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Then shouldn't you be off somewhere earning hundreds of thousands of dollars instead of stalking another college's online forum?
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<p>lol ! :D :D</p>
<p>Not until I graduate, I'm afraid.</p>
<p>For now I'm recovering from jet lag as well as being ill, and I am bored in the extreme.</p>
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There's also a reason why Wharton students continually try to distance themselves from the rest of the school. And I've definitely seen this first hand
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<p>Me too. They're called 'schmucks.' Most of them, however, are more realistic. Schmuck-ness is usually inversely proportional to the time they've actually spent in school. e.g. the Wharton freshmen may think they walk on water, but by the time of senior-dom--after 4 years of reality--they've come back down to earth.</p>
<p>"Peace out"
-Kipland Ronald Dynamite</p>
<p>Relax, people. The bottom line is how you personally match with the school. You've probably visited a few colleges. And Dartmouth stood out among them for you in the end. Last May we were so happy that our friends' kids chose to attend Dartmouth over other prestigious schools.</p>
<p>We've been to Penn three times, and never got the "matched" feeling. To us, the majors my child was interested in, the students, the faculty and the location all ranked lower than a couple of other schools my child was admitted to. Personally I liked Dartmouth, but my child wanted an urban setting and did not apply to Dartmouth.</p>
<p>Rankings change year to year. You've got to reference to other, more constant variables.</p>
<p>Logic And Level-headedness Have No Place On Cc!!!! Release The Hounds!!!</p>
<p>I really don't think we're freaking out, honestly all of the dartmouth student posts have been either sarcastic or indifferent</p>
<p>actually, what is cause for concern/surprise (I think) is the relatively low PA score. Dartmouth's PA was the second lowest of the top 15 Unis (only WashU is lower). Granted Dartmouth's PA only declined from 4.4 to 4.3, but that's enough to break last year's tie with Columbia and UofC. But, more importantly, why did some "voters" rank D lower in prestige this year?????</p>
<p>It's because of all the minor controversy in 2006 and 2007--race, trustees, etc. They wrote about it in The D.</p>
<p>In the The D the Dean of Admission also admitted that he is apprehensive about this years applicant pool because of the race controversy.</p>
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They wrote about it in The D.
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<p>IMO, that's called "spin." The Trustees issue is not new, and certainly not this year. But, I can't see a connection between a new Board member and the quality of the College's programs, which is what PA purports to measure. In essence, the Dean is saying that the two issues noted above issue caused the College's undergraduate programs to be less distinguished. Why? How?</p>
<p>"A school's peer assessment score is determined by surveying the presidents, provosts, and deans of admissions (or equivalent positions) at institutions in the school's category. Each individual was asked to rate peer schools' undergraduate academic programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished)."</p>
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Why? How?
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<p>I wasnt commenting on the drop in Dartmouth's ranking. Just adding to the controversy list you mentioned in the post above it.</p>
<p>Well personally it really doesn't matter what Dartmouth's ranking is. Dartmouth is well respected in the education community and people who know what 'Dartmouth' is they wouldnt give a damn to rankings either.</p>
<p>""A school's peer assessment score is determined by surveying the presidents, provosts, and deans of admissions (or equivalent positions) at institutions in the school's category. Each individual was asked to rate peer schools' undergraduate academic programs on a scale from 1 (marginal) to 5 (distinguished).""</p>
<p>Did you read about that President of one of the colleges in P.A. ?
He said in the survey he checked only boxes his college and that he is not familiar with the other colleges(unchecked boxes). So if colleges want to "play" the ranking game (quite a few that we know ) , a way to make sure that your school goes up in rank is to sabotage the other peer institutions.
