Why is UVA rated as high as it is?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think people use success in stem as a way to show everyone how smart their kid is. TJ=my kid is smarter than yours. Algebra in 7th or 6th grade=my kid is smarter than yours. It was never about stem, but about prestige. College decisions are viewed through the same prestige lens, and for many UVA>>VT, regardless of stem offerings. I don’t think a lot of these kids are even interested in stem, they were just pushed into advanced courses at a young age.

You must be the panhandler I see outside TJ all the time. You were also polling the kids in your spare time! How nice of you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A top school may teach you have to analyze The Illiad in 200 different ways but what's the point in that if you end up working at Starbucks after that (extreme example of course).

Yes, an extreme one. Also a false one, and an anti-intellectual one. A bad one all around.

+2 College is not trade school. It is designed make you knowledgeable and conversant across a broad range of subjects so you are an interesting, well educated, contributing member of society.

knowledgeable and conversant across a broad range of subjects - You can use the Internet to become this. Easily. If you have the inclination and aptitude. College doesn't give you the brains to do it. It just conditions the brains you have. I can do it on my own for free.

contributing member of society - A measurable way one contributes to society is by engaging in the production of goods and services, typically in exchange for compensation. If someone tells you that should NOT be the primary objective of college, you've been conned.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:A top school may teach you have to analyze The Illiad in 200 different ways but what's the point in that if you end up working at Starbucks after that (extreme example of course).

Yes, an extreme one. Also a false one, and an anti-intellectual one. A bad one all around.

+2 College is not trade school. It is designed make you knowledgeable and conversant across a broad range of subjects so you are an interesting, well educated, contributing member of society.

knowledgeable and conversant across a broad range of subjects - You can use the Internet to become this. Easily. If you have the inclination and aptitude. College doesn't give you the brains to do it. It just conditions the brains you have. I can do it on my own for free.

contributing member of society - A measurable way one contributes to society is by engaging in the production of goods and services, typically in exchange for compensation. If someone tells you that should NOT be the primary objective of college, you've been conned.

By that logic there is no need to go to college for any reason.

And no, people have not been "conned". Many believe in the inherent value of education, like going to the gym even if you don't play a sport for a living.

You think your ideas are postmodern and edgy, but honestly, they are not. Nor is your factotum-based syntax.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear there are more uva haters on this forum then boosters. uva is the most prestigious public on the east coast along with unc.

Well, and Georgia Institute of Technology, which rivals the likes of MIT and Stanford in engineering, is in the east coast.

For publics, Berkeley dominates in the west coast, Michigan dominates in the Midwest, UT-Austin dominates Southwest.

I don't think one can say that UVA dominates in the east coast or even the Southeast, its a toss-up between UNC, UVA and Georgia Tech based on what one values.

Precisely. And the thing is, Berkeley has carved out a name in the national consciousness due to its research prowess and graduate programs. The other you've named have done the same but through big-time sports. UVA, meanwhile, merely conjures vague associations with racism and neo-Nazis and maybe if you're well-read, Thomas Jefferson.

Tf you talking about, UVA has big time sports too. It’s literally a power 5 school.

[Anonymous]

Because cheap parents in NoVa insist on instate, only.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because cheap parents in NoVa insist on instate, only.

You mean parents who are smart enough not to pay for overpriced privates degrees that cost 100k more to get. Keep telling yourself that piece of paper was worth it!

[Anonymous]

+1 million

PP, not all of us have $300K in 529s at the ready to pay for privates that would suit you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear there are more uva haters on this forum then boosters. uva is the most prestigious public on the east coast along with unc.

+1. UVA is ranked no. 4 for public universities in America. https://news.virginia.edu/content/us-news-ranks-uva-no-4-best-public-university-country#:~:text=In%20this%20category%2C%20UVA%20is,going%20from%2072%20to%2079.

The top 3 have very little, if any, weakness in their academic offerings. They are all rated among the top 30 universities in worldwide rankings. UVA, UNC, and the rest are not quite at this top tier level.

[Anonymous]

I am not particularly concerned with the global rankings, only the US rankings. My child would like to work abroad, but I think it is more likely that they will work Stateside. When it comes to graduate school, then only will the global rankings be of import.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear there are more uva haters on this forum then boosters. uva is the most prestigious public on the east coast along with unc.

+1. UVA is ranked no. 4 for public universities in America. https://news.virginia.edu/content/us-news-ranks-uva-no-4-best-public-university-country#:~:text=In%20this%20category%2C%20UVA%20is,going%20from%2072%20to%2079.

