Anonymous wrote:Michigan is very overrated....and has convinced East Coast parents (whose kids can't gain admission to competitive SLACs or Ivies) that the University of Ann Arbor State University is more than it is...and worthy of out-of-state tuition.

It is top ranked in so many departments, it doesn't need to convince anyone. And, not everyone wants to go to a "competitive SLAC" in the middle of nowhere or an IVY. If you have been going to a small private school for 4-14 years, then when you graduate, just maybe, you want a different experience. The idea of going from a Maret or GDS to Michigan is a completely different, and eye opening experience. Same thing if you went to New Trier or some other huge public high school, then going to a small SLAC is a different experience.

NYU

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Anonymous wrote:WashU, Emory, and Vanderbilt all played "game the USNWR rankings" and came out ahead, though overrated.

The Colleges that Change Lives schools are treated as the second coming on DCUM, but CTCL seems like a trope to placate parents' anxieties about the admissions process.

Chicago, Tulane, Northeastern . . . the list of colleges that have "played the game" is very long.

Chicago is a perfect example. Think we can add Northwestern and Wake Forest to the list? Isn't Tulane is a party school?

How did they play the rankings game?

By manipulating the statistics that factor into U.S. News rankings. For yield, for instance, soliciting tons of applications from students with no chance of getting in, so that the admit rate will fall. (USN no longer uses that stat, but it did for a long time, and other rankings still use it.) For SAT/ACT scores, figuring out ways to exclude low-scoring admitted students from the numbers, by becoming test option or by creating a cohort of students that starts in the spring rather than in the fall.

Even when they used it it was 1.5%. So, 98.5% you fail on that point.

*optional*

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WashU, Emory, and Vanderbilt all played "game the USNWR rankings" and came out ahead, though overrated.

The Colleges that Change Lives schools are treated as the second coming on DCUM, but CTCL seems like a trope to placate parents' anxieties about the admissions process.

Chicago, Tulane, Northeastern . . . the list of colleges that have "played the game" is very long.

Chicago is a perfect example. Think we can add Northwestern and Wake Forest to the list? Isn't Tulane is a party school?

How did they play the rankings game?

By manipulating the statistics that factor into U.S. News rankings. For yield, for instance, soliciting tons of applications from students with no chance of getting in, so that the admit rate will fall. (USN no longer uses that stat, but it did for a long time, and other rankings still use it.) For SAT/ACT scores, figuring out ways to exclude low-scoring admitted students from the numbers, by becoming test option or by creating a cohort of students that starts in the spring rather than in the fall.

Anonymous wrote:Michigan is very overrated....and has convinced East Coast parents (whose kids can't gain admission to competitive SLACs or Ivies) that the University of Ann Arbor State University is more than it is...and worthy of out-of-state tuition.

But is Michigan really all that popular with the dc metro crowd? Most of its matriculants from the east coast are from the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Still, it is very impressive that the school gets so many full pay OOS attendees. They are paying essentially the equivalent of private school fees. They must be doing something right.

Anonymous wrote:Michigan is very overrated....and has convinced East Coast parents (whose kids can't gain admission to competitive SLACs or Ivies) that the University of Ann Arbor State University is more than it is...and worthy of out-of-state tuition.

Awww. Someone seems a bit miffed. What a loser!

Michigan is very overrated....and has convinced East Coast parents (whose kids can't gain admission to competitive SLACs or Ivies) that the University of Ann Arbor State University is more than it is...and worthy of out-of-state tuition.

UVA

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Anonymous wrote:University of VA

UVA = overrated

please, explain why UVA is overrated?

I didn't write "UVA = overrated", but I would say UVA can be an obsession with people on this board, yet attending UVA doesn't appear to confer significant lifetime advantages over schools that aren't an obsession.

I agree. UVA is objectively a very good school, so saying it's overrated isn't a reflection of the actual academics. It's more the single minded obsession of a certain segment of the NOVA population that doesn't want to pay for a private school but still wants to brag about edging out other people for a coveted spot. This particular group has decided that UVA is the only acceptable in-state option for them to pursue.

Take a look at the 7 schools below . Would you say school "?" is more like schools ABC, or schools XYZ?

NPV or Net Present Value is the return (increased income minus costs) of attending each school. Over/Under is the delta between expected early career earnings and actual earning adjusted for the majors of graduates (e.g. majors like engineers are expected to earn earn more). Analysis is from Center for Education and the Workforce.

School NPV Over/Under
A $1,967,000 $20,200
B $1,754,000 $14,900
C $1,607,000 $8,300

X $1,330,000 ($500)
Y $1,313,000 $1,000
Z $1,255,000 $1,200

? $1,291,000 ($2,400)

For those that want to know:
A = Harvard
B = Duke
C = Cornell

X = University of Maryland College Park
Y = Virginia Tech
Z = George Mason

? = University of Virginia

University of Virginia

Anonymous wrote:UVA

UVA = Overrated

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of VA

UVA = overrated

please, explain why UVA is overrated?

I didn't write "UVA = overrated", but I would say UVA can be an obsession with people on this board, yet attending UVA doesn't appear to confer significant lifetime advantages over schools that aren't an obsession.

I agree. UVA is objectively a very good school, so saying it's overrated isn't a reflection of the actual academics. It's more the single minded obsession of a certain segment of the NOVA population that doesn't want to pay for a private school but still wants to brag about edging out other people for a coveted spot. This particular group has decided that UVA is the only acceptable in-state option for them to pursue.

UVA

You idiots can't even define "over-rated". I am surprised you can spell it.