Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Florida should be ahead of UNC. Really smart kids are choosing UF.

UF is a pretty easy admit for OOS students. It's on par with Wisconsin, Ohio State, UMD, VT.

Difficulty of admission is not the same as quality, no matter how many naive people think so.

That's like saying price is not the same thing as value but the two are not unrelated.

If your kid was capable of a HYPSM acceptance, you would be singing an entirely different tune.

Rankings don’t matter in your world.

Student satisfaction data doesn’t matter.

Acceptance rates don’t matter.

Yield rates don’t matter.

The only thing that matters is your personal thesis, built upon the most questionable mental gymnastics imaginable, that magically catapults the school(s) you favor over higher ranked schools that you’ll always believe are undeserving of their rank.

If you can inject kooky politics into it (weirdo RWNJs attacking the UC system, weirdo LWNJs attacking UF), all the better … in your mind, anyway.

My older kid is not at HYPSM, he applied but didn't get in. He is at Penn and we chose it over NYU in part because of its perceived rank.
Rankings matter to me but when your students can't do middle school math I don't think any ranking deserves to be considered. You're just a trash school.
Acceptance rates matter to me but if you are test blind, you are going to have low acceptance rates if you have any brand value at all. You are basically a lottery admission school.
Yield rates say something about desirability but in this case they don't matter because so many of the people Cal and UCLA accept can't get in anywhere else above a cal state.
It's not all public schools. It's just the UCs that have become a joke.
Most of the other publics are still test optional which isn't great but you can limit the damage. But the UCs are a mess. I have no doubt that there are some smart kids at Cal and UCLA but there are a lot of kids at Cal that should be at a cal state

So you have no firsthand experience with the UC system, just what you’ve seen or heard others decry as a broken system of test blind admissions?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the actual list of top 10 public universities.

The top 10 public universities in the U.S. for 2026, according to U.S. News & World Report, are dominated by the University of California system:

University of California, Berkeley (Tied for #15 overall nationally)
University of California, Los Angeles (Tied for #17 overall nationally)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Tied for #20 overall nationally)
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of Virginia (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of California, San Diego (#29 overall nationally)
University of Florida (#30 overall nationally)
The University of Texas–Austin (#30 overall nationally)
University of California, Davis (#32 overall nationally)
University of California, Irvine (#32 overall nationally

You use "actual" as if it is something as solid as the periodic table of elements. That couldn't be more wrong. These lists are all just based on factors, many subjective, that someone chooses to prioritize. At the same time more objective factors like selectivity, which is kind of a voting with your feet indicator, is more muddied than ever because of test blind and test optionsl admissions.

Yeah, I’ll use the actual list rather than your kooky opinion.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Florida should be ahead of UNC. Really smart kids are choosing UF.

UF is a pretty easy admit for OOS students. It's on par with Wisconsin, Ohio State, UMD, VT.

Difficulty of admission is not the same as quality, no matter how many naive people think so.

That's like saying price is not the same thing as value but the two are not unrelated.

If your kid was capable of a HYPSM acceptance, you would be singing an entirely different tune.

Rankings don’t matter in your world.

Student satisfaction data doesn’t matter.

Acceptance rates don’t matter.

Yield rates don’t matter.

The only thing that matters is your personal thesis, built upon the most questionable mental gymnastics imaginable, that magically catapults the school(s) you favor over higher ranked schools that you’ll always believe are undeserving of their rank.

If you can inject kooky politics into it (weirdo RWNJs attacking the UC system, weirdo LWNJs attacking UF), all the better … in your mind, anyway.

My older kid is not at HYPSM, he applied but didn't get in. He is at Penn and we chose it over NYU in part because of its perceived rank.
Rankings matter to me but when your students can't do middle school math I don't think any ranking deserves to be considered. You're just a trash school.
Acceptance rates matter to me but if you are test blind, you are going to have low acceptance rates if you have any brand value at all. You are basically a lottery admission school.
Yield rates say something about desirability but in this case they don't matter because so many of the people Cal and UCLA accept can't get in anywhere else above a cal state.
It's not all public schools. It's just the UCs that have become a joke.
Most of the other publics are still test optional which isn't great but you can limit the damage. But the UCs are a mess. I have no doubt that there are some smart kids at Cal and UCLA but there are a lot of kids at Cal that should be at a cal state

Anonymous wrote:California dominates because they have a long history of building out the multitiered network with purpose and scale. Each tier has strengths and weaknesses.

1 The UC tier is research and postgraduate focused. The UCs are there to train future researchers, doctors, lawyers and academics. Courses will focus on higher order thinking, critical thinking and problem solving the unknown. You are expected to be inspired by the faculty and your peers, self motivated to avail yourself of the reading and materials and seek out your own assistance.

