<p>So I've been reading many threads about how WashU has climbed its way up the rankings by decreasing its acceptance rate and raising its yield rate. I'm wondering how you all feel about WashU and if it is really on par with schools like Cornell, etc...</p>
<p>I think it is with cornell but not other Ivies. I think that what they are doing with the massive waitlists and guessing which students will be more likely to go somewhere else is really going to hurt them severly in the long run.</p>
<p>This is an easy question. Under the ranking methodology devised by USNWR, WashU most definitely deserves the ranking it has. (Unless, someone wants to argue that it should be higher.) Yield is not a determinant in the rankings anymore and the acceptance rate is a minor piece of the puzzle.</p>
<p>Sorry to be repetitious, but the ranking components are these:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Peer Assessment: 25 percent. (College administrators ranking each other)</p></li>
<li><p>Retention: 20 percent (Students return after freshman year)</p></li>
<li><p>Faculty Resources: 20 percent (this is faculty-student ratio, class sizes)</p></li>
<li><p>Student Selectivity: 15 percent.</p>
<p>Within this category, 50 percent of the score comes from the range of SAT/ACT scores of admitted students; the next (40 percent) is the percentage of admitted students who were in the top 10 percent of their class, the smallest, 10 percent, is from the admission rate, or how many were admitted out of the number of applicants. </p>
<ol>
<li> Financial Resources: 10 percent. (Not just endowment, but per-student spending to benefit the education)</li>
<li> Graduation rate: 5 percent</li>
<li> Alumni giving rate: 5 percent. </li>
</ol>
<p>I always think it's unfair when people attack Washu's ranking based on admission rate and yield when this part of the formula accounts for 10 percent of a component that contributes 15 percent to the overall ranking. Washu has earned its ranking under the methodology devised by USNWR. It couldn't have "spammed" its way to a higher admission rate, or "played games" with its yield, and had any appreciable impact on rankings if all the other components of excellence were not in place. If someone wants to rant about those rankings, take it up with the people that devised the methodology. </p>
<p>Is it "on par" with Cornell? I suppose that the long answer would depend on what you're comparing: specific schools or departments, special programs, integrated majors, ease of double majoring, quality of life, friendliness of the campus, etc. IMO, the short answer would be: yes.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>washu doesn't deserve its rankings, it should be at least top 10</p>
<p>Is Wash U better than Rice? Please explaine why or who not.</p>
<p>^For who and what?</p>
<p>1) The real question is whether this ranking even matters. The bottomline is that WashU gets 20,000 applications; it's clearly doing something right. </p>
<p>2) On a more relevant note, the real components of a ranking SHOULD BE what happens when a student gets to the school: academic opportunities, internships in the surrounding community, campus atmosphere, even food. WashU students will tell you that their school excels in all these areas. </p>
<p>Sounds like an easy case to me.</p>
<p>1991: #24
1992: #18
1993: #20
1994: #18
1995: #20
1996: #20
1997: #17
1998: #17
1999: #16
2000: #17
2001: #15
2002: #14
2003: #12
2004: #9
2005: #11
2006: #11
2007: #12</p>
<p>After Penn, WUStL is one of the more remarkable USNWR climbers.</p>
<p>
It depends. Cornell definitely has the advantage in food; WUStL has an advantage in academic flexibility. I prefer Cornell's campus, but others consider it too isolated. Cornell uses its endowment to make itself need-blind; WUStL uses its endowment for merit scholarships. I won't comment on WUStL's academics, but I will say that it matches Cornell in certain fields at the undergraduate level (i.e. business).</p>
<p> [quote=Shobhit2006] it should be at least top 10
Harvard, Yale, Princeton, MIT, Stanford, Caltech, Columbia, Chicago, Penn, and Dartmouth make up my top ten. Out of curiosity, which of these do you think WUStL deserves to replace? ;)</p>
<p>I would replace Dartmouth and Chicago.</p>
<p>Okay, so obviously this doesn't really mean anything at all, but (as I think I mentioned somewhere else on this thread a while ago),
Bill Nye said that Cornell was like WashU......only times .77
: )
Really, I don't put much standard in the rankings. Sure, it "feels good" to go to a school that's up there in the rankings, but in the end of the day, what does it really matter? </p>
<p>And hmm, maybe could it just be the top eleven? : )</p>
<p>The real Bill Nye the science guy who actually did graduate from Cornell??
I love that guy's song, "Bill Nye the Science Guy!!!"</p>
<p>His Assembly Series presentation rocked!</p>
<p>I agree with mass1. Also, it is a grievous overgeneralization to say that one school is just plain "better" than another. So many factors can be used to evaluate and compare schools that you could "rank" via a different system each time and get a different list. That's not to say USNews or other rankings don't matter, but it's just something to remember that relying solely on hearsay, stereotypes about schools, and speculation (about admissions policies, for example) cannot give an accurate picture. I think what ultimately matters, as was mentioned, is the quality of life and education once a student gets on campus.</p>
<p>WashU is a great school, but it is definitely cares a great deal about the rankings. Points are gained for having the law and business schools in one building, so they built a bridge connecting the two. Kind of sounds like they try too hard...</p>
<p>As far as I know, there is no bridge between the business school and the law school. They are on different side of campus.</p>
<p>I don't know about the bridge, but the law school and bschool are both relatively close together....At least when I'm walking to classes, I pass the bschool building(s?), and then a few seconds later I'm walking by a law building.</p>
<p>Yes, they are relatively close, but they is still far enough away where a bridge between them wouldn't make too much sense. If anyone is interested Simon Hall is the b-school and Anheuser-Busch Hall is the Law school. You can see them on the campus map as numbers 93 and 5 respectively: <a href="http://tour.wustl.edu/campusmap.pdf%5B/url%5D">http://tour.wustl.edu/campusmap.pdf</a></p>
<p>definitely no bridge...that was an ignorant and unfounded post</p>
<p>cornell is much better than washu... all washu does is play with their numbers.</p>
<p>Cornell is an Ivy, and offers a much better environment, undergraduate experience, and job placement among other things.</p>
<p>I did a report on college rankings this year, and learned a lot about washu. It really doesn't deserve its ranking. It's so pathetic that it actually spends a ****load of money with professional marketing companies- making sure that the first peice of mail anyone receives is from washu... even if they dont have a chance in hell. They also are all about numbers and play with their numbers a lot.</p>
<p>What is about the "image" committee at Cornell? Are you a member of it??</p>