USNWR College Rankings 2018 - Reactions?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm only truly interested or impressed by Harvard , Princeton, Yale, MIT, Hopkins, Annapolis, West Point , Stanford.

Those are the eight indespensable national treasures all for different reasons. All the others are just a mishmash.

First, it's interested in, not interested by. Second, Hopkins? Really?

The best medical school and most massive research budget by a huge margin. The United States has decided it is indespensable.

And it probably has pp for an alum or the parent of a current student. I suspect personal connections are a common denominator for all the posters making extreme declarations in favor of Notre Dame, Pomona, CalTech, and so on....

?? All of those are schools considered to be in the top of their respective categories? Why are you surprised to see them talked about?

[Anonymous]

TheTimes has a comparable ranking:

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/united-states/2017#!/page/0/length/100/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm only truly interested or impressed by Harvard , Princeton, Yale, MIT, Hopkins, Annapolis, West Point , Stanford.

Those are the eight indespensable national treasures all for different reasons. All the others are just a mishmash.

First, it's interested in, not interested by. Second, Hopkins? Really?

The best medical school and most massive research budget by a huge margin. The United States has decided it is indespensable.

And it probably has pp for an alum or the parent of a current student. I suspect personal connections are a common denominator for all the posters making extreme declarations in favor of Notre Dame, Pomona, CalTech, and so on....

?? All of those are schools considered to be in the top of their respective categories? Why are you surprised to see them talked about?

Notre Dame, Pomona and CalTech may or may not be at the top of their respective categories. But the posters insisting their favorite colleges are in the same club as HYPS are just sad.

[Anonymous]

HYPS individually are far from perfect schools. Their PR machines are great though!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:TheTimes has a comparable ranking:

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/rankings/united-states/2017#!/page/0/length/100/sort_by/rank/sort_order/asc/cols/stats

The rankings aren't all that different from the USNEWS rankings, but by taking a fresh look at schools, some of the benefit of past glory is lost by schools like Princeton and Cal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:HYPS individually are far from perfect schools. Their PR machines are great though!

I wouldn't consider any of those schools as "try hard" when it comes to PR - their reputations speak for themselves. As for most of the other top 25 colleges, yeah there is a lot of PR.

[Anonymous]

UChicago's rise is stupid and bothers me

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UChicago's rise is stupid and bothers me

I think it's a great school. But the fact that they basically carpet bomb kids with flyers from sophomore year drives up apps, and drives down admit rates, in a way that few other schools engage in.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago's rise is stupid and bothers me

I think it's a great school. But the fact that they basically carpet bomb kids with flyers from sophomore year drives up apps, and drives down admit rates, in a way that few other schools engage in.

Washington U is also well known for this approach. And it's sad because the bright kids look elsewhere, so it ends up a school for poseurs. Chicago at least gets some really smart students.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago's rise is stupid and bothers me

I think it's a great school. But the fact that they basically carpet bomb kids with flyers from sophomore year drives up apps, and drives down admit rates, in a way that few other schools engage in.

ehhh Obama (& Axelrod) gave it a bigger boost than mailers. And I think social media has played a part in kids seeking out big major cities for college.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UChicago's rise is stupid and bothers me

I think it's a great school. But the fact that they basically carpet bomb kids with flyers from sophomore year drives up apps, and drives down admit rates, in a way that few other schools engage in.

ehhh Obama (& Axelrod) gave it a bigger boost than mailers. And I think social media has played a part in kids seeking out big major cities for college.

Obama? He went to Occidental, Columbia and Harvard.

Curious about why you think social media is pushing kids to cities. Could you elaborate?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Obama? He went to Occidental, Columbia and Harvard.

Curious about why you think social media is pushing kids to cities. Could you elaborate?

Obama taught at Chicago, Chicago published his memoir, his top aids are from Chicago, library going on Chicago's campus.

If you look at teens' social media and snapchats, they love concerts, cityscapes, skyscrapers, brick alleys, cafes and urban scenes. Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, young celebrities probably helped fuel this.

Traditionally, the "college vibe" was isolated small quant college town ... now it seems most kids crave an urban setting with big city aesthetics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Obama? He went to Occidental, Columbia and Harvard.

Curious about why you think social media is pushing kids to cities. Could you elaborate?

Obama taught at Chicago, Chicago published his memoir, his top aids are from Chicago, library going on Chicago's campus.

If you look at teens' social media and snapchats, they love concerts, cityscapes, skyscrapers, brick alleys, cafes and urban scenes. Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, young celebrities probably helped fuel this.

Traditionally, the "college vibe" was isolated small quant college town ... now it seems most kids crave an urban setting with big city aesthetics.

I live in Hyde Park and Obama-love is everywhere. His house was there all through his presidency, his daughters went to Lab, etc etc etc... I think even his Nobel prize is 'counted' as Chicago. His address when he voted for himself for president is in Hyde Park.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
Obama? He went to Occidental, Columbia and Harvard.

Curious about why you think social media is pushing kids to cities. Could you elaborate?

Obama taught at Chicago, Chicago published his memoir, his top aids are from Chicago, library going on Chicago's campus.

If you look at teens' social media and snapchats, they love concerts, cityscapes, skyscrapers, brick alleys, cafes and urban scenes. Gossip Girl, Sex and the City, young celebrities probably helped fuel this.

Traditionally, the "college vibe" was isolated small quant college town ... now it seems most kids crave an urban setting with big city aesthetics.

Meh, there are plenty of music festivals in the boonies, like Firefly. Gossip Girl and Sex in the City were earlier generations--our teens aren't marathon watching them. OK, maybe How I Met Your Mother and Big Little Lies, but Parks and Rec, Game of Thrones (for those whose parents let them), and House of Cards are just as big. Possibly your teens are watching Sex and the City, but mine and the ones I know aren't. So I'd be wary of generalizing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Meh, there are plenty of music festivals in the boonies, like Firefly. Gossip Girl and Sex in the City were earlier generations--our teens aren't marathon watching them. OK, maybe How I Met Your Mother and Big Little Lies, but Parks and Rec, Game of Thrones (for those whose parents let them), and House of Cards are just as big. Possibly your teens are watching Sex and the City, but mine and the ones I know aren't. So I'd be wary of generalizing.

My DD is 17 and her friends are addicted to Friends (NYC) and Gossip Girl (NYC). TV shows, social media, tumblr/instagram accounts, young celebrity social media has kids craving the city lifestyle.