The top 3 have very little, if any, weakness in their academic offerings. They are all rated among the top 30 universities in worldwide rankings. UVA, UNC, and the rest are not quite at this top tier level.

World rankings mean shit. Schools like Georgetown are ranked in the 300s but Michigan is top 30? Make it make sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear there are more uva haters on this forum then boosters. uva is the most prestigious public on the east coast along with unc.

+1. UVA is ranked no. 4 for public universities in America. https://news.virginia.edu/content/us-news-ranks-uva-no-4-best-public-university-country#:~:text=In%20this%20category%2C%20UVA%20is,going%20from%2072%20to%2079.

I am not a UVA hater — to the contrary. However, look at the metrics used for these rankings. UVA has 17,000 undergrads. Michigan has 31,000 and UT-Austin has 40,000. If you took the top 17,000 undergrads at those schools, how do you think their rankings would look? Combine UVA with the next 23,000 students from the other Virginia state universities, and what do you think that college’s ranking would be? UVA has chosen to be smaller and more selective. Does it offer a better education as a result? Maybe, but that isn’t really what USNWR is measuring.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear there are more uva haters on this forum then boosters. uva is the most prestigious public on the east coast along with unc.

+1. UVA is ranked no. 4 for public universities in America. https://news.virginia.edu/content/us-news-ranks-uva-no-4-best-public-university-country#:~:text=In%20this%20category%2C%20UVA%20is,going%20from%2072%20to%2079.

The top 3 have very little, if any, weakness in their academic offerings. They are all rated among the top 30 universities in worldwide rankings. UVA, UNC, and the rest are not quite at this top tier level.

World rankings mean shit. Schools like Georgetown are ranked in the 300s but Michigan is top 30? Make it make sense.

World rankings are far more informative about perceptions of a given university than USNews national rankings that take input of high school counselors.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear there are more uva haters on this forum then boosters. uva is the most prestigious public on the east coast along with unc.

+1. UVA is ranked no. 4 for public universities in America. https://news.virginia.edu/content/us-news-ranks-uva-no-4-best-public-university-country#:~:text=In%20this%20category%2C%20UVA%20is,going%20from%2072%20to%2079.

The top 3 have very little, if any, weakness in their academic offerings. They are all rated among the top 30 universities in worldwide rankings. UVA, UNC, and the rest are not quite at this top tier level.

World rankings mean shit. Schools like Georgetown are ranked in the 300s but Michigan is top 30? Make it make sense.

World rankings are far more informative about perceptions of a given university than USNews national rankings that take input of high school counselors.

Not sure why this narrative keeps coming up. US news stopped taking input of high school counselors in their rankings. Look at their methodology page if you don’t believe me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear there are more uva haters on this forum then boosters. uva is the most prestigious public on the east coast along with unc.

+1. UVA is ranked no. 4 for public universities in America. https://news.virginia.edu/content/us-news-ranks-uva-no-4-best-public-university-country#:~:text=In%20this%20category%2C%20UVA%20is,going%20from%2072%20to%2079.

The top 3 have very little, if any, weakness in their academic offerings. They are all rated among the top 30 universities in worldwide rankings. UVA, UNC, and the rest are not quite at this top tier level.

World rankings mean shit. Schools like Georgetown are ranked in the 300s but Michigan is top 30? Make it make sense.

+1
Seriously, George Mason is ranked like 100 spots higher than William and Mary in world rankings. No one from Virginia would ever agree with that placement.
Also university of Washington at 8? Dartmouth at like 220?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I swear there are more uva haters on this forum then boosters. uva is the most prestigious public on the east coast along with unc.

+1. UVA is ranked no. 4 for public universities in America. https://news.virginia.edu/content/us-news-ranks-uva-no-4-best-public-university-country#:~:text=In%20this%20category%2C%20UVA%20is,going%20from%2072%20to%2079.

I am not a UVA hater — to the contrary. However, look at the metrics used for these rankings. UVA has 17,000 undergrads. Michigan has 31,000 and UT-Austin has 40,000. If you took the top 17,000 undergrads at those schools, how do you think their rankings would look? Combine UVA with the next 23,000 students from the other Virginia state universities, and what do you think that college’s ranking would be? UVA has chosen to be smaller and more selective. Does it offer a better education as a result? Maybe, but that isn’t really what USNWR is measuring.

In the case of Texas, the state has a much large population than Virginia so that isn't a fair comparison. Even at 40K undergraduates, if the state did not impose the automatic admission for students in the top 6% for UT Austin, standardized test scores would likely be much higher and overall stats would be among the highest for state universities.