2010 USNEWS America's Best Colleges

Colleges and Universities A-Z University of Michigan
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<p>Agreed. Unfortunately, most people will just look at the rankings without even seeing the PA score and what it means. A university like Michigan should have no problem being ranked within the top 25 if it takes steps to make sure it is ranked inside the top 25. I know some people may think what’s the difference between 25 or 27…no big deal…but this is the second year in a row where the ranking has dropped and it isn’t a good sign. </p>

<p>I just think that Michigan should privatize. It barely gets any state funding and already charges private school tuition for OOS students. This way they can boost selectivity, reduce enrollment and increase its ranking. The university’s public university status is really hurting itself - more so than UCB and UVA.</p>

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<p>How so? In what aspect of undergraduate or graduate education do they “destroy” UCLA and USC? And fyi, the UCs also unweight the GPA, as they have a weighted “cap”- beyond a certain GPA (I believe it’s a 4.5, but I could be wrong), you don’t get extra points. They consider both weighted and unweighted GPAs.</p>

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No, the GPA is a 4.36 weighted (for the class of 2009). For the class of 2008, it was a 4.33. (see source below) The link you posted is not an official website of the UC campuses. There were inaccuracies in the Berkeley profile as well, when compared with the official numbers reported by that school.</p>

<p>UCLA ADMIT STATS: [UCLA</a> admits 12,098 freshman students for fall 2009 / UCLA Newsroom](<a href=“http://newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/ucla-admits-12-098-freshmen-students-87095.aspx]UCLA”>Newsroom | UCLA)</p>

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While this is true, keep in mind that you still have to pay the extra $$ for each school. </p>

<p>While I understand the frustration with Michigan not being ranked as high, it shows pure ignorance to blame it on other high-caliber universities. Rather than rag on UCLA and USC, perhaps we should instead be asking ourselves what Michigan can do to improve in ways that other universities have. Michigan has the resources to be- and truly is- one of the world’s elite universities. Maybe this slight slip will encourage them to even more fully utilize their vast potential.</p>

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<p>"Alexandre, when looking at the ranking, most people don’t really care about the PA score. They only look at the overall ranking. </p>

<p>Actually ProudWolverine, “most people” (i.e., adults over the age of 23) don’t even pay attention to rankings, so don’t worry about it too much. Employers and graduate school adcoms are more likely to think along the lines of the peer assessment score than they are to even know about the USNWR undergraduate rankings.</p>

<p>"Last night, one of my brothers, a trojan, showed me the ranking and simply said, “we are slightly better than you.”</p>

<p>By that reckoning, Penn is = to Stanford and MIT and better than Chicago and Columbia. By that same reckoning WUSTL is better than Brown and Cornell. Trust me, nobody really believes that.</p>

<p>“I find it hard to believe that this USNWR bias has managed to tarnish and underrate Michigan’s reputation.”</p>

<p>It hasn’t tarnished the reputation of Michigan, but it has hurt Michigan in the eyes of many high school students. </p>

<p>“I hope Mary Sue Coleman and other important university officials realize this and start taking the appropriate measures to stay in the competition.”</p>

<p>I am not sure she really cares that much. Only Wolverines care deeply about the University of Michigan’s wellbeing. To the state, to its politicians who didn’t attend the University and to most University officials (most of which attended other universities), they couldn’t care less about Michigan’s rankings. Ever wonder why most officials (not necessarily the president, but certainly the provosts and othe decision makers) at HYP are alums of their alma matter? President Drew Faust at Harvard is the first president since 1670 not to be an alum. </p>

<p>But like I said, the USNWR is merely a ranking for high school students. In the real world, most people do not really keep up with it and those that do typically approach it with a major grain of salt!</p>

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<p>I meant in terms of academics and graduate schools, but I over-exaggerated by using the word destroy. I’m beginning to notice that I have a bias about U-M already and I’m not even there yet.</p>

<p>In terms of academics and academic reputation U-M is better than USC at the undergraduate and graduate level. More so the graduate level. But honestly I really don’t care. Michigan is moving down in the rankings, but it hasn’t affected my view of the university, nor should it affect others. It’s a great place to be, at least from my 3 day experience.</p>

<p>Honestly I could care less. I’ve only been to Michigan once and I liked it. I’m just going to enjoy my experience. Picking a college or university based on rankings is absurd, but most people do it. College isn’t about picking a university with the best prestige or academic reputation. </p>

<p>What college fits you? That should be the primary reason for picking a specific college.</p>

<p>GO BLUE!</p>

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<p>what frustrates the crap out of me is that the University doesn’t care about usnews rankings not even a tiny little bit, you don’t see a mention of our rankings anywhere on the michigan website til like 2 months after. And the administrator response is usually to the tone of how ranking like 20 something reflects the great academic reputation of the university( are you kidding me?), they appreciate it, but they don’t care too much about it.</p>

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<p>And that’s a bad thing because? I’d rather the administrators did something more important than playing the ranking game.</p>

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<p>Actually, the University does not need to play the “waiting” game. In fact, the answer is very simple. Michigan simply needs to reduce the in-state percentage from 66% to 50% and limit its undergraduate studenty population to under 20,000 (fewer than 5,000 Freshmen per class). Ideally, Michigan freshmen classes would have 2,300 in-state students and 2,300 out of state and international students. The remaining students can be transfer students. That would allow Michigan to have better Financial and Faculty Resource rankings and that should significantly help the University’s overall undergraduate ranking.</p>

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<p>Compared to “What Will They Learn”, University of Michigan did extremely well on USNEWS recent ranking.</p>

<p>[University</a> of Michigan - What Will They Learn?](<a href=“http://www.whatwilltheylearn.com/schools/2777]University”>What Will They Learn? - University of Michigan - Ann Arbor) Graded D
<a href=“http://www.goacta.org/[/url]”>http://www.goacta.org/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>The “What Will They Learn” criteria are even more ■■■■■■■■ than those of USNEWS. Just because a school doesn’t have Gen Ed requirements doesn’t mean its students won’t receive a well-rounded education.</p>

<p>Brown and Amherst received Fs, lulz.</p>

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<p>Coolbrezze, a school does not have to make certain classes a requirement for graduation in order to ensure that its students receive a well-rounded education. Most top universities have relatively open graduation requirements. The following schools get a score of F according to that website you provided us with. The list may shock a few:</p>

<p>Amherst College
Bowdoin College
Brown University
Cornell University
Haverford College
Johns Hopkins University
Middlebury College
Northwestern University
Rice University
Swarthmore College
University of California-Berkeley
Vanderbilt University
Washington University-St Louis
Wesleyan University
Williams College
Yale University</p>

<p>And the following schools got score of D
Harvard University
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
University of Virginia</p>

<p>And finally, the following schools got a score of C:
Dartmouth College
Princeton University
Stanford University</p>

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<p>^ The top schools often have flexible curricula that tailor to each student’s needs and interests. Coolbreeze, I would not trade my undergraduate experience. :)</p>

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<p>Oh right, I just found the website to be interesting. Especially noting that University of Michigan has the largest living alumni ( or I’ve read), and also thought this formula was created by school alumnis. It does seem that most elite schools get lower ranking due to flexible graduation requirements, though I must say I’am surprise by the lesser graduation requirements. However this only give more oppurtunities for one to focus on their major(s).</p>

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<p>Correct! Some colleges make it easier to pursue a double major and/or minor by offering a more flexible curriculum (and fewer general requirements).</p>

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<p>Wait don’t you have to take certain classes in order to graduate at Michigan? In LSA my advisor told me you have to take social science, natural science, humanities, etc in order to graduate. Doesn’t that count towards gen. ed. credits?</p>

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<p>Entertainer: exactly- In the eyes of employers, intellectuals and professionals around the world, Michigan is still the cream-of-the-crop. One controversial ranking (which no one really takes that seriously beyond this site anyway) won’t change that. Best of luck to you in your freshman year!</p>

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<p>USC kicked Michigan’s ass. Deal with it.</p>

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<p>It’s ok btp, UCLA kicked USC’s ass! </p>

<p>How does it feel to not even be the second best university in your city or to not be one of the top 4 universities in your state?</p>

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<p>We should brag that according to the “What will they learn” ratings, we’re as good as Harvard and better than Berkeley, Yale, JHU, etc.</p>

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<p>Lol. This thread is hilarious.</p>

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<p>Don’t worry; we’ll kick UCLA’s ass next year.</p>