Now I am not saying that all of them "play" this way but human biasness does come into play in the peer assessment.</p>
<p>Btw, they were asked to rate peer schools' UNDERGRADUATE ACADEMIC PROGRAMS? Wow, how can Dartmouth not get close to a 5 for this category being a "college" as it is.</p>
<p>As can be seen the difference between the 4.4 v.s. the 4.3 broke the tie with Columbia and U of Chicago.</p>
<p>So we should just take the ranking with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>This is ridiculous. I like the way Ivygate characterizes those who give a damn about US News rankings...the hopelessly insecure!!</p>
<p>If you think about it, Dartmouth has not lost any real ground. Last year, Dartmouth was tied for number 9 with two other schools, meaning that it was among the top 11 schools last year too.</p>
<p>Even though I know that these rankings are insignificant, I just want to give my opinion as to why the peer assessment score is low. If you look at the peer assessment score for UMich, you can see that they are actually .2 points higher! The reason for this is, every single school has heard of michigan, and knows it has a strong reputation. Far less schools know about Dartmouth, because of a smaller student body, and less prominent sports teams. There may also be some confusion with U-Mass Dartmouth. While im sure 95% of schools do not make this mistake, 5% of schools giving you a 4 or 3 will easily cause you to be under-rated. They said something like all the schools in their category vote, which is the 120 some-odd number of national universities in "tier 1". But, if only the top 25 were to vote, surely Dartmouth would get all 5's. Unless of course WUSTL and UPenn are still trying to win the competition of most over-rated schools on the list.</p>
<p>pamplemoose: UMich and Cal-Berkeley have extremely strong grad programs, so its no surprise that their PA's are high. But, the question is why did Dartmouth's PA decline year-over-year. [Its highly unlikely that enough voters all of a sudden confused it with UMass-Dart....]</p>
<p>I don't think it is necessarily linked to anything that it went down .1, it's probably just normal fluctuations. Also, other schools may have gone up in some people's opinions, and if a small percentage of [unaware] schools might have felt that Dartmouth wasn't at that same level, and gave Dartmouth a 4 instead of a 5. Also, I remember reading something like some schools switched categories, and different schools made the list. Therefore, different, and possibly even more low-end schools could have had their vote count this year. Of course this is all highly speculative. I still stand by the idea that it is just a normal fluctuation.</p>
<p>I would say other colleges are bribing US News.</p>
<p>With great difficulty I hacked into US News bank account and I must confess I saw big amounts transferred by Harvard and Princeton.</p>
<p>hahaha. i see harvard doing it, but pshh princeton doesn't need it. who wouldn't want to go to princeton?</p>
<p>Let me jump in here....I dont go to Dartmouth nor does my kid. I know people who graduated Dartmouth and a few who got in, one of whom is attending this year.</p>
<p>If you peruse CC from one school to the next, you will find a smattering of wannabes, helicopter parents, narcissistic self obsessed kids, and people fishing for compliments (chances? I have a 4.8 gpa, scored 1570 SAT, can I get into Princeton?).</p>
<p>Its all nonsense. Any reasonable and professional college administrator will tell you that while they are flattered by rankings, they are really about as superficial and irrelevant as discussing tofu in a steak and chop house. </p>
<p>If you attend Dartmouth or were recently admitted, I congratulate you and wish you well. A superb school with special benefits and a great learning culture, topped off with excellent teaching professors. But is it alone? Is it "better than Williams or Amherst or whatever?" That is a fools errand.</p>
<p>You should be in school to learn and discern. Not judge and condescend. I can tell you as a professional that employers dislike people who are self obsessed and arrogant. Be proud of who you are and what you have accomplished, but do so with dignity and respect for others. You will find in the working world that there are brilliant kids at hundreds of other schools. They may not have been as lucky as you to get into Dartmouth, with all its wonderful traditions and excellence. They may not have been able to afford it. They may not have felt confident enough to apply. They may have had bad luck on the SAT. They may not have legacy. They may not have a myriad of things you have. </p>
<p>Yes, of course, the competitive spirit exists in all of us, and we root for the home team, so to speak.</p>
<p>I can tell you that my kid didnt apply to Dartmouth. It was a likely reach for her, but not a ridiculous reach. She was accepted at several prestigious schools and settled on a match school that was an excellent fit for her personality, her interests, its location, and other factors (religion being one of them.)</p>
<p>At most colleges there is a plethora of kids who scored above 1450 on their SAT's. You chose Dartmouth and Dartmouth chose you and that is a good thing. Be happy, be proud, but please don't be judgmental of others.</p>
<p>I know, its sort of fun to poke at schools you compete with. But to worry and fret over the silly and superficial USNWR rankings is really beneath your academic acumen and your personhood.</p>
<p>More than 30 years ago, working in Washington DC in a prestigious location doing some heady work, I was once reminded of the wisdom it takes NOT to judge a book by its cover. A man I worked with was from Tennessee. He went to UT. We sort of snickered behind his back. But came one day and he amazed us with his incredible work ethic and brilliant ideas. He outshined everyone in the group, including some notable Ivy graduates, a Georgetown and GWU graduate etc.</p>
<p>If you wish to represent your school well and support its stellar reputation, then do so with compassion and respect for others. There are over 3,000 colleges in the United States, many of them teaching much the same courses and using much the same textbooks. There are absolutely brilliant professors all over the place. Kenyon, for example, is widely regarded as a superb school for English Lit majors and prospective writers. Hollins College in Virginia has produced several award winning authors.</p>
<p>I wish you all very well and hope that when you graduate you will be respected for the person you have become while at Dartmouth. Congratulations.</p>