of the school in its history IMO.

Tom Kat was a very good president IMO. Too bad what went down with him and the Board.

I agree with the rest but the new logo is garbage.

 

[ecasadoSBU]

Stony Brook had it's best ranking ever in the list at Top 77 Nationally, Top 31 Public.

I wonder if some schools got worried after the whole Columbia scandal and stopped gaming the data and that caused Stony Brook to shoot up.

It's also worth noting that last year both - Stony Brook and Buffalo - were officially granted Flagship status by the State of New York

 

[ecasadoSBU]

The constant churn at the top of the university can definitely impact consistent focus on metrics.

It is a bit of a conundrum that within academia the USNWR doesn't hold much weight, but amongst the general public it holds some weight. The academia part should manifest itself in top quality educators going to schools they feel are good but you need high quality students to receive that instruction.

One year drop is not a worry, but when was the last time UConn moved up in the ranking compared to staying still or falling?

In terms of the company you keep, here's the group of schools immediately above UConn all tied at 62, UConn's group, and the two groups immediately below it.

62
George Washington
Syracuse
University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Pitt
VT

67
Texas A&M
UConn
UMass
WPI
Yeshiva

72
American
Fordham
IU- Bloomington
NC State
SMU

77
Baylor
Clemson
Loyola Marymount
Mich St
Penn St


A lot of private and smaller schools in that list. The group at 77 includes more schools UConn would consider peers as large state land grant universities.

Considering Pitt, Texas A&M, Indiana, Mich St, Penn St and UM Twin Cities are all AAU, UConn is still in the fat part of the bell curve for peer universities.

Tied at 77 you also have Stony Brook University

 

[whosurdaddy2720]

That's pretty weird, I always get people making comments if I wear any UConn gear. The comments are always about the basketball program.

Agreed. I live in Charlotte and if I wear a UConn shirt out for the day I'm guaranteed to start at least 2-3 conversations about it. Even if they didn't go to UConn themselves, lots of ppl have something to say (especially about basketball).

 

[whosurdaddy2720]

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.

1000x this^

Originally from CT and graduated UConn undergrad and Rutgers (I know, I know) grad school. Now I live in NC and the perception of state schools down here vs up north is stark.

Most reasonable people would agree that UConn and Rutgers are generally good schools but I've always felt they are still viewed as more of a backup plan if you're an elite student. Down south, getting into UNC gets treated like going to an Ivy and even going to NC St or UGA is celebrated as very impressive. The academic culture is just way different.

 

[kibblesnbits]

1000x this^

Originally from CT and graduated UConn undergrad and Rutgers (I know, I know) grad school. Now I live in NC and the perception of state schools down here vs up north is stark.

Most reasonable people would agree that UConn and Rutgers are generally good schools but I've always felt they are still viewed as more of a backup plan if you're an elite student. Down south, getting into UNC gets treated like going to an Ivy and even going to NC St or UGA is celebrated as very impressive. The academic culture is just way different.

The perception of UConn has changed significantly over the years. Our middle-to-upper middle class Fairfield County town used to publish statistics on every graduate of the high school and their college apps (rank, GPA, test scores, where they applied and whether they were accepted). If you ignored the little problem with privacy (no names on it but if your kid was a senior you could accurately guess a fair number of members based on the data), it was extremely helpful to look at the prior few years in getting a sense of where to apply in the traditional reach, target and safety model. When we moved here nearly 30 years ago getting into UConn was almost a given for the top 1/2 of the class (maybe even a bit below that). By the time they stopped publishing the report sometime last decade, a student had to be in the top quarter or so of the class to get into Storrs and, if they got in at all, many in the second quartile were getting offers for the regional campuses.

The other big change was at the top of the class. For the first 15 years or so we almost never saw a top 10 kid going to UConn. In the later years of the report it was common to see one or two go to Storrs and there have been recent years where that included the valedictorian or salutatorian.

UConn 2000 was a big success. When we first started looking in CT I was working in MA and my wife was working near Hartford, so our home search was concentrated on the northern towns along I-84. On one ride we stumbled across the campus. We were horrified. Other than Gampel, which was pretty new, the rest of the campus had that "the boys are coming back from war so we'll throw up a bunch of brick buildings" look. Worst of all, it looked like very little had been done to improve it since then. With that model in your head, the current campus is almost unrecognizable. The facilities are excellent and the qualifications of the student body have followed suit. I didn't go to UConn (nor did anyone in my family), but if I did I'd be happy that the perceived value of my degree has increased commensurate with the perception of the school.

