Was UM, UVA, and UW Madison considered more “prestigious” back in the day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is unique among publics for the combination of its founders, its architecture, its age, its quality education, including its professional schools, and its strong connections with Ivies.

UVA is absolutely superior to the other schools listed here. However, what is unique about the architecture? Other colleges have nice buildings too.

No, it isn't absolutely superior.

Why the hate? Is it personal?

+1 People triggered by UVA only validates UVA’s superiority

Second best college in Virginia!

You are proving the PP’s argument.

The irony was definitely lost on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when I graduated high school( in the eighties), these were the schools people talked about. They weren’t Harvard, but I’d put them analogous to Notre Dame or Vanderbilt today. What happened? Is it all because they say “public” or “land-grant”, kind of how the ultra pretentious rip on Cornell.

There have been a lot of changes over the past forty years. In 1980, Wisconsin was probably the most prestigious of this bunch. Vanderbilt was a regional school for rich southerners. Notre Dame was a niche school for Catholic school kids. And UVA and Michigan were decent state schools but nothing exceptional.

And today everything is different. Obviously having responsive management to changing trends and demographics has been critical. Both Vanderbilt and Notre Dame have had great chancellors over the past few decades. And both schools developed outstanding brands with smart investing in infrastructure and key programs. Both schools also now have enormous endowments that allow them to get top students and faculty and pretty much do as they please. And sports revenue certainly helps. Notre Dame is Notre Dame. And Vanderbilt is part of the SEC and getting a cool billion per ten years just through revenue sharing alone. Both Vanderbilt and Notre Dame are now among the most desirable schools in the country.

Michigan did two things great - football. And engineering. Most of the Ivies are decades behind the smart public flagship universities when it comes to engineering. As engineering became more critical, more in demand, more desirable, and more competitive there was an enormous opportunity for certain schools with the resources to invest to really make a name for themselves. And Michigan did just that. Combined with overall excellence and a football program that inspired immense passion and loyalty - not to mention revenue - and Michigan became a cool school. Also, Ann Arbor is a great college town. Plus, Michigan is nearly 50 percent OOS, which gives it both national stature and a high quality student body.

I think the source of UVA's prestige remains the same as always - it's one of the oldest schools, founded by TJ, in a pleasant part of the country. It is a genteel school with a long list of famous alumni. Darden has helped keep it modern and lucrative. But UVA has a preppy vibe that's long been appealing to many. Plus sports and school spirit. And generally being good academically, particularly in liberal arts.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, has done everything wrong. They've remained focused on graduate programs instead of undergrad. They've had terrible political interference from state politicians that drove away both funding and talent. They're not particularly good at sports. And it's too cold, which is a no-no with this generation of students.

U Mich was ranked as high as 8th in USNews in the mid-to-late 80s. It was ranked higher than a couple of Ivies.

Michigan's Business School was Top 5 for a time in the late 90s according to BW.

Current grad rankings minus medicine and law (they withdrew). ecord.umich.edu/articles/u-s-news-world-report-releases-latest-graduate-rankings-2/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:UVA is unique among publics for the combination of its founders, its architecture, its age, its quality education, including its professional schools, and its strong connections with Ivies.

What "connections with Ivies"? It's a state school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is unique among publics for the combination of its founders, its architecture, its age, its quality education, including its professional schools, and its strong connections with Ivies.

UVA is absolutely superior to the other schools listed here. However, what is unique about the architecture? Other colleges have nice buildings too.

Wait - what?? Is this satire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is unique among publics for the combination of its founders, its architecture, its age, its quality education, including its professional schools, and its strong connections with Ivies.

UVA is absolutely superior to the other schools listed here. However, what is unique about the architecture? Other colleges have nice buildings too.

No, it isn't absolutely superior.

Why the hate? Is it personal?

+1 People triggered by UVA only validates UVA’s superiority

Second best college in Virginia!

You are proving the PP’s argument.