Good -unmatched opportunities for research, fosters resilience, stretches your mind and strong faculty networks. Best for independent learners passionate about their field and competitive kids. They aren’t watered down the way many state are trying to offer a wider range of both higher level academic programs and career readiness programs.

Bad-really bad place for kids that are unprepared, bad place for kids expecting to be taught everything or stressed by competition. Disaster for kids seeking the leniency available at some privates. The only retake at a UC is retaking the entire course after you fail. Deadlines are hard, miss it and it’s a zero without a legitimate doctor’s note.

2. The Cal States tier is designated as professional career readiness. It is generally barred from pursuing research or offering graduate or doctoral degrees in anything beyond education, nursing etc. There are a few small exceptions and SDSU has been able to pursue research to hit R1 but just barely. Cal states are split between polytechnic and regular universities. Polytechnic schools provide applied training for engineering.

Good -better teaching, smaller classes, good regional career placement cheaper., mix of traditional and non traditional students
Bad-many feel like commuter schools, mix of traditional and non traditional students, historically the engineering programs were focused on creating the worker bees not the higher level engineers, there’s some snootiness against the Cal states that their engineers hit a wall later in their careers but I don’t think that’s as true today.

3. Community colleges- originally designated for those who weren’t ready for college or were financially unable to afford it. Unique in that the courses and curriculum required to transfer into UCs and Cal states are consistent and very good. Has changed to attract more top students looking for better admissions results or UMC students looking to save money for graduate school.

Good- free in many areas, excellent teaching, big money saver
Bad - this pathway is getting too popular and 4.0 transfer applicants from wealthy areas are getting rejected at Cal and UCLA. You really need to go to a CC that has TAP to one of these schools, do the honors level, etc. TAG to the mid tier and third tier UCs is still available but not for impacted majors. There is no TAG into most engineering and several other STEM programs. If you do well, you should still get in somewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Florida should be ahead of UNC. Really smart kids are choosing UF.

UF is a pretty easy admit for OOS students. It's on par with Wisconsin, Ohio State, UMD, VT.

Difficulty of admission is not the same as quality, no matter how many naive people think so.

That's like saying price is not the same thing as value but the two are not unrelated.

If your kid was capable of a HYPSM acceptance, you would be singing an entirely different tune.

Rankings don’t matter in your world.

Student satisfaction data doesn’t matter.

Acceptance rates don’t matter.

Yield rates don’t matter.

The only thing that matters is your personal thesis, built upon the most questionable mental gymnastics imaginable, that magically catapults the school(s) you favor over higher ranked schools that you’ll always believe are undeserving of their rank.

If you can inject kooky politics into it (weirdo RWNJs attacking the UC system, weirdo LWNJs attacking UF), all the better … in your mind, anyway.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:California dominates because they have a long history of building out the multitiered network with purpose and scale. Each tier has strengths and weaknesses.

1 The UC tier is research and postgraduate focused. The UCs are there to train future researchers, doctors, lawyers and academics. Courses will focus on higher order thinking, critical thinking and problem solving the unknown. You are expected to be inspired by the faculty and your peers, self motivated to avail yourself of the reading and materials and seek out your own assistance.

Good -unmatched opportunities for research, fosters resilience, stretches your mind and strong faculty networks. Best for independent learners passionate about their field and competitive kids. They aren’t watered down the way many state are trying to offer a wider range of both higher level academic programs and career readiness programs.

Bad-really bad place for kids that are unprepared, bad place for kids expecting to be taught everything or stressed by competition. Disaster for kids seeking the leniency available at some privates. The only retake at a UC is retaking the entire course after you fail. Deadlines are hard, miss it and it’s a zero without a legitimate doctor’s note.

2. The Cal States tier is designated as professional career readiness. It is generally barred from pursuing research or offering graduate or doctoral degrees in anything beyond education, nursing etc. There are a few small exceptions and SDSU has been able to pursue research to hit R1 but just barely. Cal states are split between polytechnic and regular universities. Polytechnic schools provide applied training for engineering.

Good -better teaching, smaller classes, good regional career placement cheaper., mix of traditional and non traditional students
Bad-many feel like commuter schools, mix of traditional and non traditional students, historically the engineering programs were focused on creating the worker bees not the higher level engineers, there’s some snootiness against the Cal states that their engineers hit a wall later in their careers but I don’t think that’s as true today.

3. Community colleges- originally designated for those who weren’t ready for college or were financially unable to afford it. Unique in that the courses and curriculum required to transfer into UCs and Cal states are consistent and very good. Has changed to attract more top students looking for better admissions results or UMC students looking to save money for graduate school.

Good- free in many areas, excellent teaching, big money saver
Bad - this pathway is getting too popular and 4.0 transfer applicants from wealthy areas are getting rejected at Cal and UCLA. You really need to go to a CC that has TAP to one of these schools, do the honors level, etc. TAG to the mid tier and third tier UCs is still available but not for impacted majors. There is no TAG into most engineering and several other STEM programs. If you do well, you should still get in somewhere.