 

[HuskyHawk]

@HuskyHawk , I'm guessing you've probably heard about this already. Scary stuff. I hope your daughter (and you and your wife) aren't too freaked out about it. I'm am guessing they will increase their package-screening procedures.

Northeastern on edge as report of package explosion raises questions - The Boston Globe

A Northeastern University employee who said he was injured when a pressurized storage case exploded in his office Tuesday fiercely denied that he staged the incident, even as law enforcement officials told the Globe they are scrutinizing his version of events.

www.bostonglobe.com

Yes, she texted us last night. She has friends and our friends have a daughter her age in the apartment/dorms across the street from the incident. Other friends were in classes near there around when it happened. Everyone is fine. We didn't freak out and she didn't seem to either, but she was in her apartment when it happened.

It's quite an odd story as details unfold. The pelican case didn't have explosives and wasn't a bomb, just something under extreme pressure it seems. A manifesto was included railing against AI, Virtual Reality, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg and criticizing the relationship between academic institutions and the developers of virtual reality. The VR club meets in that building and the package was addressed to them. It was not mailed. I think that's why MIT and Harvard both reacted quite quickly to this.

To stay on point, Northeastern came in at #44, and somewhat shockingly had an acceptance rate of 6.79% for this class. That is really low. BC was 16%, NYU 12%. I think that's an outlier driven by the fact that they admitted way too many kids in my daughter's 2021 class. Covid clearly caused a lot of missed guesses about enrollment. They are still struggling to house these kids at Northeastern, which is how my daughter landed one of the nicest "university" apartments I've ever seen as NEU booked it to provide extra housing. This after she spent last year at the Sheraton Copley. Boston Student Housing | LightView | Boston, MA

 

[whosurdaddy2720]

The perception of UConn has changed significantly over the years. Our middle-to-upper middle class Fairfield County town used to publish statistics on every graduate of the high school and their college apps (rank, GPA, test scores, where they applied and whether they were accepted). If you ignored the little problem with privacy (no names on it but if your kid was a senior you could accurately guess a fair number of members based on the data), it was extremely helpful to look at the prior few years in getting a sense of where to apply in the traditional reach, target and safety model. When we moved here nearly 30 years ago getting into UConn was almost a given for the top 1/2 of the class (maybe even a bit below that). By the time they stopped publishing the report sometime last decade, a student had to be in the top quarter or so of the class to get into Storrs and, if they got in at all, many in the second quartile were getting offers for the regional campuses.

The other big change was at the top of the class. For the first 15 years or so we almost never saw a top 10 kid going to UConn. In the later years of the report it was common to see one or two go to Storrs and there have been recent years where that included the valedictorian or salutatorian.

UConn 2000 was a big success. When we first started looking in CT I was working in MA and my wife was working near Hartford, so our home search was concentrated on the northern towns along I-84. On one ride we stumbled across the campus. We were horrified. Other than Gampel, which was pretty new, the rest of the campus had that "the boys are coming back from war so we'll throw up a bunch of brick buildings" look. Worst of all, it looked like very little had been done to improve it since then. With that model in your head, the current campus is almost unrecognizable. The facilities are excellent and the qualifications of the student body have followed suit. I didn't go to UConn (nor did anyone in my family), but if I did I'd be happy that the perceived value of my degree has increased commensurate with the perception of the school.

That's great to hear! I entered UConn 2006 so by then lots of new buildings had been built (the new student union had just been finished) and it seemed the perception had already undergone significant change. The valedictorian of my class went to UConn so it was definitely seen as respectable by then.

 

[auror]

Our middle-to-upper middle class Fairfield County town used to publish statistics on every graduate of the high school and their college apps (rank, GPA, test scores, where they applied and whether they were accepted). If you ignored the little problem with privacy (no names on it but if your kid was a senior you could accurately guess a fair number of members based on the data), it was extremely helpful to look at the prior few years in getting a sense of where to apply in the traditional reach, target and safety model.

This is wild.

 

[CL82]

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.