The irony was definitely lost on you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:At my private school in dc, they saw it as a pretty huge failure if you went to a public flagship.

No one cares.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is unique among publics for the combination of its founders, its architecture, its age, its quality education, including its professional schools, and its strong connections with Ivies.

UVA is absolutely superior to the other schools listed here. However, what is unique about the architecture? Other colleges have nice buildings too.

No, it isn't absolutely superior.

Why the hate? Is it personal?

+1 People triggered by UVA only validates UVA’s superiority

Second best college in Virginia!

Third best

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when I graduated high school( in the eighties), these were the schools people talked about. They weren’t Harvard, but I’d put them analogous to Notre Dame or Vanderbilt today. What happened? Is it all because they say “public” or “land-grant”, kind of how the ultra pretentious rip on Cornell.

There have been a lot of changes over the past forty years. In 1980, Wisconsin was probably the most prestigious of this bunch. Vanderbilt was a regional school for rich southerners. Notre Dame was a niche school for Catholic school kids. And UVA and Michigan were decent state schools but nothing exceptional.

And today everything is different. Obviously having responsive management to changing trends and demographics has been critical. Both Vanderbilt and Notre Dame have had great chancellors over the past few decades. And both schools developed outstanding brands with smart investing in infrastructure and key programs. Both schools also now have enormous endowments that allow them to get top students and faculty and pretty much do as they please. And sports revenue certainly helps. Notre Dame is Notre Dame. And Vanderbilt is part of the SEC and getting a cool billion per ten years just through revenue sharing alone. Both Vanderbilt and Notre Dame are now among the most desirable schools in the country.

Michigan did two things great - football. And engineering. Most of the Ivies are decades behind the smart public flagship universities when it comes to engineering. As engineering became more critical, more in demand, more desirable, and more competitive there was an enormous opportunity for certain schools with the resources to invest to really make a name for themselves. And Michigan did just that. Combined with overall excellence and a football program that inspired immense passion and loyalty - not to mention revenue - and Michigan became a cool school. Also, Ann Arbor is a great college town. Plus, Michigan is nearly 50 percent OOS, which gives it both national stature and a high quality student body.

I think the source of UVA's prestige remains the same as always - it's one of the oldest schools, founded by TJ, in a pleasant part of the country. It is a genteel school with a long list of famous alumni. Darden has helped keep it modern and lucrative. But UVA has a preppy vibe that's long been appealing to many. Plus sports and school spirit. And generally being good academically, particularly in liberal arts.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, has done everything wrong. They've remained focused on graduate programs instead of undergrad. They've had terrible political interference from state politicians that drove away both funding and talent. They're not particularly good at sports. And it's too cold, which is a no-no with this generation of students.

Let me guess, you have one of those dumb Block M hats sewn to your head and you drink the Maize and Blue Kool-Aid.
Unlike Wisconsin, Michigan lost all of its bowl games from the last several years before it won the championship this year. In fact, they underperformed for years despite the highly ranked recruiting classes they got every year. They just coasted on history. Wisconsin over performed. And Madison >>>>Ann Arbor as a college town. Ann Arbor is a generic wannabe Madison with no lake. And the weather is roughly the same. It’s not like the Midwest becomes a tropical paradise when you enter the Ann Arbor city limits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is unique among publics for the combination of its founders, its architecture, its age, its quality education, including its professional schools, and its strong connections with Ivies.

UVA is absolutely superior to the other schools listed here. However, what is unique about the architecture? Other colleges have nice buildings too.

Wait - what?? Is this satire?

Why would this be satire?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA is unique among publics for the combination of its founders, its architecture, its age, its quality education, including its professional schools, and its strong connections with Ivies.

UVA is absolutely superior to the other schools listed here. However, what is unique about the architecture? Other colleges have nice buildings too.

UNESCO disagrees with you.

