<p>It looks like Wake Forest is back in the USNWR Top 25. It’s a terrific underrated undergraduate institution so I’m glad to see it getting some recognition.</p>
<p>^Yes!!! Wake Forest is back in the top 25. This makes me happy. WFU is highly underrated!</p>
<p>Alexandre, now that you bring it up I don’t know whether I should take the schools ranked after W&M with a grain of salt or just discount the entire undergraduate teaching ranking altogether. I’m not sure how a school that’s known much more for it’s well-regarded graduate school like Berkeley can also be highly ranked for best undergraduate teaching.</p>
<p>Maybe you can shed some light on the quality of the teaching at Michigan versus what you heard of or experienced through the graduate school there.</p>
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<p>Simple. You have blinders on, and come with preconceived notions that highly regarded researchers cannot teach well. And/or that big research Unis don’t care about teaching.</p>
<p>It maybe a generalization, but not always true. Some Nobel Laureates can be the best teachers (to undergrads) on campus. (Others can be jerks.) Big research Unis also employ adjuncts who are hired solely for their teaching ability, and who generally do nothing but teach. (Yes, an Adjunct is not a tenured Prof, but the topic is undergrad teaching, is it not?)</p>
<p>No surprise. All last year’s top 27 institutes made it for this year’s top 25.</p>
<p>regardless minor changes of the evaluation formula.</p>
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<p>Simple. Blinders or not, it is not a preconception that researchers are hardly dedicated to teaching. While they COULB be great teachers,and probably should, that is not what is happening at the UG level, and that is why that Cal’s dedication to teaching sounds both fantastic and hollow. </p>
<p>For all his efforts over the years, our friend UCB has never been able to share more stories than the VERY rare occurence of the mighty astronomomy and physics teachers who find the time to lead a couple of seminars every once in a while. </p>
<p>But heck, if it makes someone feel good about pretending that the academic research divas are also dedicated to teaching, who am I to stop them from … wearing think rose glasses as opposed to blinders.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the dedication to teaching ranking is an even bigger joke than the PA itself … if that was possible. Of course, they simply polled the same secretaries and low-level officers who fill the surveys with their uneducated and biased opinions that are based on … last year’s version. </p>
<p>What a gem!</p>
<p>The following top 7 will not change.</p>
<p>Methodology Changes for 2014 Best Colleges Rankings</p>
<p>The weight of student selectivity overall declines from 15 percent to 12.5 percent.</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2013/09/03/preview-methodology-changes-for-2014-best-colleges-rankings[/url]”>http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2013/09/03/preview-methodology-changes-for-2014-best-colleges-rankings</a></p>
<p>“……We reduced the weight assigned to the high school class standing of newly enrolled students……” and “……the weight of high school class standing drops from 40 percent to 25 percent……” </p>
<p>The change is -15% compared to last year. This will slightly hurt UChicago and MIT, moderately favor Stanford.</p>
<p>“……and gave slightly more weight to SAT and ACT scores……” and “……and the weight of SAT and ACT scores rises from 50 percent to 65 percent……”</p>
<p>The change is +15% compared to last year. This will largely favor UChicago; and largely hurt Columbia, Stanford and moderately hurt MIT, and slightly hurt Harvard, Yale, Princeton.</p>
<p>The weight of graduation and retention rates was increased to 22.5 percent from 20 percent.</p>
<p>This will moderately hurt UChicago and MIT, and largely favor Columbia.</p>
<p><a href=“https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/c...ity-of-chicago[/url]”>https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/c...ity-of-chicago</a></p>
<p>Princeton
Class rank top tenth 96%
SAT 700-800 RMW(%) 76,81,81
98% Returning for sophomore year
96% graduate within six years</p>
<p>Harvard
Class rank top tenth 95%,
SAT 700-800 RMW(%) 77,80,80
97% Returning for sophomore year
97% graduate within six years</p>
<p>Yale
Class rank top tenth 96%
SAT 700-800 RMW(%) 76,80,81
99% Returning for sophomore year
96% graduate within six years</p>
<p>Columbia
Class rank top tenth NA
SAT 700-800 RMW(%) 73,76,73
99% Returning for sophomore year
98% graduate within six years</p>
<p>UChicago
Class rank top tenth 97%
SAT 700-800 RMW(%) 83,81,78
99% Returning for sophomore year
92% graduate within six years</p>
<p>Stanford
Class rank top tenth 94%
SAT 700-800 RMW(%) 69,77,76
98% Returning for sophomore year
95% graduate within six years</p>
<p>MIT
Class rank top tenth 98%
SAT 700-800 RMW(%) 67,94,70
97% Returning for sophomore year
93% graduate within six years</p>
<p>xiggi, Cal continues to try to enhance the undergraduate experience. It’s rolling out new initiatives for undergrads:</p>
<p><a href=“Berkeley News | Berkeley”>Berkeley News | Berkeley;
<p>Included in this are new excellence in teaching standards, which Berkeley admits is a weakness in large research universities:</p>
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</p>
<p>Our new Chancellor is giving new blood to academic leadership, he said, “Coming to Berkeley is like coming to Mecca.”</p>
<p>Leaving the overdone arguments regarding public schools (research versus teaching) aside … does anyone think there is a fundamental difference in teaching across say HYPSM versus top 25 private. </p>
<p>I went to a top 25 private for undergrad and now at graduate school at one of the HYPSMs and the quality of teaching at my undergrad was just as good, the major difference though is that the Professors at the HYPSM are really really smart relative to my undergrad professors. I can tell this working together with them in an academic setting, though I doubt the undergrads will understand since most of their interactions with these professors involve just Gen Chem or Intro to Physics</p>
<p>Its HILARIOUS that a lot of people think the USNWR rankings are all about the top10 schools and their incestuous infighting. Its not people. Its about the other 2,000 schools. LOL.</p>