Penn State alumni are absolutely fanatical. I kind of respect that about them. They are also very good at networking.

If our eventual new president wants to add something to his or her plate, building a better networking system would be a plus.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

FYI only

UConn Alumni Mentoring Program

UConn Career Development Site - School/Major/Target Career info & Mentoring Network links

Alumni Networks (UConn contacts, city group contacts listed) - UConn Foundation

UConn can and should continue building and enhancing career services, career networking, alumni networking, etc, yet each have improved in the last decade. For those interested, possibilities appear to exist.

 

[BGesus4]

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.

I agree with what you’re saying about alumni energy but the culture at penn state is not something I’m wishing for.

 

[McLovin]

I don't think many people actually care that she killed spring weekend. Most people like the new logo--it was time for an update. I didn't like it at the time... I get it now.

Being unprepared for conference realignment was a disappointment. Biggest failure of the school in its history IMO.

Tom Kat was a very good president IMO. Too bad what went down with him and the Board.

The students cared about Spring Weekend, as it was one of the most famous college parties nationally. Outside of the student population / college demographic, you’re probably correct. But as a student during that time, it was a real bummer to see it go. Although I get why they did it…

 

[HuskyHawk]

The perception of UConn has changed significantly over the years. Our middle-to-upper middle class Fairfield County town used to publish statistics on every graduate of the high school and their college apps (rank, GPA, test scores, where they applied and whether they were accepted). If you ignored the little problem with privacy (no names on it but if your kid was a senior you could accurately guess a fair number of members based on the data), it was extremely helpful to look at the prior few years in getting a sense of where to apply in the traditional reach, target and safety model. When we moved here nearly 30 years ago getting into UConn was almost a given for the top 1/2 of the class (maybe even a bit below that). By the time they stopped publishing the report sometime last decade, a student had to be in the top quarter or so of the class to get into Storrs and, if they got in at all, many in the second quartile were getting offers for the regional campuses.

The other big change was at the top of the class. For the first 15 years or so we almost never saw a top 10 kid going to UConn. In the later years of the report it was common to see one or two go to Storrs and there have been recent years where that included the valedictorian or salutatorian.

UConn 2000 was a big success. When we first started looking in CT I was working in MA and my wife was working near Hartford, so our home search was concentrated on the northern towns along I-84. On one ride we stumbled across the campus. We were horrified. Other than Gampel, which was pretty new, the rest of the campus had that "the boys are coming back from war so we'll throw up a bunch of brick buildings" look. Worst of all, it looked like very little had been done to improve it since then. With that model in your head, the current campus is almost unrecognizable. The facilities are excellent and the qualifications of the student body have followed suit. I didn't go to UConn (nor did anyone in my family), but if I did I'd be happy that the perceived value of my degree has increased commensurate with the perception of the school.

I attended in 1984 and I didn't think it was a dump even then. The dorms were boring U shaped brick things, but it's what most dorms look like. There were plenty of older attractive buildings (math science and the library not included). UMass was uglier and looked like post WWII...but in Moscow. The front lawn and lake are the nicest part of campus and are the same as they were. I suppose my degree is more "valuable" but not really because nobody cares where you went once you have been working.

Certainly nicer now in some ways, but not in others. It feels cramped to me. Some of the open space is gone, and the sight lines too often leave you with nothing but buildings. The new Rec Center, McHugh and Oak Hall were plonked down in what was open space, including the old mud volleyball courts.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

UConn 2000 was a big success. When we first started looking in CT I was working in MA and my wife was working near Hartford, so our home search was concentrated on the northern towns along I-84. On one ride we stumbled across the campus. We were horrified. Other than Gampel, which was pretty new, the rest of the campus had that "the boys are coming back from war so we'll throw up a bunch of brick buildings" look. Worst of all, it looked like very little had been done to improve it since then. With that model in your head, the current campus is almost unrecognizable.

Fact, WW II's conclusion and returning GIs prompted UConn to throw up the bunch of bare bones square brick buildings to accomodate GI Fund-ed enrollment growth. Then, CT's Legislature and taxpayers allocated minimal capital for new construction and proper maintenance at times leading up to UConn 2000. The 1990 Dream Season culminated with UConn's 1999 national championship helped a LOT. 77-74!