Reply to Top ranked LACs vs top ranked universities

Forum Index » College and University Discussion

Reply to "Top ranked LACs vs top ranked universities"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]OP, I'm persuaded by your case that top LACs do not match the top let's say 10 universities in quality. No one (well possibly someone, but essentially no one) prefers Williams to Harvard. You make the case that they shouldn't prefer Williams to Duke (USNWR #8) either.

However, let's take the case of a student shut out of the top 10 - no, let's make it top 15. I would say that, despite all that you've written, our shut-out student is better off choosing Williams over WUSTL, Emory or Georgetown (USNWR #19-20). I don't have statistics to back that up, but it's my general sense.

I'm also curious about the diachronic aspect of this. Your Swat source indicates that this is getting worse for LACs over time.  I wonder if other indicators trend downward as well.[/quote]

Williams vs. those schools might be a bit unfair to the whole picture as Williams may very well be the most accomplished and prestigious LAC in the country. Their on-campus recruiting results are pretty impressive and not comparable to what most LACs are like. I'd wonder more about Middlebury or Vassar against WUSTL or Rice.

On your second comment- the diachronic aspect- here is an interesting study:

This is a source for the highest SAT averages in 1966: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-admissions/355053-college-rankings-from-1966.html ; someone later posted scores of some missing schools (Swarthmore - 1399; Amherst - 1325; Stanford - 1300)
And here's a more current one (2016): http://www.businessinsider.com/the-50-smartest-colleges-in-america-2016-10

In 1966, 5 LACs made the top 10. In 2016, only one LAC makes the top 10- Harvey Mudd. 10 made the top 20 then compared to 3 now. 26 made the top 50 then compared to 16 today. Of particular note is how well the women's colleges did back then, but around 1970 and onward most universities went co-ed and pulled the strongest women to their schools instead. Today, only Wellesley ranks in the top 50 by highest testing average among womens' colleges. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics