All you have to do is look at the acceptance rates, to answer your own question, OP. No need for all these ridiculous posts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP just got me curious- for all of Boston and MA's reputation being full of good schools and colleges, why is its only state flagship UMass ranked so low? Did it used to be better in the past or was is always a mediocre??

UMB is far from the flagship campus. It is supposed to provide access to “real college” to working people.From am elitist pov it’s the weakest UMass campus but it has a mission of its own. UMass Amherst the flagshiip. It is a research university in the center of Massachusetts.

UMass Amherst is THREE Hours from Boston. It is located in Western Massachusetts. The Googled answers here (the majority) are obvious, but you didn't even bother to Google on this one.

NP--Um, you're the one getting it wrong. It is, as they said, in central MA, and is under 2 hours from Boston.

Who is they? The voices in your head?

Look at a map. Visit sometime.

Duke
William and Mary
UVA

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone from Boston who graduated from one of the schools in everyone’s top tier color me shocked that NE is even on anyone’s list

You must be new here. I was new last year. My oldest is now 14 so we are thinking about college. Over the past 2 decades, Northeastern has somehow gamed itself up the rankings and is a favorite and difficult to get into now. Schools that you and I would not have even considered safeties are now reaches. Out of my own pride, I would not want my kids to go to Northeastern. DH is from Boston and he would be embarrassed if our kid went to Northeastern.

DP here. This is how most people currently feel about BU. I am given the impression that BU's spread out campus, and lack of speciality (Communications??) offends applicants. So much has changed in Boston in the last 30 years. Roxbury and Charlestown (just two examples) are now desirable and pricey (they used to not be desirable, at all), and rankings are not what people consider when applying to college. It is so easy and common to get on a plane and see the campuses in person. A wonder more people don't do just that, as it heeds such different results than merely Googling a college. Northeastern has always been strong in Engineering and Business, so if you are not looking for those majors I could see you considering other colleges.

Just as real estate changes dramatically over the decades, so do other lifestyle and education considerations.

Northeastern's co-op program and focus on applying critical thinking skills to the workplace give its students a tangible advantage. BC in particular has fallen relative to Northeastern's rise. It's still probably a bit above BU because it has a pretty clear "brand" under Fr. Leahy: conservative affluence-friendly Catholicism that is comfortable and "unchallenging". Its lack of heft in the sciences really holds it back, as well as its focus on near-term symbolic PR victories rather than actual accomplishments.

For undergrads I'd probably rank Wellesley first amongst the non-Harvard/MITs, then Tufts or Northeastern depending on major and your goals. BC/BU after them, again depending on your personal "brand", your major and what you're trying to accomplish post-graduation. What I think of as more "niche" schools splice in there for their programs. So Babson is probably on par with Northeastern at the top for business, Emerson is probably tops for anything communications-related, etc.

Tufts for grad school, then Northeastern, then BU, then BC.

+1

Critical thinking skills,PP? Not on DCUM!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people are funny with your little "contests". Very interesting to witness.

People posting factually incorrect information shouldn’t be corrected?

X100000

Not in PP’s world, they should not, apparently!

[quote=Anonymous]Opinions are like a-holes; everybody has one.
Some a-holes are 20 30 years outdated.

Lucky we live in the 21st century, and have much more objective data and information than random a-holes.
First we have the de facto industry standard ranking by USN&WR.
MIT #2 Harvard #3, and the first school of next tier is Tufts #32.
Form that, it's =/less than 5 steps to the next schools - BC #36, BU#41, NU#44
It would be fair to say base on it;

MIT/Harvard
Tufts/BC/BU/NU 

More importantly, here are some major metrics.

- Student Stats by SAT middle 50% (2019-2020)
TU: 1380-1530
BC: 1320 - 1490
BU: 1300 - 1500
NU: 1360 - 1540

- Retention Rate
TU: 95%
BC: 95%
BU: 94% 
NU: 98%

- Graduation Rate
TU: 94% 
BC: 91% 
BU: 89%
NU: 91%

- Salary Outcome
TU: $74K 
BC: $96K 
BU: $81K 
NU: $89K

Selectivity and Competitiveness is also pretty much on par among these schools, Super High, while MIT and Harvard are Super Super High.
I must conclude;

MIT/Harvard
Tufts/BC/BU/NU[/quote]

Wellesley is ranked higher than Tufts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You people are funny with your little "contests". Very interesting to witness.

People posting factually incorrect information shouldn’t be corrected?

Proclaiming 'School A is better than B' is factual?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone from Boston who graduated from one of the schools in everyone’s top tier color me shocked that NE is even on anyone’s list

You must be new here. I was new last year. My oldest is now 14 so we are thinking about college. Over the past 2 decades, Northeastern has somehow gamed itself up the rankings and is a favorite and difficult to get into now. Schools that you and I would not have even considered safeties are now reaches. Out of my own pride, I would not want my kids to go to Northeastern. DH is from Boston and he would be embarrassed if our kid went to Northeastern.

DP here. This is how most people currently feel about BU. I am given the impression that BU's spread out campus, and lack of speciality (Communications??) offends applicants. So much has changed in Boston in the last 30 years. Roxbury and Charlestown (just two examples) are now desirable and pricey (they used to not be desirable, at all), and rankings are not what people consider when applying to college. It is so easy and common to get on a plane and see the campuses in person. A wonder more people don't do just that, as it heeds such different results than merely Googling a college. Northeastern has always been strong in Engineering and Business, so if you are not looking for those majors I could see you considering other colleges.

Just as real estate changes dramatically over the decades, so do other lifestyle and education considerations.

Northeastern's co-op program and focus on applying critical thinking skills to the workplace give its students a tangible advantage. BC in particular has fallen relative to Northeastern's rise. It's still probably a bit above BU because it has a pretty clear "brand" under Fr. Leahy: conservative affluence-friendly Catholicism that is comfortable and "unchallenging". Its lack of heft in the sciences really holds it back, as well as its focus on near-term symbolic PR victories rather than actual accomplishments.

For undergrads I'd probably rank Wellesley first amongst the non-Harvard/MITs, then Tufts or Northeastern depending on major and your goals. BC/BU after them, again depending on your personal "brand", your major and what you're trying to accomplish post-graduation. What I think of as more "niche" schools splice in there for their programs. So Babson is probably on par with Northeastern at the top for business, Emerson is probably tops for anything communications-related, etc.

Tufts for grad school, then Northeastern, then BU, then BC.

Anonymous wrote:You people are funny with your little "contests". Very interesting to witness.

People posting factually incorrect information shouldn’t be corrected?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP just got me curious- for all of Boston and MA's reputation being full of good schools and colleges, why is its only state flagship UMass ranked so low? Did it used to be better in the past or was is always a mediocre??

Umass-Amhest hasn't attracted the top students in MA - it is changing based on the last few years so hopefully that'll boost it's profile. It long had a reputation of ZooMass, a total party school that you only went to if you had no other choice or your parents wouldn't pony up for a private.

This PP doesn't know what they're talking about. UMass Boston was NEVER known as ZooMass - that was the flagship, in Amherst all the way across the state. Its reputation has improved since those days. UMass Boston was always smaller, quirkier, much more heavily a commuter school.

The original post asked about why the flagship, aka Amherst, was ranked so low.

Massachusetts has always relied on private education and hasn't invested adequately in public universities. Now, with the huge increase in students coming to New England from everywhere in the country (and the world) for school, homegrown Massachusetts students are at a disadvantage and find themselves struggling to find slots near home, in spite of being relatively more qualified. This is especially hard for families who can't afford to send their students out of the region. Massachusetts will need to step up its contributions to public universities, or (only partially joking) challenge the tax-exempt status of some private colleges that don't educate robust numbers of Massachusetts residents. It would seem cutting back on reliance on private education and investing in public colleges and universities would be best in the long run.

Agree

PA, IL, NH, VT, ME, RI, NJ & CT need to do that too

I imagine it's kind of like watching an American Idol chat board.

Anonymous wrote:You people are funny with your little "contests". Very interesting to witness.

Gives you a taste of what it's like to live in Boston, where driving is a blood sport.

You people are funny with your little "contests". Very interesting to witness.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP just got me curious- for all of Boston and MA's reputation being full of good schools and colleges, why is its only state flagship UMass ranked so low? Did it used to be better in the past or was is always a mediocre??

UMB is far from the flagship campus. It is supposed to provide access to “real college” to working people.From am elitist pov it’s the weakest UMass campus but it has a mission of its own. UMass Amherst the flagshiip. It is a research university in the center of Massachusetts.

UMass Amherst is THREE Hours from Boston. It is located in Western Massachusetts. The Googled answers here (the majority) are obvious, but you didn't even bother to Google on this one.

NP--Um, you're the one getting it wrong. It is, as they said, in central MA, and is under 2 hours from Boston.

DP. Not in Boston? Not a "Boston school" Obvs.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP just got me curious- for all of Boston and MA's reputation being full of good schools and colleges, why is its only state flagship UMass ranked so low? Did it used to be better in the past or was is always a mediocre??

UMB is far from the flagship campus. It is supposed to provide access to “real college” to working people.From am elitist pov it’s the weakest UMass campus but it has a mission of its own. UMass Amherst the flagshiip. It is a research university in the center of Massachusetts.

UMass Amherst is THREE Hours from Boston. It is located in Western Massachusetts. The Googled answers here (the majority) are obvious, but you didn't even bother to Google on this one.

NP--Um, you're the one getting it wrong. It is, as they said, in central MA, and is under 2 hours from Boston.