So....there's a ranking / list of upper tier, mid tier and third tier within the UCs? Or is upper tier any of the 8 UCs for undergrad, mid = Cal states, and the CCs = third tier?

Yes and no. CaL/UCLA are viewed as the upper tier UCs. UCSD, UCD, UCI, UCSB are the mid tier UCs, UCSC, UC Riverside and UC Merced are third tier. The polytechnic Cal States are SLO, Pomona and Humboldt. The other Cal State universities that are popular in CA are SDSU, SJSU, Long Beach, Fullerton and maybe Sonoma, Monterey, Northridge, San Francisco..there are a ton all over the state.

It really depends on what you want to do after undergraduate. Cal Poly SLO is really good for engineering and architecture. They have great placement into FAANG. However, if you know you want to go straight to grad school and your area of interest aligns with a faculty member at Merced or Riverside, you go there. If you want to work a few years go to Cal Poly over the mid tiers (exception being biomedical engineering UCSD, aero/civil Davis, CS/ Irvine etc where these UCs have niche advantages.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the actual list of top 10 public universities.

The top 10 public universities in the U.S. for 2026, according to U.S. News & World Report, are dominated by the University of California system:

University of California, Berkeley (Tied for #15 overall nationally)
University of California, Los Angeles (Tied for #17 overall nationally)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Tied for #20 overall nationally)
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of Virginia (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of California, San Diego (#29 overall nationally)
University of Florida (#30 overall nationally)
The University of Texas–Austin (#30 overall nationally)
University of California, Davis (#32 overall nationally)
University of California, Irvine (#32 overall nationally

You use "actual" as if it is something as solid as the periodic table of elements. That couldn't be more wrong. These lists are all just based on factors, many subjective, that someone chooses to prioritize. At the same time more objective factors like selectivity, which is kind of a voting with your feet indicator, is more muddied than ever because of test blind and test optionsl admissions.

100% *

* Unless my school or my kid’s school is higher on the list - then it’s accurate.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:California dominates because they have a long history of building out the multitiered network with purpose and scale. Each tier has strengths and weaknesses.

1 The UC tier is research and postgraduate focused. The UCs are there to train future researchers, doctors, lawyers and academics. Courses will focus on higher order thinking, critical thinking and problem solving the unknown. You are expected to be inspired by the faculty and your peers, self motivated to avail yourself of the reading and materials and seek out your own assistance.

Good -unmatched opportunities for research, fosters resilience, stretches your mind and strong faculty networks. Best for independent learners passionate about their field and competitive kids. They aren’t watered down the way many state are trying to offer a wider range of both higher level academic programs and career readiness programs.

Bad-really bad place for kids that are unprepared, bad place for kids expecting to be taught everything or stressed by competition. Disaster for kids seeking the leniency available at some privates. The only retake at a UC is retaking the entire course after you fail. Deadlines are hard, miss it and it’s a zero without a legitimate doctor’s note.

2. The Cal States tier is designated as professional career readiness. It is generally barred from pursuing research or offering graduate or doctoral degrees in anything beyond education, nursing etc. There are a few small exceptions and SDSU has been able to pursue research to hit R1 but just barely. Cal states are split between polytechnic and regular universities. Polytechnic schools provide applied training for engineering.

Good -better teaching, smaller classes, good regional career placement cheaper., mix of traditional and non traditional students
Bad-many feel like commuter schools, mix of traditional and non traditional students, historically the engineering programs were focused on creating the worker bees not the higher level engineers, there’s some snootiness against the Cal states that their engineers hit a wall later in their careers but I don’t think that’s as true today.

3. Community colleges- originally designated for those who weren’t ready for college or were financially unable to afford it. Unique in that the courses and curriculum required to transfer into UCs and Cal states are consistent and very good. Has changed to attract more top students looking for better admissions results or UMC students looking to save money for graduate school.

Good- free in many areas, excellent teaching, big money saver
Bad - this pathway is getting too popular and 4.0 transfer applicants from wealthy areas are getting rejected at Cal and UCLA. You really need to go to a CC that has TAP to one of these schools, do the honors level, etc. TAG to the mid tier and third tier UCs is still available but not for impacted majors. There is no TAG into most engineering and several other STEM programs. If you do well, you should still get in somewhere.

So....there's a ranking / list of upper tier, mid tier and third tier within the UCs? Or is upper tier any of the 8 UCs for undergrad, mid = Cal states, and the CCs = third tier?

Anonymous wrote:California dominates because they have a long history of building out the multitiered network with purpose and scale. Each tier has strengths and weaknesses.

