Will schools like Wake and Tulane fall in popularity as they fell in rankings?

[Anonymous]

Do you think that schools like Wake (29--->47) and Tulane (44--->73) will fall in popularity since fell in the rankings?
U of Miami is another one (55--->67).

Let's face it---it is much less palatable to pay $90K for a school ranked 50ish than it was for a school ranked in the 20s.

Clearly the rankings are ridiculous... but the rankings have an insidious way of mattering when people are applying (and paying for) schools.

Wake Forest has released a press release affirming it's quality so they appear to be doing damage control.

[Anonymous]

Wow. Tulane REALLY dropped. For us, DD got in but they don't offer much merit aid (or, at least they didn't to DD) and it was one of those we just didn't find the value in at $85k per year.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think these rankings are crazy - I think these schools were overhyped. But I think it will affect their number of early decision applications, and their overall yield. We know people in Virginia who applied full pay early decision to Washington University. But now, why would you? You can go to just as good of a school for the fraction of the cost. Same thing with schools that take a huge percentage of the their class ED. Tulane is ranked the same as Indiana and relies heavily on ED. I just don’t see them having that demand. And then when aid packages come out, status conscious, upper middle class parents won’t be willing to shell out a lot more for the same ranking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think these rankings are crazy - I think these schools were overhyped. But I think it will affect their number of early decision applications, and their overall yield. We know people in Virginia who applied full pay early decision to Washington University. But now, why would you? You can go to just as good of a school for the fraction of the cost. Same thing with schools that take a huge percentage of the their class ED. Tulane is ranked the same as Indiana and relies heavily on ED. I just don’t see them having that demand. And then when aid packages come out, status conscious, upper middle class parents won’t be willing to shell out a lot more for the same ranking.

And I find it fascinating Wake Forest released a statement - they must be nervous about the upcoming early decision round. WSJ rankings didn’t cause any statements. These are respected.

[Anonymous]

I don’t understand the take away being that these schools are now worse than they were before (or better, depending on the school) rather than that rankings are deeply flawed and arbitrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the take away being that these schools are now worse than they were before (or better, depending on the school) rather than that rankings are deeply flawed and arbitrary.

The people I know who attended these sorts of schools are the people who care about rankings.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the take away being that these schools are now worse than they were before (or better, depending on the school) rather than that rankings are deeply flawed and arbitrary.

They aren't. But you are clearly an educated consumer. Most people are not. They go down the list and apply to schools and don't spend a minute thinking about what drives the rankings.

[Anonymous]

My senior DD has both on her list. The drop in rankings does give me pause but I was already skeptical given the high cost. On the other hand, the criteria that was dropped seems to be things that matter to us so I am not sure that rankings alone are a reason not to consider these schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the take away being that these schools are now worse than they were before (or better, depending on the school) rather than that rankings are deeply flawed and arbitrary.

Exactly this .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t understand the take away being that these schools are now worse than they were before (or better, depending on the school) rather than that rankings are deeply flawed and arbitrary.

+1. The rankings don't make the schools better or worse. And employers don't scour the US News rankings for the latest when they decide who to hire.

[Anonymous]

So people think that instead of Wake Forest and Tufts, high achieving upper income kids are going to be applying to Davis, Merced and Rutgers? I don’t see it.

[Anonymous]

These schools are definitely going to get fewer applications from high stats prestige hunters who may have had them as their match or safety.
Which is a good thing for other kids. But some of those high stats kids would have matriculated to these schools (if they ended up with no top 20 options) so this is bad for the universities themselves

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So people think that instead of Wake Forest and Tufts, high achieving upper income kids are going to be applying to Davis, Merced and Rutgers? I don’t see it.

No, more like Florida State, Minnesota, etc.

Not necessarily the wealthy kids but plenty of upper middle class kids will think twice.

We fit in this demographic. We have HHI $450K. Healthy college savings. But spending $90K for a university ranked 50 or 75 seems much less appealing than spending it on a school ranked in the 20s.
Why not spend $25K for Florida and leave the rest for graduate, medical or law school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think these rankings are crazy - I think these schools were overhyped. But I think it will affect their number of early decision applications, and their overall yield. We know people in Virginia who applied full pay early decision to Washington University. But now, why would you? You can go to just as good of a school for the fraction of the cost. Same thing with schools that take a huge percentage of the their class ED. Tulane is ranked the same as Indiana and relies heavily on ED. I just don’t see them having that demand. And then when aid packages come out, status conscious, upper middle class parents won’t be willing to shell out a lot more for the same ranking.

And I find it fascinating Wake Forest released a statement - they must be nervous about the upcoming early decision round. WSJ rankings didn’t cause any statements. These are respected.

I think it’s important that schools like Wake Forest remind potential students that their strengths— offering very small class sizes with a high number of professors with PhDs — is no longer valued by the US News methodology. The school truly does offer a slac type experience combined with D1 power five sports in a medium size school environment with three years guaranteed housing on campus. It’s a unique combination that meets what a lot of kids are looking for. Tulane has New Orleans and that isn’t going anywhere.

The newly T25 public were already near impossible oos to get into so it is not like that’s an option for most kids, admission will only get more difficult.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I don’t think these rankings are crazy - I think these schools were overhyped. But I think it will affect their number of early decision applications, and their overall yield. We know people in Virginia who applied full pay early decision to Washington University. But now, why would you? You can go to just as good of a school for the fraction of the cost. Same thing with schools that take a huge percentage of the their class ED. Tulane is ranked the same as Indiana and relies heavily on ED. I just don’t see them having that demand. And then when aid packages come out, status conscious, upper middle class parents won’t be willing to shell out a lot more for the same ranking.

And I find it fascinating Wake Forest released a statement - they must be nervous about the upcoming early decision round. WSJ rankings didn’t cause any statements. These are respected.

I think it’s important that schools like Wake Forest remind potential students that their strengths— offering very small class sizes with a high number of professors with PhDs — is no longer valued by the US News methodology. The school truly does offer a slac type experience combined with D1 power five sports in a medium size school environment with three years guaranteed housing on campus. It’s a unique combination that meets what a lot of kids are looking for. Tulane has New Orleans and that isn’t going anywhere.

The newly T25 public were already near impossible oos to get into so it is not like that’s an option for most kids, admission will only get more difficult.

And they are:

“Wake Forest remains deeply committed to delivering a transformational education experience for our students,” said Wake Forest University President Susan R. Wente. “Hallmarks of the Wake Forest experience include small classes, personal attention and mentoring from professors who are top scholars and experts in their fields. It is unfortunate that this year’s methodology no longer rewards institutions for some of the elements of the Wake Forest experience that we value most.”