Anonymous wrote:I went to a NCAA Division I state school in Illinois. I now make six figures. My point? It takes persistence and making the right decisions to reach your goals. I've never had the luxury of going to a top university.

It is a combination of skills, work ethic, and luck.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a NCAA Division I state school in Illinois. I now make six figures. My point? It takes persistence and making the right decisions to reach your goals. I've never had the luxury of going to a top university.

I graduated from a 2 year community college and I make 6 figure money too. So what's the point?

You're making PP's point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:An advantage of the WSJ/THE rankings are that they include SLACs in the same ranking so you can see where the SLACS fall in relation to larger schools.

So did Forbes. I've heard some say they are like comparing apples and oranges, but in fact students apply to both, so there is merit in combining them.

I actually think Forbes is now the best ranking. The change in methodology in USNWR has had some strange outcomes. I know it remains the gold standard, but at the same time, I don't feel as comfortable using it as a reference point for my kids.

No there isn't. You can buy a new Mercedes hatchback for $85K and drive it to X. You can buy a used Kia Sorrento for $20K to drive to X. Both get you to X. Do you want to waste the $65K in after tax dollars just to get to X in a different vehicle? That's why USN&WR reports public universities in a separate rank. They are supported by the state, for state research, and for the education of the children of the state's taxpayers. Their mission is entirely different from a private SLAC. And since everyone now needs a grad degree, it makes a lot more sense to get to X in a Kia and then buy the Mercedes to get to Harvard Law.

Anonymous wrote:I went to a NCAA Division I state school in Illinois. I now make six figures. My point? It takes persistence and making the right decisions to reach your goals. I've never had the luxury of going to a top university.

I graduated from a 2 year community college and I make 6 figure money too. So what's the point?

I went to a NCAA Division I state school in Illinois. I now make six figures. My point? It takes persistence and making the right decisions to reach your goals. I've never had the luxury of going to a top university.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown and Cal tied? That's absurd.

30% of Cal students are low income (Pell Grant), just 12% of Georgetown students are low income. When USNWS changed the methodology to account for outcomes for low-income students, it was inevitable that schools like UCLA (36%) and Cal (30%) would benefit and schools like Georgetown (12%) and Wash U. (10%) would suffer.

The real eye opener is that Georgetown, a Jesuit University, ranks so poorly in supporting low-income students.


https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/nati...rsity-among-top-ranked-schools

Not to me. That school shed its Jesuit and Catholic identity along time ago.

Georgetown promotes this idea of greatness. It's a facade. The school is a pressure cooker with little support for students who burn out frequently. The campus is disgusting - full of rundown and rodent-infested buildings with a deferred maintenance list that probably rivals Metrorail. Leadership is incompetent. Faculty is underpaid.

+1

Strong language, but as an alum, I regrettably agree.

Anonymous wrote:It's HYPSHMAW or bust
Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford Hopkins MIT Annapolis WestPoint

can't get over this guy lol

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:After H Y S P MIT (and in that order) 6 through about 15 are pretty interchangeable. Colleges outside of the top 5 and 15 don't have firepower worth obsessing over. Nobody is ever going to think or say "OMG you went to UCLA for undergrad?!" just as nobody is ever going to think or say "OMG you went to Northwestern ug?!"

Obsessing or even noticing that such and such jumped into the 20s or 30s or 40s is just sad. Nobody cares about a dime a dozen NYU, Wake Forest, UVA, Michigan or Rochester grad. Nobody.

I went to WUSTL. I get favorable comments on my school, fairly often. Interviewers usually react favorably

I went to University of Wisconsin-Madison. I get favorable comments on my school, fairly often. Interviewers usually react favorably.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Georgetown and Cal tied? That's absurd.

30% of Cal students are low income (Pell Grant), just 12% of Georgetown students are low income. When USNWS changed the methodology to account for outcomes for low-income students, it was inevitable that schools like UCLA (36%) and Cal (30%) would benefit and schools like Georgetown (12%) and Wash U. (10%) would suffer.

The real eye opener is that Georgetown, a Jesuit University, ranks so poorly in supporting low-income students.


https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/nati...rsity-among-top-ranked-schools

Not to me. That school shed its Jesuit and Catholic identity along time ago.

Georgetown promotes this idea of greatness. It's a facade. The school is a pressure cooker with little support for students who burn out frequently. The campus is disgusting - full of rundown and rodent-infested buildings with a deferred maintenance list that probably rivals Metrorail. Leadership is incompetent. Faculty is underpaid.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, Georgetown is still an Ivy/Duke backup.

Why do you all insist on spewing BS? I went to Georgetown and know plenty of people who went to Ivies and Duke. I know for a fact this isn’t true.

Completely untrue. Many kids pick Georgetown over Ivies--and certainly 3rd rate Duke--due in part to its location. Can't beat it for internship, jobs and related opportunities.

Perhaps many in one sense, but according to Parchment, which is based on data from cross-admits, cross-admits choose Duke 78% of the time to 22% of the time for Georgetown.

There’s absolutely no way Parchment has accurate enough data to generate those numbers.

Well that is a very definitive statement on your part with no supporting facts. If you look at Parchment's website, they say that they base their numbers on actual admissions data coming from high schools. So why should I believe you? What are your supporting facts? Perhaps you just don't like what the data shows.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's HYPSHMAW or bust
Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford Hopkins MIT Annapolis WestPoint

One of these things is not like the other...

PYSHAM is my new fave acronym for “elite schools,” especially since the inclusion of Amherst or Annapolis helps make the point.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:UF! As a grad, I like to see that ranking!

Me too! What a great 4 years I had there. Walked out with minimal debt and straight into a job in my field. And lifelong friends.

I thought the experience was a great mix: competitive without being crushingly stressful, Greek but not too Greek, every major imaginable, beautiful campus. A ton of things to do and lots of school spirit.

Go Gators!

UF has been quietly climbing many rankings. Endowment is up and research $$ is approaching nearly $1B/year.

I grew up in Florida, and all my friends' kids are now heading to UF or just finished. Between the prepaid tuition program and state Bright Futures scholarships that many high schoolers get, most are walking out of college with a 4 year degree totally debt free.

Anonymous wrote:After H Y S P MIT (and in that order) 6 through about 15 are pretty interchangeable. Colleges outside of the top 5 and 15 don't have firepower worth obsessing over. Nobody is ever going to think or say "OMG you went to UCLA for undergrad?!" just as nobody is ever going to think or say "OMG you went to Northwestern ug?!"

Obsessing or even noticing that such and such jumped into the 20s or 30s or 40s is just sad. Nobody cares about a dime a dozen NYU, Wake Forest, UVA, Michigan or Rochester grad. Nobody.

I went to WUSTL. I get favorable comments on my school, fairly often. Interviewers usually react favorably

Anonymous wrote:It's HYPSHMAW or bust
Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford Hopkins MIT Annapolis WestPoint

Anonymous wrote:It's HYPSHMAW or bust
Harvard Yale Princeton Stanford Hopkins MIT Annapolis WestPoint

One of these things is not like the other...