"The Academical Village still forms the heart of the University of Virginia, and exhibits a unique U-shaped plan dominated by the Rotunda with pavilions, hotels, student rooms, and gardens arrayed in rows to its south. The buildings are excellent and highly personalized examples of Neoclassicism, shown in their relationship to the natural setting and their blending of functionalism and symbolism. They were inspired by deep study of classical and contemporary examples and reflect Jefferson’s aspirations for the character of the new American republic. Both works have drawn international attention from the time of their construction."

https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/442/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back when I graduated high school( in the eighties), these were the schools people talked about. They weren’t Harvard, but I’d put them analogous to Notre Dame or Vanderbilt today. What happened? Is it all because they say “public” or “land-grant”, kind of how the ultra pretentious rip on Cornell.

There have been a lot of changes over the past forty years. In 1980, Wisconsin was probably the most prestigious of this bunch. Vanderbilt was a regional school for rich southerners. Notre Dame was a niche school for Catholic school kids. And UVA and Michigan were decent state schools but nothing exceptional.

And today everything is different. Obviously having responsive management to changing trends and demographics has been critical. Both Vanderbilt and Notre Dame have had great chancellors over the past few decades. And both schools developed outstanding brands with smart investing in infrastructure and key programs. Both schools also now have enormous endowments that allow them to get top students and faculty and pretty much do as they please. And sports revenue certainly helps. Notre Dame is Notre Dame. And Vanderbilt is part of the SEC and getting a cool billion per ten years just through revenue sharing alone. Both Vanderbilt and Notre Dame are now among the most desirable schools in the country.

Michigan did two things great - football. And engineering. Most of the Ivies are decades behind the smart public flagship universities when it comes to engineering. As engineering became more critical, more in demand, more desirable, and more competitive there was an enormous opportunity for certain schools with the resources to invest to really make a name for themselves. And Michigan did just that. Combined with overall excellence and a football program that inspired immense passion and loyalty - not to mention revenue - and Michigan became a cool school. Also, Ann Arbor is a great college town. Plus, Michigan is nearly 50 percent OOS, which gives it both national stature and a high quality student body.

I think the source of UVA's prestige remains the same as always - it's one of the oldest schools, founded by TJ, in a pleasant part of the country. It is a genteel school with a long list of famous alumni. Darden has helped keep it modern and lucrative. But UVA has a preppy vibe that's long been appealing to many. Plus sports and school spirit. And generally being good academically, particularly in liberal arts.

Wisconsin, meanwhile, has done everything wrong. They've remained focused on graduate programs instead of undergrad. They've had terrible political interference from state politicians that drove away both funding and talent. They're not particularly good at sports. And it's too cold, which is a no-no with this generation of students.

Let me guess, you have one of those dumb Block M hats sewn to your head and you drink the Maize and Blue Kool-Aid.
Unlike Wisconsin, Michigan lost all of its bowl games from the last several years before it won the championship this year. In fact, they underperformed for years despite the highly ranked recruiting classes they got every year. They just coasted on history. Wisconsin over performed. And Madison >>>>Ann Arbor as a college town. Ann Arbor is a generic wannabe Madison with no lake. And the weather is roughly the same. It’s not like the Midwest becomes a tropical paradise when you enter the Ann Arbor city limits.

Boy are you thick. The poster you quoted is a huge Wisconsin booster. You couldn’t even get the obvious right.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UVA was not a big deal when I went to college in 1997.

+1
Neither was Vanderbilt, for that matter.

Agree. Neither school was particularly prestigious in the 90s

[Anonymous]

I don’t know about Wisconsin but the others were named “Public Ivies” in Richard Moll’s book with that title in the 1980s, which might be what you are thinking of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t agree or disagree with you. But higher education is now big business, and some colleges and universities excel at spin and branding. It’s hard to discern quality.

I agree. I don’t know what makes Michigan “better” other than people saying it’s better than most publics.

We have many excellent schools in the US. The “best” school will depend upon the major.

[Anonymous]

https://publicuniversityhonors.com/2017/09/13/u-s-news-rankings-for-57-leading-universities-1983-2007/