What happened to W&M, Brandeis, Tulane, Pepperdine and others..from historically T50 to outside looking in?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US News changed it’s rankings formula in a way that adversely affected these schools.

Pepperdine, unlike the others, really deserves the slide down. They really have not innovated with the times and still signal “white wealthy students at a very expensive school.” I understand they have obligations as a Christian institution, but they seem to be slacking under that title.

If the education is the same then they don't deserve the slide down.

If others are improving and Pepperdine is not, it is going to get passed by those that are.

[Anonymous]

Guys U.S. News has to stay relevant so they change the way they rank schools. That is it.

[Anonymous]

US News regards UC Merced - with its 90 percent acceptance rate and average SAT score of 1080 - as a top 50 school.

US News has no credibility anymore. They threw away their legitimacy two years ago when they abandoned things like class size, qualifications of professors, number of years to graduate, and all the other useful metrics in favor of social justice metrics that most people don't find useful when comparing colleges. So I wouldn't take any US News ranking seriously anymore. Niche and Forbes seem to be a little more useful these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:US News regards UC Merced - with its 90 percent acceptance rate and average SAT score of 1080 - as a top 50 school.

US News has no credibility anymore. They threw away their legitimacy two years ago when they abandoned things like class size, qualifications of professors, number of years to graduate, and all the other useful metrics in favor of social justice metrics that most people don't find useful when comparing colleges. So I wouldn't take any US News ranking seriously anymore. Niche and Forbes seem to be a little more useful these days.

Psst: it never had credibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:US News changed it’s rankings formula in a way that adversely affected these schools.

+1

USNWR no longer considers class sizes. Doesn't make sense at all. Because most educators would consider classes of 25-40 students a much better educational experience than 300+ (as they and parents should)

Ditch the rankings and go by what you know matters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wake Forest is barely "t50", somehow beat out by Rutgers. W&M has exactly the same entering class stats and %s as UVA yet is beat out by Virginia Tech on US News. Michigan State (no offense to Michigan State) is somehow t70 now. Did the average student at Rutgers suddenly become much smarter than the average Wake student? No. Is the average Virginia Tech student smarter than the average student at Tulane? No.

So-called "t50" schools with ranks that now reflect their ability to be large, pell-grant numbers, etc. will always be on the outside looking into the group of schools whose intellectual character remains clear to those who make any effort at all to look.

The current rankings are fine. Publics can get some love too.

If you want to go to Tulane or Virginia Tech, go for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For example, US News no longer cares if colleges offer small classes. It does now care about number of Pell Grant recipients. Those are fine priorities. If they are yours, use current U News as your guide. If they are not, go back 3-4 years and follow those rankings.

This 1000%. While I am very happy if my kid's school supports the Pell Grant Recipients and other lower income students on campus (it's best for our society if we help ensure everyone gets a college degree that wants one), it doesn't affect my kid's education at all. However, taking majority of courses with only 25-40 students has a major impact on my kid's education. It means better access to professors as well (profs know you when you actually have discussions during classes and when the Prof actually has office hours as well rather than 10+ TAs holding various office hours.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US News changed it’s rankings formula in a way that adversely affected these schools.

Pepperdine, unlike the others, really deserves the slide down. They really have not innovated with the times and still signal “white wealthy students at a very expensive school.” I understand they have obligations as a Christian institution, but they seem to be slacking under that title.

I concur, Pepperdine is a shill of a school. The others OP mentioned are excellent.

[Anonymous]

The true top schools were not negatively affected by the change in methodology. Schools that made business decisions based on the former methodology appear to have suffered in the rankings as a result.

[Anonymous]

UC Merced=UMichigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, UVA, William and Mary, VA Tech

According to US News.

With a 1080 SAT, 90% acceptance rate, and 9% yield.

[Anonymous]

What happened is that the rankings outside maybe the top 10 don’t matter to anyone - they are literally just marketing to get affluent parents to pay $$$ for private colleges instead of sending their kids instate. It’s the creation of a Veblen good.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:US News regards UC Merced - with its 90 percent acceptance rate and average SAT score of 1080 - as a top 50 school.

US News has no credibility anymore. They threw away their legitimacy two years ago when they abandoned things like class size, qualifications of professors, number of years to graduate, and all the other useful metrics in favor of social justice metrics that most people don't find useful when comparing colleges. So I wouldn't take any US News ranking seriously anymore. Niche and Forbes seem to be a little more useful these days.

Psst: it never had credibility.

Yet US News is still cited by most colleges and parents still reference its rankings in every other post.

I'm sure YOU look at it too. 🙂

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For example, US News no longer cares if colleges offer small classes. It does now care about number of Pell Grant recipients. Those are fine priorities. If they are yours, use current U News as your guide. If they are not, go back 3-4 years and follow those rankings.

This 1000%. While I am very happy if my kid's school supports the Pell Grant Recipients and other lower income students on campus (it's best for our society if we help ensure everyone gets a college degree that wants one), it doesn't affect my kid's education at all. However, taking majority of courses with only 25-40 students has a major impact on my kid's education. It means better access to professors as well (profs know you when you actually have discussions during classes and when the Prof actually has office hours as well rather than 10+ TAs holding various office hours.)

Which schools have a majority of courses with more than 40 kids? This is one of those claims that seems to get thrown around a lot here but I’ve never seen it substantiated at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UC Merced=UMichigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, UVA, William and Mary, VA Tech

According to US News.

With a 1080 SAT, 90% acceptance rate, and 9% yield.

But maybe it is. If you’re going to put your faith in rankings you have to accept that schools you don’t expect might rise up the rankings. Otherwise, the rankings could be 100% “reputation” which would just reinforce whatever people already think is true.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UC Merced=UMichigan, Purdue, Wisconsin, UVA, William and Mary, VA Tech

According to US News.

With a 1080 SAT, 90% acceptance rate, and 9% yield.

So this comment - why should this have anything to do with the quality of the college? Are you saying if Caltech and MIT had a high acceptance rate with the existing facilities it should drop out of the top 100?

You rather have professors that are not accomplished if the school is selective?