1 The UC tier is research and postgraduate focused. The UCs are there to train future researchers, doctors, lawyers and academics. Courses will focus on higher order thinking, critical thinking and problem solving the unknown. You are expected to be inspired by the faculty and your peers, self motivated to avail yourself of the reading and materials and seek out your own assistance.

Good -unmatched opportunities for research, fosters resilience, stretches your mind and strong faculty networks. Best for independent learners passionate about their field and competitive kids. They aren’t watered down the way many state are trying to offer a wider range of both higher level academic programs and career readiness programs.

Bad-really bad place for kids that are unprepared, bad place for kids expecting to be taught everything or stressed by competition. Disaster for kids seeking the leniency available at some privates. The only retake at a UC is retaking the entire course after you fail. Deadlines are hard, miss it and it’s a zero without a legitimate doctor’s note.

2. The Cal States tier is designated as professional career readiness. It is generally barred from pursuing research or offering graduate or doctoral degrees in anything beyond education, nursing etc. There are a few small exceptions and SDSU has been able to pursue research to hit R1 but just barely. Cal states are split between polytechnic and regular universities. Polytechnic schools provide applied training for engineering.

Good -better teaching, smaller classes, good regional career placement cheaper., mix of traditional and non traditional students
Bad-many feel like commuter schools, mix of traditional and non traditional students, historically the engineering programs were focused on creating the worker bees not the higher level engineers, there’s some snootiness against the Cal states that their engineers hit a wall later in their careers but I don’t think that’s as true today.

3. Community colleges- originally designated for those who weren’t ready for college or were financially unable to afford it. Unique in that the courses and curriculum required to transfer into UCs and Cal states are consistent and very good. Has changed to attract more top students looking for better admissions results or UMC students looking to save money for graduate school.

Good- free in many areas, excellent teaching, big money saver
Bad - this pathway is getting too popular and 4.0 transfer applicants from wealthy areas are getting rejected at Cal and UCLA. You really need to go to a CC that has TAP to one of these schools, do the honors level, etc. TAG to the mid tier and third tier UCs is still available but not for impacted majors. There is no TAG into most engineering and several other STEM programs. If you do well, you should still get in somewhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the actual list of top 10 public universities.

The top 10 public universities in the U.S. for 2026, according to U.S. News & World Report, are dominated by the University of California system:

University of California, Berkeley (Tied for #15 overall nationally)
University of California, Los Angeles (Tied for #17 overall nationally)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Tied for #20 overall nationally)
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of Virginia (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of California, San Diego (#29 overall nationally)
University of Florida (#30 overall nationally)
The University of Texas–Austin (#30 overall nationally)
University of California, Davis (#32 overall nationally)
University of California, Irvine (#32 overall nationally

You use "actual" as if it is something as solid as the periodic table of elements. That couldn't be more wrong. These lists are all just based on factors, many subjective, that someone chooses to prioritize. At the same time more objective factors like selectivity, which is kind of a voting with your feet indicator, is more muddied than ever because of test blind and test optionsl admissions.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the actual list of top 10 public universities.

The top 10 public universities in the U.S. for 2026, according to U.S. News & World Report, are dominated by the University of California system:

University of California, Berkeley (Tied for #15 overall nationally)
University of California, Los Angeles (Tied for #17 overall nationally)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Tied for #20 overall nationally)
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of Virginia (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of California, San Diego (#29 overall nationally)
University of Florida (#30 overall nationally)
The University of Texas–Austin (#30 overall nationally)
University of California, Davis (#32 overall nationally)
University of California, Irvine (#32 overall nationally

You use "actual" as if it is something as solid as the periodic table of elements. That couldn't be more wrong. These lists are all just based on factors, many subjective, that someone chooses to prioritize. At the same time more objective factors like selectivity, which is kind of a voting with your feet indicator, is more muddied than ever because of test blind and test optionsl admissions.

Anonymous wrote:Here’s the actual list of top 10 public universities.

The top 10 public universities in the U.S. for 2026, according to U.S. News & World Report, are dominated by the University of California system:

University of California, Berkeley (Tied for #15 overall nationally)
University of California, Los Angeles (Tied for #17 overall nationally)
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor (Tied for #20 overall nationally)
University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of Virginia (Tied for #26 overall nationally)
University of California, San Diego (#29 overall nationally)
University of Florida (#30 overall nationally)
The University of Texas–Austin (#30 overall nationally)
University of California, Davis (#32 overall nationally)
University of California, Irvine (#32 overall nationally

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:University of Florida should be ahead of UNC. Really smart kids are choosing UF.

UF is a pretty easy admit for OOS students. It's on par with Wisconsin, Ohio State, UMD, VT.

Difficulty of admission is not the same as quality, no matter how many naive people think so.

That's like saying price is not the same thing as value but the two are not unrelated.