<p>I’m sorry, but I had to respond upon seeing this as I knew it was about these rankings. The rankings are sometimes good for some things, but in this case (Bloomberg’s way of measuring)…</p>
<p>It’s a freaking undergrad. program. It’s rank (which hardly judges quality and perhaps is better at judging prestige, popularity, and things like “student satisfaction”) shouldn’t really influence your choice (It’s not like an MBA program). Just go there and do well. I’m sure it’s a good school. Seriously, actually trusting these rankings? They randomly moved us (Emory) from 7 to 3 ahead of Wharton (and we’re lower in almost every category measured). And one year, we went from 4 to 7. I go here, and am not a Business major. While I imagine the school is indeed solid compared to many peers, all I know is that students in it mainly run around with a relatively light workload (15.7hrs/week, and this is among the highest for B-Schools? Seriously!! I’m a science major, and I do way more studying/outside work than that per week, I almost spend that on French alone) complaining about the easya** grading curve implemented in Goizetta, where like up to 35% can get an A in a “core” class (that doesn’t even happen in most science electives). Basically, these rankings don’t tell much about the rigor and general quality of the programs. It just says that “X” school has a lower student-faculty ratio (which doesn’t matter if many profs are not as good at teaching as they should be) and other things.<br>
They bounce the schools around like yo-yos, which should tell you that the measurements aren’t that great. For all you know, the program could actually be better off than when say, class of 2011 entered, but rankings won’t really show it. Worry about actual quality, not rankings, especially sense it’s at least top 50. The fact that it’s even 30 indicates that it’s pretty solid. Plus, I think Illinois is pretty good overall, so the overall experience at the institution should end up good. And the campus is actually beautiful. What did you not like about it? Did you visit a B-School class or any class at your prospects? That should give you real insight. </p>
<p>Can’t actually believe you’re concerned about this. Until you actually read something about a school having slipping standards from inside of a school publication (meaning it’s so bad that even insiders needed to address it), don’t trust the ranking. Also, student surveys weighing so heavy could be bad. Student reviews aren’t normally based on things like academic rigor and quality more so than how easy grading is, or how relatively light the workload is, or even, the occurrence of large B-school student socialization events (even perhaps the pride of attending a school that ranks “X”). Basically, this parameter that counts as 30% may swing the ranks based on pretty immature views on academic/scholarly experience.</p>